Students from Galilee Catholic Primary Bondi can’t wait to take visitors on a walking tour of their beloved village, as part of the 2022 Bondi Festival.
Curated by kids from Galilee Bondi in collaboration with an artist, The Village By the Kids walking tour will see nine students take groups on an adventure through North Bondi on the weekends of 9-10 and 16-17 July.
“The walking route was designed by the kids with locations holding significance to them,” Brian Anderson, Principal of Galilee Bondi, said.
The tour begins in front of Galilee Primary and takes the audience on a walk through the neighbourhood with stops at the local framing store and hairdresser, the local butcher, a street garden, a local reserve and back to the main street.
Their mini-guides will be Year 5 students Chloe, Tayla, Khloe, Jasmine, Xavier, Mila, Flynn, Marcus and Tyler who have loved every minute of this experience.
Comments have ranged from “I have had a great time being a part of this project” and “I had so much fun” to “I loved walking through the neighbourhood during school and meeting local businesses” and “I had a great time recording our stories”.
Principal Brian Anderson with some very knowledgeable mini-guides.
How it all began
Galilee Primary collaborated on this project with artistic producer Claudia Chidiac, multimedia artist Nick Wishart, visual arts educator Cayn Rosmarin and writer and performer Nitin Vengurlekar.
“Claudia approached our school to participate in the project after being commissioned by Waverley Counc
A sneak peak at some of the preparation that has gone into the tour.
il to create an audio walk made by local kids for the Bondi Festival,” Mr Anderson explained.
“The project required a school that was open to collaboration on such a unique project, and we were thrilled to work alongside Claudia and her team of artists to partner on presenting this exciting work.”
He said the project began with Claudia leading a workshop. Then, gradually, it became a co-collaborative relationship partly led by the kids and by the artists.
“The artist brings expertise in sound design, writing and visual arts. The kids bring local knowledge, their imagination and creativity!” – Brian Anderson
Mr Anderson encouraged everyone to get along to Bondi, to pop on their headphones, download the app and follow Galilee’s mini-guides through their neighbourhood.
“I am very passionate about ensuring children have unique experiences that are non-traditional and develop skills beyond what can be provided in the school context,” Mr Anderson further remarked.
“School experiences should create positive lifelong memories and this outcome can be achieved through participation in this project.”
