This week, Chisholm Catholic College was honoured to welcome secondary students and staff from Sacred Heart School, Beagle Bay as part of our ongoing City-Country Partnership Programme, supported by the Yadha Muru Foundation. This partnership is grounded in strengthening relationships between remote and city schools, empowering young people to walk confidently in both worlds while keeping culture strong.
Over three days, visiting students engaged in a rich programme across Design & Technology, Media, Science, Home Economics, Information Technology, Health & Physical Education and more. These sessions were not only hands-on learning opportunities, but they were part of a broader goal to build capability, confidence and entrepreneurial skills that students can take back to their community.
Alongside attendance and engagement, a significant priority of the City-Country Partnership is enabling communities to create sustainable economic opportunities. In Beagle Bay, this means supporting students to become entrepreneurial during the tourist season; selling coffees, scones and biscuits and crafting beautiful chopping boards in their Badunk workshop that can be sold to visitors. Chisholm staff played the role of enablers, sharing practical skills and knowledge across hospitality, food preparation and wood design to support Sacred Heart students in developing real products and services they can proudly offer at home.
Across the visit, students immersed themselves in Home Economics using the coffee machine to prepare drinks, learned to bake scones, chocolate cake and biscuits, and spent extended time in our Design & Technology workshops experimenting with woodwork processes. The students’ chopping board designs, which incorporated shells and sand from their Kimberley, beaches were truly outstanding. Chisholm staff commented on the students’ strong work ethic, curiosity and willingness to try new skills with confidence.
The programme also included a warm welcome and school tour, meaningful First Nations PCG time where the Beagle Bay students taught us about their country, a lively basketball game against our Year 8 NAS teams and even a swim in the College pool. These extra-curricular experiences brought plenty of joy and connection to the visit.
The City-Country Partnership reminds us that relationships must be relational, not transactional. They are built on reciprocity, shared responsibility and working together in the “middle ground.” This visit was a clear example of that vision in action. Chisholm staff and students gained just as much from the experience as our guests and we are proud to play a small role in supporting the aspirations of the Beagle Bay community.
We extend our deep thanks to all staff who contributed their time, creativity and hospitality, embodying the partnership’s mission to enable First Nations students to access opportunities, develop new skills and thrive in their learning journey.
We look forward to continuing this partnership together in the new year and wish our visitors safe travels back home.
Mrs Belinda Pietropaolo
Deputy Principal – Administration
