It was once an Aboriginal mission site known for some as the last stop before Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls. Now, thanks to the passion of a principal and a local community, it has been transformed into the department’s first education centre dedicated to Aboriginal culture.

The Brungle Aboriginal Environmental Education Centre, which shares 3.7 hectares with Brungle Public School, has evolved out of a simple desire by Brungle Public principal Geoff Naylor to raise his students’ literacy levels (90 per cent of whom are of Aboriginal descent).

“It was all done to get the kids to read and write better,” Mr Naylor said.

Mr Naylor knew local Aboriginal families did not have happy memories of their time at the school and he needed to generate a sense of belonging for the families and the students.

“Families did not learn about their culture and were not allowed to speak their language,” he said.

“We wanted to create a school where culture was respected, where students loved to learn and the community feels welcome.”

The two-teacher school, which lies between Gundagai and Tumut, started with a Learnscape program to improve curriculum outcomes. Attendance lifted as did results. Elders, parents and other community members were invited to share their culture with the students, which resulted in a bush tucker garden, a dreaming room run by the elders, and a traditional village complete with gunyahs (shelter made out of bark and sticks).

The centre opens every Thursday for educational tours (led by the Brungle students) and camps. Visitors have also come as far as the United States and the United Kingdom.

“What we’re basically doing is trying to spread the good things we’ve done with other schools,” Mr Naylor said.