‘Reconciliation means all people coming together.’ Leah
“This year during National Reconciliation Week, Reconciliation Australia invites all Australians to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories, to share that knowledge and help us grow as a nation. ‘Don’t Keep History A Mystery: Learn. Share. Grow’ explores history hidden just beneath the surface, ready and waiting to be uncovered. This National Reconciliation Week learn more about the Australian story.” www.reconciliation.org.au
Our Early Learning philosophy states Indigenous culture is respected and, together with children and families, we endeavour to increase our knowledge and understanding of our First Australians. It also shares our commitment to learning about the world around us. There are opportunities to connect with nature to learn its value, extend knowledge, gain understanding of finite resources and to experience the joy of living in our world.
It was fitting for us that National Reconciliation Week and World Environment Day were positioned days apart, as there are many links we can make in our learning and teaching programme.
Each Early Learning group acknowledged and explored National Reconciliation Week in different ways. Stories were read and shared, and children and educators engaged in discussions about the land and its people.
The Girls’ Pre Prep group linked their discussions about Reconciliation to their recent concern for the amount of rubbish they had seen on the School grounds. The girls were particularly concerned for their beloved Fairy Tree, as they had noticed a lot of litter around their favourite space.
‘Reconciliation means all people coming together.’ Leah
‘Taking care of each other.’ Kaylee
‘We need to look after our world by keeping it clean.' Thalia
‘We don't want rubbish to split our Earth in half. The Earth might vanish if we put too much rubbish on it.’ Trixie
‘We don't want to give our Earth more rubbish because we don't want it to get sick.’ Aria
‘We need to keep our Earth safe because we don't want it to break into pieces.’ Sabine
‘We don't want to put rubbish at the Fairy Tree otherwise it will get sick.’ Wendy
The girls collaborated to create a sign to encourage the School community to think about their litter and its effect on the land.
'Please don't put rubbish under our Fairy Tree. It will make the Earth sick. Rubbish needs to go in the bin. We want our School to be clean. The Aboriginal people looked after the Earth before we were born.'
Miss Sarah Denholm
Director of Early Learning