Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Thamarrurr School in Wadeye a class above, despite turmoil

Never before has Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Thamarrurr School in Wadeye celebrated such an achievement.

Class of 2020: Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Year 12 graduates Brody Karui, Concepta Karui, Jazz Dumoo and Mary Papuli in Wadeye, Northern Territory. Picture: Courtney Davies

For most young people, graduating from secondary school is a milestone on the road to adulthood.

But for the Class of 2020 from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Thamarrurr School in Wadeye, it’s an especially momentous achievement.

For one, never before has the Northern Territory school had seven students complete Year 12 in one year. The last time a single student graduated was 2014, and before that in 2007 — a reflection of the unique and difficult challenge that educators face engaging students in a remote Indigenous setting.

Adding to that, Wadeye, about 400km from Darwin, has been plunged into violent turmoil over recent months, as increased welfare payments to offset the impacts of COVID-19 have been spent on alcohol illicitly smuggled into town.

As The Australian reported in August, the impact on young people in the fragile community has been significant, with school attendance rates falling because children have been too scared to leave their homes. When they have come to school, many have struggled to stay awake after being kept up all night by loud parties and fighting.

The disruption has often continued in the daylight hours. As recently as Monday the school was forced to go into lockdown due to a nearby fight. Matthew Spring, head of the secondary school, said: “It’s been a pretty unsettling year for the kids. It’s been interesting to hear them talk about how hard they have found it; they have certainly learned what perseverance is.”

Keenly aware student attendance is linked to academic achievement, the school has made changes in recent years aimed at boosting student engagement. It has tried to address the impacts of staff turnover, with some success, and freed teachers from the pressures of curriculum planning, allowing them more time for classroom teaching.

Back row: Brody Karui, left, Mary Papuli, Jazz Dumoo and Concepta Karui. Front row: Benjamin Mullumbuk, left, Jonah Nemarluk and Ezekiel Narndu. Picture: Courtney Davies

Each senior class has two full-time teachers instead of one, providing students with more per­sonal assistance when needed.

A partnership with the NT School of Distance Education enabled students to spend several weeks studying in Darwin.

Mr Spring said a decision to move away from emphasising the importance of education solely from the perspective of gaining employment also appeared to have had a positive impact on student retention.

“We’ve talked a lot about how education does affect your health and wellbeing in the long term and the kids have responded to that well,” he said. “There’s a cultural difference [here] that meant the message of the importance of bringing home a pay packet wasn’t necessarily transferring but the message about positive health and wellbeing does.”

Each of the graduating students has achieved the 200 points necessary to achieve the NTCET, which is administered under the South Australian Certificate of Education. Several hit the target months before Thursday’s official graduation ceremony.

Three — Mary Pupuli, Jonah Nemarluk and Ezekiel Narndu — are employed at the school. Mary and Ezekiel are teaching assistants and Jonah works in the school’s literature production centre helping to develop illustrated books in the local Murrinhpatha language. Mary said she hoped to become a teacher and a “leader in my community”.

Another graduate, Mary Jacinta Dumoo, is a Year 11 student who graduated a year ahead of schedule. The 16-year-old, who enjoys music and loves making TikTok videos with friends, said she would like to go to university. “My dream is to become a nurse and help my community. I want to get a job to earn money for myself and my family as well.”

Principal John Young said the students’ achievement was a bright spot in a turbulent year. “The fighting must stop,” Dr Young said. “I have hope this will get better and all children can come to school every day after a good night’s sleep — this needs everybody working on this, all families, all agencies.”