Pertame School NTAIC Grant
Case Study
What was the issue?
Pertame is a severely endangered central Australian language; less than 30 elderly people still speak the language fluently.
The Pertame School was formed to provide a forum for Elders to pass on their language and cultural knowledge to the next generation. The school uses language immersion techniques developed by Indigenous communities in California, enabling babies and children to be raised as fluent speakers.
English is a foreign language. Pertame language is our language. It’s our identity, it’s who we are, it’s where we come from, it’s our family. We have to instill in the children a love of their language, a love of their family, their culture, their land and therefore a love of themselves. Kathy Swan-Bradshaw
What did we do?
The school operates in a temporary facility, restricting its ability to expand or plan for the future. Our role was to help them apply for a substantial grant through the Northern Territory Aboriginal Investment Corporation (now Aboriginal Investment NT) to design and construct a new classroom in a more suitable location.
We worked closely with Vanessa Farrelly from the Pertame School and the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education to develop a compelling case for funding. We prepared conceptual drawings, a project description, a budget, a risk assessment and more – all the intensive, onerous elements required in government applications – and good news, we were successful!
We are now working with the school and government to refine the project scope to ensure this new facility is realised as quickly as possible.