Kadjina Community, Western Australia

Kadjina is situated approximately 300 km ESE of Broome and 100 km SW of Fitzroy Crossing in the central south of the Kimberley region, Western Australia.EducationKadjina Community is situated on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It has a school called Wulungarra Aboriginal Independent Community school which caters for children from 3 years of age to year 10. The school is named after the nearby Wulungarra Hill which has a story sacred to the area.The school began as a campus of Noonkanbah station in 1987 when the Laurel family first moved to Kadjina. Everyone lived at the old station house and the school was there as well. In 1997 Wulungarra became independent from Noonkanbah and the community and school moved to the current position. At that time the school only had one teacher. It now (in 2012) has two classrooms, a library,a staffroom and administration building, computer room, music room and a kitchen where lunch (provided by members of the community) is cooked each day. The music room is extensively used by the local musicians and also as a third classroom when needed. The computer room is also used outside school hours.There is a non-teaching principal, usually two teachers, two or three aboriginal education workers and three or four other locals who are employed as cook, gardener, admin worker. The Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Cultural Centre employs a local person to be in charge of the language and cultural aspects of the school. This person works closely with the chairperson and principal and delivers and plans language classes, bush trips and inter-community events with other Walmajarri communities.The school kitchen is called a Homemaker Centre and is usually run by a local elder who cooks a hot meal every day for all the children in the community. The food for this hot lunch is provided by members of the community through 'chuck-in'. Children also receive a piece of fruit at morning break supplied by school.