Cleveland Education and Training Centre (CETC), the school inside Cleveland Youth Detention Centre, has won the Specialist Educational Setting Award in the 2023 Anzac Day Schools' Awards.
The awards are hosted each year by the Department of Veterans' Affairs and are a national competition to recognise the work of students, teachers and schools who engage with veterans and honour Australia's wartime history. This year's theme was – Commemorating Australia's Vietnam War service.
The CETC entry was noted to reflect many innovative adaptations made to suit the learning environment and styles of students in the school's care with participation in various academic, creative, social and emotional activities based on commemoration and learning about the service of Australians in the Vietnam War.
To bring the Anzac Day project to life CETC staff, youth detention centre staff (led by the programs team) and young people worked together for many hours to create an art installation featuring handmade and strung poppies, wreaths and wooden silhouettes. They handmade poppies to sell to raise funds for Mates4Mates and fresh flower wreaths that were laid beneath the flags during the centre's Anzac Day ceremony. Young people learnt about different aspects of the Anzacs and the Vietnam War throughout the project.
Their art installation was designed to recognise the sacrifice and contributions made by service men and women. The silhouetted figures represent the three branches of Australia's military. The silhouetted helicopters symbolise the conflict and the vital role the Iroquois played in transporting troops and supplies and getting the wounded to hospitals in time to save the lives of many who would have otherwise perished. The poppies are a remembrance for those who died in war and who still serve in the Armed Forces.