Aboriginal Education

Dear Parents and Carers,

NAIDOC Week 

We are looking forward to our NAIDOC Week celebrations in Week 1 of Term 3 where we have a whole week of activities planned. On Tuesday, students will be completing activities based on the 2023 theme, For Our Elders. On Wednesday, we will be having our whole school NAIDOC Week celebration and we are very excited to be welcoming parents and families to teach with us on this day. We hope that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families can join us for the whole or part of this day. On Thursday, students will be completing mathematical learning linked to Gurrungutch and on Friday we will be creating something very special in our school collaboratively with our buddies.

Aboriginal Perspectives in Preschool

At Oak Flats Public School Preschool, we aim to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into our curriculum each day. Our curriculum links to the Early Years Learning Framework which supports an authentic link to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives as a way of supporting Reconciliation. As educators we reflect on our practices and work with the community to strive for a genuine connection. 

We aim to do this by ensuring that our learning environment has connections to our First Nation People’s culture in all areas. For example, we have bush tucker matching cards, a variety of dolls, fabric with printed artworks, symbol cards in the sandpit, songs, puzzles, stories, and the Dharawal seasons are used in our weather chart. Our recent display of the AIATSIS map has supported the children’s discussions and some children are now able to identify the location of the Torres Strait Islands and Dharawal country. Sorry Day flowers were a creative expression that the children embraced. We have used this year’s focus for Reconciliation Week to listen to the children’s voices on what reconciliation means to them. Currently, we are exploring the story of Gurrungutch, what the gather symbol means and the concept of Elders. Next, we hope to recreate the Aboriginal, Australian and Torres Strait Islander flags using painted handprints and start to grow bush foods in our vegetable garden.  

Emily Chatterton and Elisa Higgs

On behalf of the Aboriginal Education Committee