Wingham Public School alumnus and current Wingham High School captain, Lester Andrews, was bestowed the honour of raising the Torres Strait Islander flag for the first time ever at Wingham Public School.
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Also present for the occasion was Uncle Russell Saunders, who raised the Aboriginal flag, also for the first time at the school.
The occasion was the unveiling of the two additional flagpoles, added for the inclusion of the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander flags.
With about 22 per cent indigenous representation within the student body, the June 21 flag raising ceremony was a timely addition to the school's already established range of indigenous cultural activities.
"We do cultural programs, language, didgeridoo. We've got a bush-tucker garden that Uncle John Taylor designed and built with some carvings that Uncle Russell did for us," Wingham Public School principal, Rita Pittman said.
Also appearing at the ceremony were the Taree High School dancers, who added to the festive atmosphere - an occasion described by Mrs Pittman as a 'celebration'.
The event met with an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the students.
"They loved it. They really did and just this afternoon, one of the boys on bus duty said to me, 'that flag raising ceremony was beautiful,' Mrs Pittman. I said 'Yes, it was actually' and you know, it was a serious topic and important, but it was also just really nice and refreshing," principal Pittman said.
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