Fire Carriers

What is National Reconciliation Week?

Reconciliation is about recognising our mistakes and saying sorry.

During this week is the anniversary of when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were recognised as equal citizens of Australia. We recognise that they are the traditional owners of this land and we need to respect their rights to the land of Australia.

Reconciliation is more than a word - Reconciliation takes ACTION!!!

VIDEO What is Reconciliation? - Explained by a child - for other children

This week the FIRE Carriers lead the whole school in the Acknowledgement of Country and Prayer each morning, they organised an Indigenous game for the junior school, hosted a lunchtime quiz for each year level and ran a colouring competition. They also hosted the National Reconciliation Week Assembly on Friday.

Loving God,

We thank You for the beautiful land we share,

and for the rich cultures of the First Peoples of Australia.

Help us walk together with courage, truth and kindness.

May we always listen with open hearts

and learn with respect.

Let us be peacemakers, truth tellers, and friends to all.

We pray this in Your name.

Amen

Do you know why we say an Acknowledgment of Country?

An Acknowledgement of Country is a special way to show respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who have cared for the land, sky, and waters of Australia for thousands of years. When we say an Acknowledgement of Country, we are thanking the Traditional Custodians of the land we are on right here at now, the Bun Wurrung people, and recognising their deep connection to it.

We acknowledge the Boon Wurrung people,

the Custodians of the land our school is on.

We pay our respect to their Elders and acknowledge

their continuous connection to Country.

We come together in peace and harmony,

respecting the dignity of each person.

The theme this year is Bridging Now to Next.

This theme asks us what we are doing NOW at OLA to celebrate our Indigenous people and history and what can we do NEXT to do this even better.

We will ask each classes SRC to come forward and help build OLA’s Reconciliation Bridge from Now to Next.