Pearcedale Primary School wins Wakakirri wildlife division with story about plight of orang-utans
PEARCEDALE Primary School has won a storytelling contest with a tale about palm oil plantations and the plight of orang-utans in Indonesia and Malaysia.
The school won the Wakakirri division at the Victorian event for the best wildlife story and are now in the running for the national title.
Teacher Kate Davies said the students were very interested in the concept of orang-utan habitat destruction due to palm oil plantations after hearing a guest speaker talk about the issue.
“She spoke about her experience and that inspired our story,” she said.
“It gives our story more meaning because they are able to relate to real world experiences.
“The whole thing is told through dance and movement and the students’ emotions, there are no words and no voices.”
Wakakirri was started in 1992 and is the largest performing arts event for schools in the country. More than 20,000 students take part and one million people watch the performances each year.
The Aboriginal word Wakakirri means ‘to dance a story’ according to Wangaaypuwan people from Cobar in NSW.