 Wulungarra Community School
Wulungarra Community School is a
small community school in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is
located south east of Fitzroy Crossing on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert and
surrounded by the Saint George Ranges.
 The
school is built on Millijidee Cattle Station and both the school and the cattle
station are owned and run by Kadjina Community
 Access
by 4WD is available for most of the year. During the wet season the Fitzroy
River and the many small creeks in that river system can cut off road access.
At these times access is limited to light planes.
When the roads are accessible we
are about 230km or three hours’ drive from Fitzroy Crossing and about 420 km or
five hours’ drive from Broome The school has two Toyota troop carriers used for
bush trips and general school business.
 The
school is governed by representatives of the community and is chaired by
Yangkana Madeleine Laurel. Yangkana is an accomplished artist and leads the
school in its commitment to traditional language and culture both through art
and through the LOTE teaching program which maintains and strengthens children’s
knowledge and use of traditional language and cultural practices. The school
has a history of supporting traditional painting and runs a literacy production
unit producing bilingual books written by students in Walmajarri and English.
Through the school’s Desk Top Publishing initiative every child in the school
can become a published author.
All children at Kadjina come to
school with English as their second or third language. Their home language
environment is a combination of Walmajarri and Kriol and English to varying
degrees. A high priority in our school is to teach the children to speak, read
and write in English. However, as the language group at Kadjina is Walmajarri,
the school has language consultants who teach Walmajarri in the school, as well
as making resources which promote the use of and profile of the traditional
language.
 The
school caters to a range of ages and abilities from preschoolers to adolescents
in two multi-aged classrooms. The community is very remote and there are few
organisations or institutions therefore babies are welcomed into the school
environment from a very early age and toddlers have a special session devoted to
them in order to give them school ‘savvy’ at an early age.
 Through
the literature production centre we have focused on developing the technology
area in our school. The children and language specialists have had training in
using both Desk Top Publishing and related IT skills
Although small, the school is well-resourced. The most
important resource for the students is always the staff who care for them. For
this reason a policy of support and professional development for all staff is a
priority.
 To
supplement the strong literacy and numeracy focus that is planned across the
whole school, visiting specialists bring the outside world in. In recent times
these have included a music specialist, science shows, a manual arts truck, a
reading specialist, a film making crew, a circus troupe, a theatre group and a
maths Questacon. In addition to visits on site students travel to other schools
in the region and to Fitzroy Crossing and Broome to take part in sporting and
cultural events.
We strive to value and respect Indigenous ways of operating
while at the same time developing skills and understandings about the demands of
contemporary society. In this way we are committed to bringing success to every
student every day.
Wulungarra Community School
Kadjina Community, Millijidee Pastoral Station, West Kimberley
PO Box 162
FITZROY CROSSING WA 6765
ph: (08) 9191 7402
fax: (08) 9191 7617
e-mail: wulungarra@bigpond.com
Principal: Ms Maggie McGuiness
Chairperson: Mrs Yangkana Laurel
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