Language & Culture Program

Kii, Deadly TPS community! 

And in the words of my Yawuru language... Ngaji gurrjin/Hello everyone! I hope you are all well and safe! 

Term Two has seen many changes to the way we are teaching and learning at TPS, and with the return of students to school, there have been changes to the way I am working with my classes. I am still working from home but with the aid of technology, I am ‘beaming’ into the Koorie Classroom and ‘live teaching’ with the students, assisted by the teachers at school. 

The F-2 students may have been going home and talking about ‘Aunty Terri TV’ - they can see and communicate with me via the big TV screen in the classroom! After the whole class teaching and language practice, and with the teacher in the room supervising, I am also able to work with individual students, practising our Woiwurrung! Who would have thought, after starting my teaching 33 years ago, that I would be doing it this way!

Our focus this term has been learning or revising 

• ‘Feeling’ statements to express how we feel in Woiwurrung
• People and family nouns
• Animal nouns related to our class totems - with grades P-2 also learning and enjoying related Animal Creation Dreaming Stories and some contemporary Aboriginal animal stories
• Two key events and related topics: National Sorry Day and the Stolen Generations, and National Reconciliation Week - with grades 3-6 focussing on the history of the two dates that bookend this event: 27th May, 1967 Referendum anniversary, and 3rd June Mabo Day.

During Home Learning, students and parents have done a tremendous job recording and uploading work samples online - Deadly (Koorie English)! Burndap-dhak (Woiwurrung)! Mabu junu (Yawuru)! Excellent/Very Good (English)! Job well done! Ngoon-godjin/thank you to everyone involved! 

Some samples from online learning: