Our School

Yipirinya School has been teaching two ways in Alice Springs since 1978.

Yipirinya is a community controlled, independent NT school that is governed by an Aboriginal School Council.

The school has a current enrolment of 302 students across both primary and secondary, of whom 100% speak a language other than English. Yipirinya School employs 90 staff of which 65% are Aboriginal.

The school works closely with the Department of Education Student Engagement, Territory Families, Tangentyere Council and the Youth Outreach Re-engagement Team (YORET) to ensure the best outcomes for students.

It is the only school of its kind in Australia that teaches four Aboriginal languages and English.

Central Arrernte

Warlpiri

Luritja

Western Aranda

English

Our School Mission

To provide quality education to the children of the Aboriginal families in Alice Springs and surrounds so that they are equipped with what they need to live positive and fulfilling lives.

What does Yipirinya mean?

Yipirinya is the true school of Alice Springs, going back to the beginning, to the Caterpillar Dreaming.

Yipirinya School is named after the ayeparenye caterpillar, for it is the totem for all Mparntwe children and is the school in which they have learnt their caterpillar inheritances.

The caterpillar childhoods at Yipirinya are constituted by other ways of knowing, belonging, being and becoming. To bring them up properly, the Elders teach them about their complex child-caterpillar-country belongings.