In Year 6, students have been looking at how themes are explored in the stories they read. They are learning that themes are essential ideas in stories that are suggested by the author but not directly expressed. They are also learning how a theme can be divided into Thematic Concepts and Thematic Statements.

An example of a thematic concept could be ‘Friendship’, while the thematic statement for this could be ‘Friendship is possible even if you do not have a lot in common with another person.’ Once the statement has been developed students are learning how the author uses plot and character actions and dialogue to communicate this theme.

See some examples by some of the students in 6GB:

Thematic Concept

Family

Thematic Statement

No matter how far apart you are, your family will always be with you.

Evidence

No matter how far apart you are, your family will always be with you, is clearly shown in the book, ’Stolen Girl’. When the girl is taken away from her mother she imagines her mum hearing her sing from her fire. Even though the other girls at the children’s home say that she is never going home, she doesn’t give up hope that one day she’d see her mum again. Some of the older girls were taken to white homes to work, the others said they were lucky but the girl didn’t want to be lucky because she wanted to be with her family. While at the home, she was forced to forget her past but she kept it close to her heart which kept her going. When finally, she sets off on her journey home, it seemed like her family was going to guide her home.

By Audrey Posselt, 6GB

Thematic Concept

Loss of Identity

Thematic Statement

Your true self will shine through even when your identity is taken away.

Evidence

The idea of your true self will shine through even when your identity is lost is explored in the story, ‘Stolen Girl’. The girl is indigenous, learning everything from her mother. She sings songs and learns to hunt and swim. One day she is taken from her mother in broad daylight. In the Children's Home, she still sings traditional songs and speaks her language even when getting told off. Even though she now had a different name, she still acted like herself. Her persistence shone through when she escaped and ran away to be with her mother to a place where she belonged.

Angus Freeman, 6GB

Thematic Concept

family

Thematic Statement

There is no substitute for family

Evidence

There is no substitute for family is a thematic statement explored in the book, Stolen Girl. In the book an aboriginal girl is taken away from her mother while she is shopping for flour. She is then taken to an indigenous children's home by a man in a uniform. She is forced to speak a foreign language and is not allowed to sing her songs. Other children at the home say that if you are taken by a white family, you are lucky. But she doesn’t want to be taken away, she wants to be with her original family and she doesn’t want a substitute for her mum. At the end of the story she escapes so that she can’t be taken by a white family and begins searching for her original mum.

By Evan Draco, 6GB

Thematic Concept

Family

Thematic Statement

Even if your family is far away, they will always be with you.

Evidence

The idea of your family will always be with you, even if they're far away is a theme explored in ‘Stolen Girl’. When Stolen Girl was taken away to a children's home, they tried to make her forget the past. But she didn’t. Stolen Girl always thought about her culture and family. Sometimes she even dreamed of being with her Mum sitting by a fire listening to stories. As time went by Stolen Girl watched the older girls get taken away by white families, apparently, they were lucky. But Stolen Girl didn’t want to be lucky, so she decided to escape so she could make be with her mum again even though she was far, far away.

By Harper Skinner, 6GB

Thematic Concept

Family

Thematic Statement

A family can be separated, but that doesn’t mean that they are forgotten.

Evidence

A family can be separated, but that doesn’t mean that they are forgotten is clearly communicated by the author in the story “Stolen Girl”. In this story, a girl is taken away from her mother to an indigenous children’s home. There she met other girls who had been taken away too. The girls told her that she would get used to the place, but she never did. After months of being separated, the girl had still not forgotten any of the stories that her mother had told her. In dreams, she revisited her mother and the place that she used to live in. One day, she saw other girls being taken away to live with white families. People told her that you would be lucky if you were given the chance to stay with another family. The girl then realised that she didn’t want to be ‘lucky’ like other kids. She practised swimming in the river and learned how long it was before people realised that she had disappeared. The stolen girl escaped back to her unforgotten family.

Hugh Ling, 6GB

Thematic Concept

Belonging

Thematic Statement

Even when far from home, you cannot forget where you belong.

Evidence

The idea, even when far from home, you can never forget where you belong, was explored in the story ‘Stolen Girl’. When taken away from her mother, the girl never forgot her home. She sang songs from her home that many people wanted her to forget and always repeated her real name when she was given a new one even when she was punished for doing so. Though others told her that she would get used to it away from home, she never did. The memories of her mother kept her from doing so and gave her the courage to escape. She never forgot where she belonged.

By Ilka Wheatley-Young, 6GB

Thematic Concept

family

Thematic Statement

A family is unique and cannot be substituted.

Evidence

The idea that a family is unique is explored in the book ‘Stolen Girl’. The man in the uniform took the girl away from her mum and sent her to a children's home. At the children's home the girls were taught to forget about their families and forget about their way of life. However, they should not have taken the girls from their family because every family is different and unique in their own way. Some girls were sent to different homes to work for white families. They were ‘lucky’ because they were treated very differently to how they used to be treated in their families. When ‘stolen girl’ slept, she tried to send messages to her mum through the stars as a way of remembering her family. Because she did want to be ‘lucky’ and live with a white family, she escaped to find her true family.

By Sid Feltham, 6GB

Thematic Concept

belonging

Thematic Statement

No matter how hard people try to get you to fit in, sometimes you will never belong.

Evidence

No matter how hard people try to get you to fit in, sometimes you will never belong is explored in the story, ‘Stolen Girl’. When the girl was taken from her mother she was dragged into a car and driven away. When she was sitting in the car she closed her eyes and wanted the man to forget that she was there. As she arrived at the children’s home she never felt like she belonged. The girl would always think of her old home and she always asked when am I going home, when will I see my mum. I think that the little girl did not feel like the others. All the other girls had gotten over missing their families and have embraced the lifestyle and go along with what they were told. But Stolen Girl refused to accept that she would never see her mum again. And it eventually came to the day when she decided to run away and go back to where she belonged.

By Isobel Rhodes, 6GB

Thematic Concept

freedom

Thematic Statement

Without freedom there can be no happiness.

Evidence

Without freedom there can be no happiness is what the author explored in the book ‘Stolen Girl’. In the beginning when she listened to her mum’s stories and learnt how to catch food, the girl was happy. She had freedom. When the girl was taken from her mum and put into the children’s home she was sad and unhappy because she wasn’t free. While in the home what made her happy was dreaming about her mum and the songs that she sang. The only way she knew she was going to be happy again was to be with her mum so she escaped to find her and to be free.

By Raff Groves, 6GB

Thematic Concept

Belonging

Thematic Statement

Your home is the only place where you truly belong.

Evidence

Your home is the only place where you truly belong is definitely a point that the author was trying to get across. An indigenous girl is taken away from her mum and placed in a children’s home. Although other aboriginal girls are there she never truly believed she belonged. As she feels this sadness and loss of identity she runs away. Belonging is shown in this story in many different ways such as when the man took her away he said “you’ll like it here,” which was saying that you will belong here but he was really saying that you have to come here because you need to belong not that you will. Although all these points are valid, the main one is that the teachers at the home wanted her to fit in or belong with white people. They taught her to read and speak their language they wanted her to belong to. They made her wear the worn dress and learn to be a white person. They tried to take away her culture by not letting her speak her language, but the place she felt like she truly belonged was home where her mum sang her songs and taught her how to catch food.

By Lucia Kennon, 6GB

Thematic Concept

culture

Thematic Statement

Culture isn't around you, it is inside you.

Evidence

Culture isn't around you, it is inside you is explored in the story “Stolen Girl”. When the aboriginal girl was taken away from her family to the children’s home they tried to make her let go of her culture and identity. They shouted at her when she spoke in her own language and sang her people’s songs. They tried to turn her into a white person but one day she decided that they couldn’t make her something she wasn’t and she escaped to go back to her mother.

By Solomon Gordon, 6GB

Thematic Concept

Culture

Thematic Statement

Even with drastic change, you should never forget and ignore your true self and culture.

Evidence

‘Even with drastic change, you should never forget and ignore your true self and culture’ is shown in ‘The Stolen Girl’. The main character had just been separated from her family forever, a huge change in her life. In her time in the indigenous children’s home, she was told to follow British culture and the way that they did things, and was punished for following her true culture, like speaking her own language. Because of this, she was separated from her entire culture. She knew very well that now when Australia was dominated by white people, her culture would be looked down upon. Even though she was now being raised in a place where it was best to forget her culture, she stood her ground and eventually knew deep down the best thing to do was to escape the children’s home and find herself again.

By Noah Lakkis, 6GB

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