The development of the Kuwarddewardde Malkno (Stone Country Seasonal Calendar) was initiated by Elders and community members from across the Warddeken IPA as a response to the rapid decline of cultural knowledge in younger generations.

Although seasonal calendars exist for neighbouring regions, there was no comprehensive seasonal calendar for the Stone Country, where the resources, ecosystems and languages are very different from lowland regions.

Using Bininj seasonal knowledge as the foundation, the Kuwarddewardde Malkno (KWWM) forms the epicentre of the curriculum and framework of learning at Nawarddeken Academy.

With six Bininj seasons forming the teaching and learning structure of the school year, the Culturally oriented curriculum runs on a three-yearly cycle centred around 18 unique conceptual units, each focused on Bininj Lore and knowledge.

Developed in collaboration with Elders, rangers and community leaders, this pioneering curriculum allows us to coordinate and structure cultural learning priorities within a framework that drives and informs all learning experiences at Nawarddeken Academy.

Running on a three-yearly cycle, each year the KWWM Curriculum includes six thematic units, linked directly to the Arnhem Land Plateau seasons. These integrated units unpack important seasonal indicators and explore customary stories, songs, skills, sacred sites and cultural knowledge prevalent in that particular season, whilst explicitly linking this learning with the Australian Curriculum Key Learning Areas and Northern Territory Indigenous Language and Culture frameworks.

We have continued to grow our database of mixed-media cultural resources for each conceptual unit, to support staff deliver quality bicultural teaching and learning experiences. In addition to the seasonally thematic curriculum, a custom IT scope and sequence has been developed to enhance learning experiences by embracing an array of apps and software programs, whereby students are supported to use technology to tell their stories and create multimodal texts to share cultural knowledge.

This cutting-edge approach to learning, blending ancient wisdom and modern technology in engaging ways, would not be possible without our ongoing partnership with Culture Tech.