Creating pathways to success through the performing arts
After consultation with the community of Bidyadanga and the Western Australian Education Department, Girls from Oz connected with La Grange Remote Community School and ran our first pilot program in the second half of 2022.
As of 2024 Girls from Oz has delivered 10 Community Programs in Bidyadanga.
Girls from Oz is committed to providing high-quality performing arts education and opportunities to the students of La Grange, giving girls and young women a welcoming and safe environment to practice positive risk-taking, to find their voice, and to strengthen their confidence and resilience. Through the proven power of performing arts engagement, we strive to contribute to the overall wellbeing of each and every participant and to open doors to future educational and career pathways that would have otherwise remained inaccessible to them.
La Grange Remote Community School
La Grange Remote Community School caters to the educational needs of students from Kinder to Year 12 and is the largest Remote Community School in Western Australia.
In addition to a strong commitment to developing the literacy and numeracy skills of its students, the school offers a diverse range of specialist programs across all year levels including music, art, physical education and information technology.
‘If we enable the conditions for students in the most remote parts of Australia to explore their artistic passions, then we enable them to continue to explore who they are and who they want to be; strong, passionate people who know their power.’ – Dan Walker, Principal, La Grange Remote Community School
Between the ocean and the desert
Bidyadanga, or ‘La Grange’, sits on Karajarri land which is also home to the Juwalinny, Mangala, Nyungamarta and Yulpartja language groups.
The word ‘Bidyadanga’ comes from the word ‘bidyada’ or ‘pijarta’, meaning ‘emu watering hole’.
The town is situated on Western Australia’s Kimberley coast and sits 1590 kilometres northeast of Perth and 180 kilometres from Broome.
As of 2021 Bidyadanga has a population of 593 with 517, or 87.2% of residents, identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (ABS Census Data 2021).
With a high percentage of residents aged between 12 and 25 years, the community of Bidyadanga is committed to prioritising and meeting the needs of their young people to ensure their growth and success. Most recently, this has included the development of a Youth Centre and a community swimming pool, with planned construction of the Bidyadanga Art and Culture Centre also underway.