By Julie Thirlway, the Musical director & writer
Berinba Public School
After months of planning, preparation and hard work Berinba Public School found the stars! Yes, the ‘Ghaadi Dyurra- Search for your Star’ musical showed us that every single student and staff member at Berinba are stars, and didn’t the stars shine brightly?
Writing a play for the school in its 50th Anniversary year was a real honour. I wanted to try to write a play that enabled the essence of Berinba to shine through story and dance. When I thought about what it means to be at Berinba, I couldn’t go past the way in which every student and staff member are treated as an individual. At Berinba, everyone is encouraged and supported to be themselves and not to compare themselves to each other. At Berinba, we are all stars in our own right.
The other part of Berinba I wanted to highlight and draw attention to is our Ngunnawal roots. The name of our school is ‘ Berinba’, which means ‘To the South’ in Ngunnawal language. Our name gives our school a very real and special tie to the original inhabitants of the land on which we meet and learn. Being able to work with the local Ngunnawal community to include language and Culture that is respectful and meaningful was an important and very special part of this production.
Tying this all together was the theme of the stars. Knowing that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples used the stars to live by, and were in fact the first astronomers was a great link for the play. The Dreaming story from the Ngunnawal peoples of the Emu in the sky was also perfect as it talks about sharing and how it can help others and reward you. As one of Berinba’s values on our school motto is sharing, it was another way to celebrate what makes Berinba a great place to learn.
Taking on a special whole school project is somewhat daunting. However, sharing the load, our talents, expertise and a can-do attitude from all staff and students, meant the production was a great success. Anybody who attended the shows or helped in some way will have many special memories for the 50th Anniversary of the school.
I am so proud of all the students in the entire performance. From the opening acts of the choir, drumming group, our first school k-6 indigenous dance group, the actors in the play and every student in every class in the school.
At the end of the play, we knew that the Mindyigari (Sky) held the Dyurra (stars) Berinba (To the south). After the shows had finished, it was plain to see that Berinba Public School is made up of very special stars. Our stars are the students, staff and the community in which we live.
