YUMI Community News
Read the latest community news and updates from our program participants across the Torres Strait.
Taba Naba
One of our best-loved and well-known tunes, “Taba Naba” is a traditional song originating from the Eastern Islands in the Torres Strait. Made popular around Australia by Christine Anu with the Wiggles, it describes the everyday activity of going out to the reef to fish. Here’s how we use it for ‘mat time’ in Strait START…
Our voice matters: Guiding cultural competency for Australian teachers
The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) is currently leading a project on developing the existing teaching workforce's cultural competency. With input from TSIREC and Tagai State College leaders, AITSL has recently launched a discussion paper that outlines the current knowledge and understanding of cultural competency and its practice among the teaching workforce and highlights some of the challenges and barriers faced in undertaking this work.
5 reasons why Strait Start is better than ever
In late 2020, five new Strait Start services opened their doors and were welcomed by the smiles of young children across the Torres Strait.
Under a partnership between TSIREC, YUMI Education and Tagai State College, the Strait Start program has offered early education and parenting services in our communities for over ten years. In 2020, however, all services were closed so an independent review could consider how the program could be improved and made more sustainable into the future.
This process of review and redesign has resulted in significant improvements for the much-loved program. Here are those improvements.