In 2022 we welcomed Year 7 students to Brighton Secondary School. To help support our growing community, and to develop smaller groups within the school that students can feel connected to, we expanded our house system from 4 houses to 6. The names and colours of the 6 new houses were developed through extensive student voice processes, which decided that the new houses would be named after Kaurna words for flora, fauna and landforms.
Tantutiti – Native Lilac
Tarnta – Red Kangaroo
Wilya – Leaves
Yarlu – Ocean
Mirnu – Golden Wattle
Karrkala – Pigface plant flower
The artwork on our new PE tops was designed by a group of our Aboriginal students, who worked with proud Warumungu and Yuggera man and artist, David Booth. David taught the students about the significance of Aboriginal art and how it is used to tell stories. The students used this new knowledge to make a design that tells a story about the Brighton Secondary School community.
The artwork is called “Living and Learning on Kaurna Land”. The story of the artwork represents the 6 house groups that compete every year at Brighton Secondary School on Kaurna country. The centre circle and U shapes represent the school and students competing. The lines linked to the group symbols are their connections to the groups. The outer U shapes represent family and supporters, the footprints are their journeys and the kangaroo and emu tracks represent moving forwards continuously. The lines with dots indicate rain on country and the regrowth of plants and handprints of the students shows their connection with the land, water and our ancestors. Aboriginal people hold a deep connection to country and have looked after country for thousands of years.
