Indigenous artist Sebastian Moult helping improve learning outcomes for Lyrebird preschool students

The Nowra-based artist has helped deliver a project at Lyrebird Preschool alongside Aboriginal Elder and artist Loretta Parsley, aimed at connecting students to their culture.

With the preschool having a 30 per cent Indigenous enrolment rate, Sebastian said it was important to connect kids with their culture from a young age, and art was one way of doing this.

So far, he has helped students create their own coolamons, which are small, shallow dishes made from bark.

"They are an Indigenous tool, pretty much like a bowl, you can put berries or anything that fits in it to carry," he said. "The students were very engaged and put flowers and leaves in theirs."

"It's been an honour passing on information through art that needs to be passed on to young people."

Sebastian, who lives with autism, said the project was mutually beneficial as it's helped improve his confidence.

"I didn't start speaking until I was in kindergarten," he said. "Autism has always been on my back growing up, but doing this has just really opened me up."

Bree Carpenter was involved in the project with her son Connor and said it has made a huge difference in his learning outcomes.

Bree, who discovered she was Aboriginal a couple of years ago, said it's been a special experience learning about the culture she shares with her son.

"I have absolutely loved it," she said. "And I've loved showing Connor different things and different ways of painting."

"He absolutely excelled in doing the coolamon. He's more focused now.

"Myself and Sebastian, and Aunty Loretta involve ourselves with the kids, and it's made them more engaged."

Sebastian also helped students create posts with their hand prints on them out the front of the preschool and different mediums like dot painting, carving and sand.

The Posts of the Preschool is part of Lyrebird's curriculum which is devised on the idea of connection to Country.

It is based on engaging Indigenous people in the community to visit the school and help kids learn through Aboriginal processes and protocols, like learning through narrative, using hands-on methods and learning through environmental practice.

Sebastian is currently undertaking a Certificate 3 and 4 in Aboriginal Arts and Culture at Nowra/Bomaderry Tafe and will be returning to Lyrebird Preschool to deliver more art projects.

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