A primary school is under fire for a play that left parents horrified after it featured some students dressed as nuns to abuse “Aboriginal” children.
A story sparking major discussion today is about a Northern Beaches primary school, Forestville Public School, that staged the “Australia You’re Standing In It” concerts, which featured younger students wearing “sorry” placards, reports Daily Telegraph.
The school praised the play in its newsletter, saying: “We were pleased to see that at last the truth is being taught about Australia’s ‘discovery’ by Captain Cook as well as the ‘truth’ about our treatment of the stolen generation”.
Reports say the concert’s scenes included sections featuring grade 6 students dressed up as nuns “pretending to mentally and physically abuse the children playing the role of the stolen generation”.
Last night NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes said he was “aware of concerns in the community about content covered in a recent student concert” and requested a “full report from the Department of Education on what occurred”.
“While acknowledging the event was well intentioned, I wish to apologise to anyone who was offended by any of the performance,” he said.
A statement from the Department of Education said: “As part of the year six student presentation on the stolen generation, students reproduced placards they’d seen in source material. The Department of Education is currently looking at the circumstances of this particular activity.”
Do you think the school did the wrong thing? How would you feel if your child was involved in this play?
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