On Monday 27 March 2023, La Salle College officially opened a new and important part of its College community – our Yarning Circle.
La Salle was honoured to have Superior General Br Armin Luistro, Brother Visitor Br Timothy Peter, Nan Roma Winmar, Vaughan McGuire and Vanessa Corunna as guests for the special occasion.
Vaughan McGuire delivered a beautiful Welcome to Country through his storytelling and song. This was followed by candles being lit from the La Salle College candle by Br Armin, Ms Fiume, Br Tim and College Captains Jessica Scarfone and Riley Marshall.
This light was carried in a coolamon by the Elders, who, led by Vaughan McGuire performed a traditional smoking ceremony using eucalyptus leaves and bark to create smoke to cleanse the area and ward off bad spirits from the people and the land.
The smoking ceremony was livestreamed to students and staff inside the College Gymnasium.
It was a privilege to have Br Armin, Br Tim and so many local Elders in attendance to mark and celebrate this important College event.
Highlighted through Br Armin’s presence is that La Salle College in Middle Swan is part of a much larger Lasallian community, a world community.
This community is a key feature of the education at La Salle and through our new Yarning Circle, the hope is that students and the local community will use the space to meet, share stories and knowledge that help to build stronger connections that ignite a sense of belonging not only in the Lasallian community but in the world community too.
We are grateful to staff member Bethany Farmer for her leadership of this project and to our amazing students who designed the Yarning Circle and worked with artist Athol Farmer to paint the six Noongar seasons on pots and plant natives to create a welcoming meeting space for current and future Lasallians.
Tomasina (Class of 2022) was involved in the planning and design of the yarning circle and said, “the yarning circle will be good because we can share our stories and teach our culture”.
