A community of students and families congregated, warmed by a large campfire on the evening of Tuesday 15th June to celebrate NAIDOC Week. We listened to what the NAIDOC theme of Heal Country! means. We learnt that embracing First Nation’s cultural knowledge and understanding as part of Australia’s national heritage will create a viable future to care for our environment.

Barker Global hosted Wayne Cornish, Operations Manager of Muru Mittgar to speak to Firestick Farming and how this sustainable land conservation method can be incorporated into land management. Some of these practices have been recently being reintroduced to areas in the Blue Mountains. Wayne explained that when firestick burning is conducted, the land is burned in an outwards direction from a central location so that the animals that inhabitant the land can escape. Of course only when conditions are suitable for these burns are they carried out. Wayne hopes to share this knowledge with all connected with his family and country.

Wayne fielded questions from the audience ranging from Indigenous connection to the land and if native fauna and flora can be reintroduced from low stress firestick farming

The message was that if all inhabitants of Australia have some connection to the environment and look and learn from it, that many places will heal, animals and fauna will regenerate and species that we did not know were native to an area will return.

Wayne Cornish is the operations Manager at Muru Mittigar, which is a Drahug organisation dedicated to making a significant, measurable and lasting difference in advancing the Dharug and Aboriginal culture. 

Barker College wish to thank Wayne Cornish for his time and for sharing his knowledge with our community.

Dr Matthew Hill

Dr Matthew Hill is the Director of The Barker Institute with a focus on professional learning, research, and innovation in the school.  He teaches Physics and the new Science Extension course at the School which introduces students to scientific academic research. Matthew's doctorate reflects his passion for science education focussing on Representational Fluency amongst physics students at school and university. He has published in leadership, education, and science journals and been involved in course development and teaching at The University of Sydney and The University of Western Sydney. He has also completed a Graduate Diploma in Divinity at Ridley College in Melbourne.