The Nawarddeken Academy is a First Nations-owned organisation, established in 2015 by Traditional Owners and Elders of the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area who had long dreamed of their children receiving full-time education on their homelands. The Nawarddeken Academy now successfully delivers a unique model of bi-cultural on-Country K–12 education and early learning to three very remote First Nations communities in West Arnhem Land.
The Academy was established at the request of the Nawarddeken Traditional Owners of the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area (IPA), who wanted access to full-time education in their home communities to make their children strong in both Bininj (Indigenous) and Balanda (non-Indigenous) worlds.The journey began in Kabulwarnamyo in 2015 with one teacher under a tarpaulin. As the curriculum, resources, student attendance and staff team grew, Nawarddeken Academy Limited gained registration as an independent school and wholly-owned subsidiary of Warddeken Land Management Limited in 2017. This guaranteed ongoing operational funding, employment and primary- to middle-school education for children in Kabulwarnamyo.
The Academy combines traditional Indigenous knowledge and the Australian curriculum to provide a holistic and engaging educational experience which has resulted in average attendance rates above 90 per cent. In late 2021, Nawarddeken Academy schools were also established and registered in Manmoyi and Mamadawerre at the request of Traditional Owners, which means that children at all three ranger base communities in the Warddeken IPA have access to full-time, bicultural education on their homelands. In 2023, the Nawarddeken Academy commenced the process of establishing a high school. This, combined with a growing Early Learning Program, will soon guarantee Nawarddeken children a first-rate, on-Country education for the whole of their lifetime.
