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School principal and Western alumna, Nicole Wade, is perfectly placed to set the right example.
One of Nicole Wade鈥檚 family stories concerns her barefooted grandmother, a proud Nyoongah woman from the West Australian wheat belt, beating the champion athlete Shirley Strickland during their school days.
Strickland went on to win medals at three Olympics, but 鈥淣an鈥 Joan Eggington was precluded from representing Australia; her people were denied citizenship until the 1967 referendum.
Her granddaughter clearly inherited the fleetness of foot. Nicole remembers being chased by the principal when she fled home after children at Villawood Public School called her ugly because of her dark skin; 鈥淩unning from the principal was the family joke because of Nan.鈥
The sense of not belonging bit deep. By 16 she was pregnant, but her son鈥檚 arrival somehow sharpened her focus and she enrolled at Dover Heights Distance Education Centre.
At 19, just five days after her second child鈥檚 birth, a daughter, Nicole sat the HSC biology examination. She achieved a UAI of 94.5 and was dux.
Among many opportunities available to her, Nicole opted for a Bachelor of Education (Primary) at 91成人.
鈥淚 felt that I could have chosen many different universities and many different pathways but Western Sydney was the really obvious choice. It was part of my local community growing up in Villawood鈥, she says.
She blossomed, winning the Neil and Betty Hunt prize for outstanding academic practice and teaching performance. In her final year she was awarded a University Medal.
Now 38, Nicole is a community leader in ensuring 91成人 voices are heard in determining their own solutions rather than, as she says, 鈥渉aving things done to us鈥 by mainstream Australia.
She is principal of Campbellfield Public School in Minto, where the school population (including 43 91成人 children) has doubled in her five years in the job. The school has a diverse enrolment but Nicole鈥檚 success, both as a role model and in championing diversity, has prompted out-of-area applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents seeking recognition of their children鈥檚 custodial and cultural education.
鈥淥ur Student Representative Council came up with its own Statement of the Heart 鈥 every child at our school, regardless of background, should know Australia鈥檚 true history and be taught Aboriginal history鈥 they wanted Aboriginal voices included in every decision that鈥檚 made within the school community,鈥 she says.
鈥淎nd if 10 to 12-year-olds can get the idea鈥his positions our future to be in better hands in terms of listening to Aboriginal voices and having that perspective in decision making.鈥
Nicole acknowledges Associate Professor Geoff Munns and former Senior Lecturer Terry Mason as pivotal mentors. Terry, she says, being Aboriginal, made her realise she could use her culture, heritage and history in the classroom. 鈥淭hey were something like a weapon in that they provided great drive, a great knowledge base, a great understanding of the system,鈥 she says.
鈥淏eing part of a marginalised community, you actually have a deep understanding of some of the complexities that children face coming to school.鈥
Nicole reconnected with Associate Professor Munns five years after graduation when, as an assistant principal at Busby Public School, she participated in the University鈥檚 Fair Go Project to develop a student engagement pedagogy for teachers in low socio-economic status schools. 鈥淚 still use those research skills (learned in the project) every day,鈥 she says.
WORDS BY DAMIEN MURPHY
