“ Our Academy and community will work together to make our kids strong in both Bininji (Indigenous) and Balanda (non-Indigenous) learning, so that when they leave the Academy they have the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to make good life choices.”

It is a vision, captured for purpose, that is often the primal force behind the establishment of a school. And so it was with the creation of Nawarddeken Academy, situated in the Kuwarddewardde (stone country) upon the Arnhem Land plateau. The Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area borders this spectacular landscape and is home to 36 different clan groups.

It was the famous painter Professor Bardyl Lofty Nadjamerrek AO who established the Manwurruk ranger program at Kabulwarnamyo from which evolved Warddeken Land Management Limited (WLML). This was an impressive development as it pioneered Australia’s inaugral carbon project. This innovative undertaking enabled traditional owners to live and work on their country. For several years children had to be left with extended families in larger towns, such as Gunbalanya and Maningrida to access education. These were more populated and complicated communities with other issues, while their parents worked away on the project on country. Professor Bardyl Lofty Nadjamerrek his Wife, Children, Elders and Parents dreamed that one day there would be a local school for the children from Kabulwarnamyo. The families of the Kuwarddewardde people were happy there, safe from the challenges of the larger settlements, with the enjoyment of being on their own land and the opportunity of meaningful work, particularly the ever important rangers,who were charged with the responsibility of effectively caring for the land and running the innovative carbon project.

The desire of the families, who chose to live and work at Kabulwarnamyo, was for a school. So, the Elders and People lobbied hard for it. However, it was not to be. Their dream was of “two - toolbox” education to make their children strong in two worlds - Bininji and Balanda.

At this point it is important to emphasise that a school at Kabulwarnamyo`was part of the offering that would support the really important carbon project by not only keeping families together but by practically engaging students in work, vital indeed for climate challenge and providing an opportunity for students to have a worthwhile job when they left school, so growing the next generation of land custodians .

The project itself is fascinating. Aboriginal rangers burn the country at the end of the wet when the ground is damp and therefore the burn is slow and cool. The burn promotes vibrant new growth so that the carbon generated by the burn is well and truly eclipsed by the growth. This enables the community to receive carbon credits which are sold to industry which is searching for suitable offsets to their own carbon creation. The money raised then helps finance the community and the school. Importantly the children are not distant from it but amongst it. So Narwarddeken Academy is indeed a School born of fire.

The solution was therefore to be found in establishing a school. The local people knew that to have effective teaching, schooling would need to be for five days. The continuity of schooling for all children is vital in producing acceptable outcomes. In addition, this school would provide a unique opportunity for Elders to teach young people on country through songs, stories, bush food and local art all as an important part of the program. So, this would provide the unique opportunity for Elders to engage with young people on country. The school could be housed in a simple structure, supervised by a carefully chosen board of local people and a small number of co-opted members with significant business and educational experience, and a capable head teacher with competent staff who understood Bininji ways.

And so Nawarddeken Academy moved onto the drawing board and vibrant, creative energy was generated. In 2015 with the support of Warddeken Land Management, the Karrkad Kanjdji Trust and Gunbalanya School, the Nawarddeken Academy was established at Kabulwarnamyo. It was notable as it provided, as hoped for, “two-toolbox education” for children who were of school age.

In 2016 an Early Learning Program for pre-school children was established, well supported by local women which also provided training and part-time employment for them.

In 2017 the Nawarddeken Academy Limited (NAL) was registered as a wholly owned subsidiary of WLML. The board was established and in December 2018 the school gained Independent School Registration.

The school is located in West Arnhem with the main town being Maningrida. This isolated town plays an important role in the area-

population 2518 (2021). The town is also known as Manayingkarirra or Manawukan. It is 500km east of Darwin by air and 300km north east of Jabiru. It is on the North Central Arnhem Land Coast on the Arafura Sea, on the estuary of the Liverpool River. The town, as a service centre has a school, health clinic,multiple food outlets, two supermarkets, service station, arts centre, crèche, sealed runway airport with daily flights to Darwin and a 25 meter swimming pool.

The distance from Maningrida to Kabulwarnamyo by road is 138.2km.

The Academy explains that, “an average school day begins with literacy and numeracy, integrated with science, history and geography guided by the national curriculum. Throughout the day students focus on cultural learning activities, guided by the community and “bush trips” that take advantage of the unique natural environment and cultural setting in which the school is situated”. They are receiving what “our old people before us taught us”. The school has developed as planned in this unique setting.

Nawarddeken’s first CEO was Shaun Ansell, who at the time, was also the CEO of Warddeken Land Management. Shaun’s leadership was instrumental in the development and growth of both Warddeken and Nawarddeken.

An important aspect of the school’s success is the stability of the first and very capable Principal, Olga Scholes, who has been on this journey since 2016 and became CEO after Shaun’s departure.

She is a fine educator and leader and for these schools, in isolated areas, to have a leader who is prepared to provide good continuity is so valuable. She is always looking at ways of improving the school’s offering and performance and has a deep understanding of the local people combined with that of being Principal in a very remote area. She has a wonderful gift of being able to work effectively with the local people.

Impressive is the school room itself which has a canvas roof, no solid sides, a testimony to the determination to get the school up and running. Teachers who are very dedicated also live in smaller but similar structures.

Dreams can come to life - wouldn’t Bardyl Lofty Nadjamerrek be so proud and pleased with what has been achieved.

Understanding the Objectives and Guiding Principles of the school is vital in understanding Nawarddeken Academy as a place of learning. The following is from the Academy’s website.

OBJECTIVES

• Empower young people to be strong and confident in both knowledge systems and who have the capacity to become ambassadors internationally.
• Preserve Nawarddeken languages and culture through bilingual and bicultural experimental learning.
• Promote intergenerational education where communities share learning experiences to conserve indigenous knowledge and languages.
• Develop clear pathways for young Indigenous people of West Arnhem Land that match their aspirations and the aspirations of their families.
• Support the social, cultural, emotional and physical wellbeing of every child.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

• Respect, and the ability to integrate customary modes of learning guided by our old people with a “western” educational curriculum.
• Facilitate a unique curriculum based on our land, language and culture, using formal and informal teaching and learning approaches; emphasising mental and physical health, while cultivating respect and responsibility.
• Incorporate flexibility, enabling continuous improvement and positive responses to changing circumstances.
• Access all available technology to overcome the disadvantage of our geographical remoteness, and to ensure our resilience.
• Recruit, support and retrain high quality staff underpinned by strong leadership and competent governance.

With the initial School being located at the small community of Kabulwarnamyo, a ranger station, two other small communities which were also ranger stations, Manmoyi and Mamadawerre were keen that schools be started in their communities.

In 2021 Independent School registration was granted to each of these projects and midyear 2022 the two schools, which are campuses of Nawarddeken Academy Limited, were opened. The ceremony was held at Kabulwarnamyo and amongst those who attended were Eva Lawler the NT Minister of Education and Jason Clare the Federal Minister, highlighting the importance of these developments.

With an Early Learning Program, three schools registered to teach full - time education for a number of years, the next step was logical. Secondary School was required for those students whose families dream for them to graduate on country. In 2024, NAL submitted an application to register a secondary school. Nawarddeken Academy Kunmayali School was registered at the beginning of 2025, offering the Northern Territory Certificate of Education subjects so that students don’t have to leave their families to be able to finish year 12.

The 4 Schools now have 9 permanent teachers and 9 Bininji teachers. The school caters for around 60 students. There is one Principal and CEO for the four schools, Olga Scholes.

Part of the schools’ administration is located in Darwin which enables it to have access to facilities which are important for the appropriate administration support to be provided to the four schools. This model has been very effective.

How exciting it is that this is taking place on the remote Arnhem Land plateau in the spectacular stone and gorge country in an area that is the home for 36 different clan groups. Students are responding well to the offering of bicultural schools where Bininji and Balanda teachers deliver a curriculum around the Kuwarddewardde Malkno or the Stone Country Seasonal Calendar aligned with the Australian Curriculum. The three campuses of the Nawarddeken Academy are delivering what the Elders and Community members decided when they sat down originally to discuss what they wanted a school to deliver.

The Nawarddeken Academy Model is very effctive and has already been used to successfully establish some similar small schools in the neighbouring Djelk Indigenous Protected Area (IPA). In 2022, traditional owners from Djelk IPA approached the NAL Board for support to start a new company to do this work. With the administrative support of NAL and financial backing of KKT the Homelands School Company was established and has submitted registration applications for 3 independent schools located on Homelands within the Djelk IPA.

Once something is pioneered successfully it gives others the confidence to establish something themselves. The huge challenge is to plough the first field and then watch the seeds sown come to life.