Victorian State School, Yarrunga Primary School replaces foreign language studies with Indigenous language studies.

Victorian State School Yarrunga Primary School has transitioned from teaching Japanese language studies to teaching Bpangerang language after the school expanded its Indigenous language teaching.

Principal Fran Waterman said “We were teaching Japanese but there really wasn’t a pathway to learning Japanese at any of the secondary schools and so I thought this is an opportunity for us to transition to teaching Indigenous language.”

The school has two teachers, Michael Jenkins and John Higgins, both approved by local elders who run the lessons. They are guided by elder Uncle Dozer of the Moiraduban clan of the Bpangerang nation.

He said “they [Moiraduban clan of the Bpangerang nation] were stoked to see Bpangerang language being shared with the students and the wider community.”

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