The Nawarddeken Academy offers a unique model of bi-cultural, community-driven education in remote Indigenous communities in west Arnhem Land. The Nawarddeken Academy was established at the request of local Indigenous elders, who wanted desperately for children to be able to access fulltime education in their home communities.
Based in the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area (IPA), the Nawarddeken Academy began in 2015 at the community of Kabulwarnamyo as a one-teacher classroom under a tarp, with minimal resources. Since these humble beginnings we have grown and thrived, now operating three registered independent schools at Kabulwarnamyo (registered in early 2019), Manmoyi and Mamardawerre (registered in late 2021).
We are teaching young people about the country, the walking routes, the place names, experiences with the country and then they in turn follow this way. This is not a new thing. It's just what our old people before us taught us.
Our Academy and community will work together to make our kids strong in both Bininj (Indigenous) and Balanda (non-Indigenous) learning, so that when they leave the Academy they have the knowledge, skills and confidence that they need to make good life choices.
Charter
Car (during the dry)
Jodi Vallak
Kabulwarnamyo
Manmoyi
Mamadawerre
The Nawarddeken Academy story begins in 2002 when professor Bardayal Lofty Nadjamerrek OAM established the Manwurrk Rangers at Kabulwarnamyo - a forerunner of the company today known as Warddeken Land Management Limited (WLML). This ranger program pioneered Australia’s first carbon abatement project, allowing Traditional Owners to live and work on their country.
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