Michelle Smith
NAIDOC Week is an important week to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It presents us educators the perfect opportunity to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. So, here at BPS, that’s what we did!
In the NAIDOC trail, children had to find the poster with the letter and the QR code posted around the school to access information from a specially made website with information about 6 topics pertinent to Aboriginal culture, traditions and histories:
‘N‘ was for NAIDOC week where a video was accessed with Rebecca, our Principal, welcoming children to the learning trail.
‘A‘ was for Art, and for appreciating the colourful dot painting mural outside LA6, and finding out that Aboriginal Art is not all dot paintings!
‘I‘ was for Invasion, and how many First Nations land, culture and even language was threatened and lost, and how it is important for all Australians to respect and honour the traditional owners of Australia and work towards true reconciliation.
‘D‘ was for Dreaming stories and for Dionne, our ACEO, who read Dreaming stories important to Aboriginal cultures.
‘O‘ was for objects and ochre that children could touch and feel.
And finally, ‘C‘ was for Culture and learning about the fact that there are more than 250 indigenous cultural groups living in Australia.
We know that one-off events cannot truly change the inequity and hurt experienced by First Nations peoples and equalise the status of many Aboriginal peoples and communities. That’s why, we as a school community, will endeavour to continue to program and deliver meaningful and authentic learning experiences that promote First Nations cultures and histories, not just for our First Nations children and families, but for every child in our school.
