Kanahooka High School has launched a new program to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander female students, becoming the first school in the Illawarra and New South Wales South Coast to establish a NASCA Young Women's Academy.
The voluntary program is open to Indigenous girls from Year 7 to Year 12 and will provide cultural, wellbeing and educational support.
Kanahooka High School, a government secondary school in the Illawarra region, launched the academy earlier this month with a smoking ceremony and welcome from Aunty Joyce Donovan.
The program already has 30 students involved, with capacity for up to 50.
NASCA, the National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy, was first established more than 30 years ago to increase Indigenous participation in sport.
It has since expanded its focus to education, school retention, cultural pride and healthy lifestyles.
Former Kanahooka High student Katie-Lea Wheeler has returned to the school as part of the NASCA team.
"We help the girls with a lot of wellbeing support, do cultural activities - it's really about mentorship," Wheeler told Region Illawarra.
"We help them get careers outside of school, to succeed in educational outcomes at school and always embed cultural activities in whatever we do."
The academy will run weekly sessions covering areas such as goal setting, mental health, study skills and cultural learning.
The students will also have access to one-on-one and group mentoring and wellbeing workshops.
Wheeler said each session would be shaped around the needs of the students.
"Depending on what outcomes we need to look for, or target at that time, we would embed a lesson, so it could be about goal setting and then we will go into a culture activity afterwards, which could be like games or just an information session to teach them about something in our culture," she said.
The program adds to Kanahooka High School's existing support for Indigenous students, including its Clontarf Academy for boys.
Aboriginal Education Head Teacher Ben Rostron, who will oversee the program, said the school had been looking for a similar program for girls for some time.
"There hasn't really been any Indigenous girls programs in our area, so we've been on the lookout for a long time for this support for our girls," he told Region Illawarra.
"We came across NASCA - the closest one to here is in Airds near Campbelltown - so after community consultation we were able to get in contact with NASCA and get the first Young Women's Indigenous academy on the Illawarra and South Coast."
Mr Rostron said the school had strong links with the local Indigenous community and wanted families, Elders and community organisations to be part of the academy.
He said the program would not only support Indigenous students, but also help build understanding across the wider school.
For Wheeler, the program is something she wishes had been available when she was a student.
"I think it really would have opened up my cultural awareness," she said.
"It wasn't until I left school that I started to embed into my culture and really reach out to my community."
The students will also be able to use a dedicated NASCA room during recess and lunch to share a meal and have a yarn.
