Two bright young women from Griffith North Public primary school will complete their hat-trick of representing their schools at state level in a major public speaking competition.
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For the past three years, year six students Piper Stewart and Abbey Noffke have won the Zone NAIDOC Public Speaking Challenge and placed first or second in the Riverina Challenge.
They will now travel to Dubbo on October 30 to compete in the challenge – the third year in a row they have participated in the state championships.
NAIDOC week is an annual celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and achievements, and recognising Indigenous Australians' contributions to our country. It was celebrated in July this year.
Each year, students write and perform a four min speech on the NAIDOC Theme. This years the theme is "Our Languages Matter".
“Speaking Aboriginal languages was once seen as holding Aboriginal people back. Our language was unimportant, it didn’t matter. There was once over 250 indigenous languages spoken throughout Australia. Now only about half are still spoken today,” Abbey and Piper said in their speech.
“The language that we speak links us to our country and our community, it’s a part us. It’s a key part of our identity. That’s why languages matter”.
The speech is as educational as it was moving.
“...lots of Aboriginal words have survived in very sneaky ways that most of us don’t even realise. The word Kola and waratah are Aboriginal words that we use. And Narranderra is a Wiradjuri word that means a place of many lizards,” they say.
“That happens a lot with Aboriginal languages”.
Over 30 Primary Schools and High Schools within the Riverina were invited to participate in the NAIDOC debating and public speaking challenge.
The main focus of the challenge was to support Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in developing their skills in research, goal-setting, organisation and oral presentation.
It also increased the participant’s knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures in a localised context.
Organisers say the standard of entries having been rapidly improving over the past three years, and would encourage all schools across the Griffith region to participate in the event next year.