Opening of the Healing Garden at Elizabeth Grove Primary School

A highlight of our Stolen Generations event at Elizabeth Grove on Wednesday 14th August 2019 was the opening of the Healing Garden.

Leading up to the event every child painted some art work on poles to show their learning and understanding of the Stolen Generations from lessons using the Healing Foundation resources for school children.

Ten elders participated in classroom visits to share their stories as Stolen Generations survivors. It was a very moving time for adults and students as experiences were shared, understanding grew and respectful relationships were built. Our students were totally engaged in these lessons with thoughtful questions being asked of our guests.

Following a soup and damper lunch, enjoyed by the students and parent community, we gathered in our school Kaurna Garden as Uncle Frank Wanganeen shared a Kaurna welcome to country.

The ceremony was led by students with input by Dan Jarrad, school principal, Aboriginal students sharing stories and learning, then the cutting of the ribbon by Uncle Frank and Christine Doolan.

These are the words on one of our bench seats.

In our Healing Garden we remember and honour the “Stolen Generations” of Aboriginal children who were taken from their families between 1910 and 1970.
We acknowledge the suffering and trauma and have hope for healing for present and future generations.

Following the official opening of the Healing Garden we met in the gym for our assembly to honor our Stolen Generations survivors. Several classes of students shared their recounts of an Elder visit and other reflections on their learning linked to the Sorry Day book.

Invited guests included Adrian Esplin, CEO SARAH Constructions, Nick Champion MP, Bronwyn Milera from Aboriginal Education, Jeff Parish OAM, local school leaders and our parent community.

We are grateful to the Healing Foundation for sponsoring this special day, as well as Sarah Construction for their generous donation. 

We know we will have ongoing communication and school visits with our Elders, our learning together from each other has just begun!