PR E PA R ATORY S C HO OL
Dookoorniny
delivers in the DLD
Birak, Bunaru, Djeran, Djilba, Kambarang, Makaru. These words probably do not mean anything to you, unless you were one of
the participants in, or the audience of, the Preparatory School Dookoorniny Project 2019.
Drawing on the six seasons of the Noongar
people (listed above) as our stimulus
material, our Year 5 and 6 students
once again immersed themselves in this
unique project, which this year saw them
compose a song, written in a combination
of English and Noongar language, about
their selected Noongar season. The song
was then performed by members of the
West Australian Symphony Orchestra
(WASO) alongside professional musicians,
including our very special guest Mr John
Hoffman, one of Australia’s leading Jazz and
Contemporary trumpeters.
This is the third year of the Dookoorniny Project,
named from the Noongar word meaning to
create and/or imagine.
Dr Gerard Brophy, the ‘session’ musicians
(Pete, Phil and Jesse), the Year 5 and 6
staff, Guildford Grammar School arts staff,
parents and students for working so hard to
make this year’s project such a success.
At the end of the year, at WASO’s ‘Symphony
in the City’ event, some of our students will
be performing the Welcome to Country
accompanied by the puppets, music and
stories from Dookoorniny 2018. This is a
fantastic opportunity for us to show our
shared culture to a wider audience of
between 40,000 – 50,000 people and we are
very excited to be participating in the event.
Each class also created a stunning visual
art piece, under the expert tuition of our
own Mr Ben Mattick. These pieces were
displayed around the DLD and formed a
perfect accompaniment to the student
performances. These artworks were also
based around the Noongar seasons, with
each class using their selected season as the
inspiration for the colour, shape and make-
up of the visual work.
This is the third year of the Dookoorniny
Project, named from the Noongar word
meaning to create and/or imagine. This
project encourages students to not only
immerse themselves in one element of the
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Now, what to plan for 2020…
Noongar culture, but to then express that
understanding in the creation of art works,
both visual and performance based.
A special thank you to the West Australian
Symphony Orchestra, Mr John Hoffman,
Mr Kieran Hurley
Director of Music