Governor General hosts sleepover for Girls from Oz participants!
On Monday November 28 four participants in the Girls from Oz programme at Halls Creek District High School were invited by her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce to join her and Mr Bryce for dinner at Admiralty House; the girls even slept over! Shonita Gordon, Lydia Ozies, Sophia Gumpoltsberger and Hannah Duinker were the lucky girls and they were joined by g-oz team leader Kylie Lee-Archer and Halls Creek Indigenous Education Officer Sandra Rivers.
Ms Bryce has long been a supporter of the Australian Girls Choir and Girls from Oz and visited Halls Creek as part of a tour of the Kimberley in May 2010. During that visit she shared ‘girl time’ with the students from Halls Creek District High School and since then has met these lucky girls four times.
Shonita, Lydia, Sophia and Hannah were all on their best behaviour from the minute they arrived at Admiralty house although that didn’t stop them from racing each other to ring the doorbell and bouncing (not jumping!) on the beds in the guest rooms! House Manager Lynette Mace took the girls on a tour of Admiralty House and the beautiful gardens overlooking the Opera House and Harbour Bridge before the Governor General and Mr Bryce joined the girls for dinner. The girls and Ms Bryce exchanged questions all night with conversation ranging from Ms Bryce’s passion for reading, to an encounter with a snake while in the Kimberley, to her favourite colour lipstick – the answer to a direct question!
After dinner the Governor General and Mr Bryce were treated to a mini concert by the four girls who sang with great confidence and flair. After cups of tea (the grownups) and some barefoot dancing on the lawn (the girls), Ms Bryce happily posed for photos with the girls who cuddled her and chattered away until she had to return to work.
While it might be some years until the girls fully appreciate what a wonderful opportunity it was to enjoy an evening with Ms Bryce, our Governor General, they certainly had a marvelous time and were very excited to ask her questions and hear about her life and work.
During their visit to Halls Creek in May, g-oz team members Kass Brown and Kylie Lee-Archer caught up with some of the leaders at Halls Creek District High School and within the community to find out how they think the program is developing.
In November 2011 Girls from Oz supporters funded a second excursion by students from Halls Creek District High School to Sydney. Ten students aged between eleven and seventeen were selected to participate in the exciting trip and had to meet a number of criteria including excellent attendance and behavior at school and participation in the Girls from Oz Performing Arts weeks held each term in Halls Creek.
For the second time, Girls from Oz supporter and ASPA team member Kass Brown arranged an exciting itinerary for the girls, including a workshop with dancers and faculty at NAISDA the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Academy, an on air interview at Koori Radio, a swim at the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence, a day at school at William Clarke College and sightseeing around Circular Quay.
In addition to these activities the girls were hosted by members of the Australian Girls Choir and sang together with them in their two concerts at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday November 27. The girls from Halls Creek had been working hard to learn the melody and lyrics to the concert finale Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and even harder to conquer the challenging choreography. Kass decided that it would be great for the girls to see the professional production and put the call out to her AGC Alumni friends who quickly donated enough money to enable the girls and their teachers to attend a matinee performance!
While performing (twice!) at the Sydney Opera House was an absolute highlight of the trip, the girls all reported that sharing the homes and lives of their Sydney host families was the most wonderful part. And the generous host families said that the exchange, friendship and fun was definitely a two way experience.
Girls from Oz look forward to another wonderful year in Halls Creek in 2012 and hope that another group of girls from the remote town will benefit from a horizon-broadening trip like this in November next year.
