Celebrating NAIDOC Week and Remembrance Day

Santa Sophia Catholic College had its first whole school assembly at our Secondary campus, following the revised COVID guidelines, for a combined celebration of NAIDOC Week and commemoration of Remembrance Day.

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. This year’s theme of Always Was, Always Will Be, recognises that First Nations peoples have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years.

Remembrance Day is a day commemorated across the world at 11am on the 11th of November where we remember those who have died in warfare and served in the military.

The occasion began with a welcome from Principal Mark De Vries, who explained the importance of both NAIDOC Week and Remembrance Day. He then welcomed up our Indigenous students, Michaila, Makiah, Zac, Xander and Lashay to the front to lead the whole school in an Acknowledgement of Country, during which, one of our indigenous teacher, Mr Michael Faccin, accompanied them with the didgeridoo.

Following this, Mr Knight introduced the commencement of the Remembrance Day service, inviting Erica, Vito, Sarah and Cassie to provide the history and background of this day. Cassie lead us into a prayer for Remembrance Day, with a special intention for the service men and women who have died in the violence of war.

We also had a special Commemorative Address by Wing Commander Chris Hersey, one of our new teachers in the Science faculty. Wing Commander Hersey joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1985 as an Armament Engineer. He was responsible for the weapons for a Squadron of F/A-18 Hornets in 1990-91. He then completed a MSc in missile design in the UK in 1993-94. From 2002-04, he was responsible for the maintenance of a squadron of Hawk lead in fighters, and from 2006-09, he was chief engineer for all explosives, ammunition and guided weapons in the Australian Defence Force (ADF). He was deployed to Iraq in 2006. From 2009-11, he was responsible for the maintenance of all C-130 Hercules aircraft, during which he was deployed in 2010 in support of operations in Afghanistan. He transferred to active reserves in 2011. (After dedicating his life in service of our country, Mr Chris Hersey decided to dedicate his life to the education of our future generations, becoming a Science Teacher.)

After the Commemorative Address, the wreath was laid by Thomas and Klaudia on behalf of the College Community. Aiden Z was then invited to recite the Ode of Remembrance, followed by the Last Post, a minute of silence and the Rouse being played while the flag was being hoisted.

The event was livestreamed to our parent community from our Facebook Page from 10:50am (Link: https://www.facebook.com/SantaSophiaCC/live/)