Our school has been built on the lands of the Wallumedegal people. Connections to the land and to the traditional custodians of this land are embedded into our story.
Our School Name
'Ngarala' is the Dharug word for 'learning together'. 'Ngarala, is representative of our school and what all stakeholders will be doing, relevant to their role. Our students, staff and parents will be learning together as we nurture each child that walks through our gate, so they leave our school as well-rounded people who are critical thinkers with transferable skills for their future. 'Ngara' means 'to listen, hear and think' and when joined by the suffix 'la' the meaning transforms to 'learning together' by way of listening, hearing and thinking.
Our Emblem
In consultation with local families, the overwhelming majority indicated that should an indigenous name not be approved, they wanted the name of the school to represent the local area. Our families love the area they live in surrounded with plentiful bush and park lands. As our indigenous name was approved, a decision was made to integrate our community's love of their area into our emblem.
Our emblem is comprised of gum leaves, bush trees that are prolific not only in the area of Epping, but also on our site. So significant that there were 25 trees that had to be maintained as a part of the build, representing 11 different species, many of which were gum.
Our school is only 5km from National Park land and is surrounded by four waterways - Terrys Creek, Byles Creek, Lane Cove River and Parramatta River. The orange vein along four leaves represents these waterways. The colour orange links us to both the land and the hue of our totem Wallumay (snapper) darting through the waterways.