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With NAPLAN just around the corner, 100 Year 5 students from western Sydney let their imaginations run and creative juices flow at a workshop that was delivered in a culturally unique way.

The workshop was hosted at Kimberwalli and run by award-winning Aboriginal author Gregg Dreise. Mr Dreise creates culturally relevant morality tales by using animals to explore human themes such as self-image, friendship and kindness.

In his workshop, Mr Dreise explored how critical writing themes could be reworked across different genres. He spoke to students about the ‘orphan makes friends, gets help and finds courage’ storyline, and its use across multiple genres and in franchises like Batman, Harry Potter, Star Wars and Spiderman.

His key advice to students was to write about what they love with a smile.

“All great stories go down and up again, just like a smile. You have a beginning, hit the bottom, find a twist and reach the resolution. The most important part of a story is the purpose. You need the purpose first and then the end,” Mr Dreise said.

Colyton Primary School’s Lylah S said she came to the workshop with the goal of learning more about Aboriginal languages and lands.

“I liked how interesting and funny Gregg was. I learned you can reuse the same story, and you can edit it,” Lylah said.

The students also participated in a cultural art workshop where they painted cockatoos and learned Aboriginal words.

The activities also provided opportunities for students to learn about culture and history in a safe environment.

Kimberwalli Director, Kelly Stanford, said the learning experience was part of delivering the centre’s goal to support Aboriginal young people to reach their full potential through connection to culture, country and community.

“This was a fantastic opportunity for our students to showcase their creativity and their passion for learning. It’s also a way for our students to prepare and engage in NAPLAN in a fun interactive way, while also celebrating their culture,” Ms Stanford said.

For Mr Dreise, creative writing is a way to preserve Aboriginal culture while connecting with readers.

“Aboriginal people have had years of people trying to kick culture out. I had stories from elders not speaking the language at school and that pummels confidence and creates a culture of shame,” he said.

“My job is to go around to kids and teach them the opposite. We are a culture of storytellers and pride.”

The annual NAPLAN testing period for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 starts on 11 March and runs through to 23 March.

NAPLAN assesses students across reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation), and numeracy.