By Dongyun Kwon
Healesville Primary School’s Grade 6 students recently finished their legacy project.
They painted a huge mural on the asphalt around the basketball court during term three with local Palawa Aboriginal artist Amanda Wright.
Grade 5 and 6 Teacher Kelly Laidlaw said Amanda came in many times over the term and worked with the students.
“We have about 33 Grade 6 students, so they were in smaller groups to work with Amanda each week,” she said.
The mural commemorates the story of the creation of the Dulai Wurrung (platypus in the Woi-Wurrung language).
In the story, a rakali (water rat) and a duck fell in love and eloped.
Students were encouraged to voice their ideas on the project and think about what they would like to create alongside what colours they were going to use.
“I really enjoyed painting this because it was really fun and we got to be creative,” School Captain Madison Prendergast said.
Ms Laidlaw said students were inspired by the school’s logo.
“We always have a platypus on our logo and our Cultural Education educator Brooke Wandin gave some ideas about the life creation of platypus between a water rat and a duck,” she said.
The students were proud to have their own legacy in the school, which will remain even when they are grown up.
“I think it’s good that we were able to be a part of this and when we come back here in the future, we’ll say proudly that we did this and we were a part of this,” another School Captain Ruby Collins said.
