Year 6 Students from the International Grammar School (IGS) in Sydney got to escape the concrete jungle and get a taste of country life when they visited the Goodooga Central School from 1 June to 5 June. 

The trip was part of the intercultural immersion program facilitated by Connecting Communities Australia (CCA)  and coordinated by educator Lucy Howard-Shibuya and educator and Yuwalaraay woman Mindy Gibbs.

The program is designed to bring together two communities while focussing on Aboriginal culture. 

Ten senior students from the Goodooga Central School already traveled to Sydney in March to visit the IGS. 

The students who travel to the country learn about Indigenous cultures and traditions while the students who travel to the city learn more about the higher educational opportunities that are open to them. 

IGS teacher Michelle Weir was one of the teachers who accompanied the 32 students to Goodooga. The students had to fill out an application and give the reasons why they wanted to join the trip and learn about Indigenous culture.

Ms Weir said the children were selected because they were "mature, responsible, interested in the trip and happy to be away from home that long."

The students stayed at the Goodooga Central School. They got to participate in cultural activities such as yabby fishing, where they learned how to use a stick, string, and a chicken neck to catch the yabbies. Afterward, they had a fire where they cooked the yabbies. 

No mobile phones were allowed during the excursions which helped students to stay present in the moment, according to the educators. 

Local Elders taught the students how to make Johnnycakes. Elders, Aunty Karen Lane and Uncle Bob Hooper taught the city children all about bush medicine and bush tucker which is food that is native to Australia, and how Indigenous people use native food. 

The students participated in a community project where they planted seedlings, learned the Yuwalaraay language, completed Indigenous artwork, and jewelry making among other activities. 

"I felt like I was quite privileged to learn their language," one of the students wrote in their testimonials.

CCA CEO Glenn Price said that the children can be shy to approach each other at first but the barriers soon begin to fall. 

"Out on the sports field is always a good place to break down the barriers, or through music." 

"They did a smoking ceremony in the evening and just looking up and seeing the star they can't really see in Sydney," Mr Price said. 

Bhiaime Williamson a proud Yuwalaraay man told the story about the emu in the night sky around the campfire. 

The emu in the night sky refers to the darkness around the stars that form the shape of the emu. According to Indigenous traditions, this is when it is time to go look for emu eggs. 

The children got to experience the power of Mr Williamson's storytelling as the sky cleared up and they got to see the emu in the night sky. 

IMAGE: IGS

The excursion was very well received by everyone involved. Some of the parents of the IGS students said they did not recognise their children and were fascinated with the amount of knowledge their children brought back. 

"The students were really keen to share that knowledge, the friends they made, the connections, and the fact that, of course, there are differences but there also so many similarities," Ms Weir said. 

One of the students shared a testimonial stating, "There was a girl in the kindy to [Year] two classrooms and when the teacher was trying to get her to sit down she said, "I want to sit with my best friend" And she came and sat with me. That was really touching."

Students learn more at the Aboriginal Cultural Museum in Brewarrina. IMAGE: IGS

Mr Price established CCA in 2018 after seeing the effect that drought was having on rural communities.

Ms Gibbs, Ms Howard-Shibuya, and Mr Price came up with the idea to give students an opportunity to broaden their educational and cultural horizons.

"This is a unique program, incredibly important for allowing non-Indigenous kids from the city to learn on Country the very important histories, cultures, and languages of the local Indigenous community," Ms Howard-Shibuya said.

"It is also allowing a reciprocal friendship between young Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal kids which broadens everyone's perspectives."

CCA also offers exchanges between the Brewarrina Central School and the Pymble Ladies College in Sydney. Talks are also underway to find a sister school for the Lightning Ridge Central School.