Over the past month, students in the Wiriny Buru class have worked together on a special project to create a lasting contribution to their learning space. As a class, we explored the meaning of Wiriny Buru, which translates to “Star Place,” in Yawuru and discussed how we could visually represent this within our environment.
After sharing our idea with Ms Nat, she was excited to see one of the outside garden walls transform. Ms Nat suggested incorporating the St Mary’s College colours into the design and also shared an important piece of the school’s history. Some of the bricks in the wall had been carefully recycled from an original Nulungu College building before it was demolished where a mural had been painted by students. She asked that we honour this history by preserving these special mural bricks rather than painting over them.
To better understand their significance, students looked through historic photographs of the original mural and learnt about how bricks were traditionally made. We then carefully masked the heritage bricks to protect them throughout the painting process.
Working together, students applied a base coat of St Mary’s College blue before adding vibrant orange stars across the wall. The finished mural beautifully reflects the meaning of Wiriny Buru, creating a colourful “Star Place” while celebrating both the school’s history and the students’ creativity.
A huge congratulations to all of the students involved for their enthusiasm, teamwork and pride in creating a meaningful legacy for the Wiriny Buru space.
