Peel High School officially open yarn circle giving Aboriginal students a space to learn about culture

'Dharri-baa', meaning home of the bearded dragon, was the name given to the sacred space as it was christened with performances from staff and students on Thursday afternoon.

Year 11 student Kaysha Finlay said it was hard to put into words what the yarn circle meant to her and her culture.

"It's finally showing the appreciation our culture is finally getting," Kaysha said.

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"It deserves something like this."

Kaysha said learning about Aboriginal culture wasn't something you could do properly in a classroom setting.

"It's verbal, it's practical, having something like this just gives you more opportunity to really connect," she said.

"At school you can feel so out of place, but this is somewhere you can come and just reconnect and gather yourself."

With around 360 students at Peel High School identifying as Aboriginal, the space is designed to offer them a place to express their cultural identity.

Aboriginal education officer, Billy Stanton, said he hoped the yarn circle would help improve attendance and educational outcomes for students, by giving them a place they want to come to.

"I hope it's somewhere they can come and think, somewhere they can come down and want to be at school," Mr Stanton said.

Director of the Gomeroi Dance Company and Tamworth Regional councillor, Marc Sutherland, said the space was something he wished he had access to when he graduated from Peel High School in 2005.

"When I graduated we didn't really have a space where we could come outside and participate in programs, let alone cultural programs," Cr Sutherland said.

It's taken the whole community to get the yarn circle to where it is now, something Cr Sutherland said the school should be proud of.

"We are part of a legacy," he said.

"We're only able to do what we do because of the efforts people have put in before us."

While it's a space for Aboriginal students to immerse themselves in culture, Mr Stanton said he hoped to see non-Indigenous students out there learning as well.

"We're trying to bridge that gap," Mr Stanton said.

"It's so they understand where we are coming from, if we don't teach them how are they going to respect Aboriginal culture?"

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