Our House Banners

By Ms Karen Mahar, Acting Deputy Principal, Head of Junior School

Radford College staff and students share an optimistic outlook towards building trusted and meaningful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and non-Indigenous Australians in the future. We believe the foundation of these relationships will always be strongest when built on the foundations of understanding, gratitude and mutual respect.

During Reconciliation Week, we are proud to highlight the partnership that exists between our Junior School and Ms Jodie Munday.

Ms Munday, a contemporary Aboriginal artist, travels in from Gundungurra Country near Goulburn, to Radford College each week. She draws inspiration from a combination of her Wiradjuri heritage and her British/Celtic lineage. Working across a range of mediums, including weaving, painting and wood burning, her creations are deeply rooted in her connection to Country, showcasing its native animals and vegetation.

In May 2022, Ms Munday partnered with the Radford College Junior School and embarked on an ‘Artist in Residence project’ to create a series of house banners in collaboration with our students and staff. Drawing upon the inquiry and research, and artistic expressions of Year 3 students from 2022, each banner has been meticulously designed to reflect the identity of the Radford houses, named after Australian native trees and plants, each distinguished by their unique colour.

Ms Munday took inspiration from drawings and sketches made by Year 3 students and turned them into large banners. She intentionally added water to each design to highlight how life-giving and important water is for living things.

Working alongside students, she used numerous sketchbook designs, enlarging them onto the three-metre-long canvases. Painting with students each week, small groups of Junior School students would sit and work, filling in the large shapes with acrylic paint and brushes. Later, Jodie would add the final touches, including black outlines, patterns and dots, with students assisting her wherever possible.

Jodie Munday's vibrant and expressive designs, magnifying the colours, shapes, and textures of each house, serve not only to ignite curiosity in the characteristics of native trees and plants but also to foster a deeper connection to Country and Aboriginal culture, and more importantly, enriching our house spirit at the College with a spectacular visual display.

This collaboration is a stunning collection entitled "Yirrayirra Miyagan Mumbal" – meaning "Bush Family Blossoms" – a testament to the flourishing partnership between art, education and Indigenous heritage.

We are proud and delighted to be able to hang all the works together in R.A. Young Hall. Our collaboration is a tangible illustration of our commitment to reaching out in reconciliation to strengthen our understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, language, art and knowledge.

It's like our way of saying – Look how awesome nature is and look what we can do when we work together.