Marrung

RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN (RAP)

Earlier this week, we held our first working group meeting to begin developing our RAP. It was lovely to come together and hear the reasons why members of our RAP team have joined the group, and gather their thoughts on what reconciliation means for our community. 

The members of our working group are:

Staff: Tim Phillips, Julie Crawford, Jonah Read, and Terri Gioia

Parent/Community: Miranda Radtke, Nina Taylor and Melanie Bowie, with several other community members finalising their involvement.

Students: Our school leaders will be collecting student voice in Term 4 to feed into our working group meetings. 

Our next meeting will be held in October, where we will start shaping our vision for reconciliation at Wonga Park Primary School. 

SCHOOL VISIT

At the end of August we had the chance to show Uncle Arbup Peters (Koorie Education Coordinator) and Kira Peters (Koorie Education Support Officer) around our school. We shared the progress on our new 'Welcome Garden' and performing arts room. Uncle Arbup and Kira are helping us to find a meaningful WoiWurrung language word to name our new performing arts room. Stay tuned! 

We extend a thank you to Arbup and Kira for coming to visit and for sharing their ideas.

FIRST NATIONS RESOURCES

Language:

Woiwurrung is a language spoken by members of four Koorie clans that lived in adjoining areas in the Port Phillip region.

Source: https://www.vacl.org.au/languages/

Learn a Woiwurrung Word:

Many of our students from Prep to Grade 2 are learning about animals as part of CBL this term. Below is the Woiwurrung word for koala:

To Read:

Come Together

Things Every Aussie Kid Should Know About the First Peoples

***HONOUR AWARD FOR THE 2023 CBCA 'EVE POWNALL' AWARD***

Come Together is a heart-warming, debut picture book for children from artist Isaiah Firebrace, inspired by his petition to the Australian Government calling for Aboriginal history to be taught in every classroom.

In this essential book, Isaiah, a Yorta Yorta and Gunditjmara man, establishes a foundation of First Nations knowledge with 20 key topics. Alongside bright and contemporary illustrations by Mununjali and Fijian artist Jaelyn Biumaiwai, Isaiah connects us to each topic through his own personal story and culture, from the importance of Elders to the Dreaming.

To Watch:

First Nations Bedtime Stories

11 - 15 September 2023 ~ 5 Dreaming Stories, 5 Days

First Nations Bedtime Stories is an annual week of storytelling. It brings Dreaming stories as old as time into homes and classrooms around Australia. This year the stories are held and told by Noongar community. To receive these video stories each day to your email, sign up at https://firstnationsbedtimestories.com/

Here is one of the videos from this year; Nyingarn Koorda Djinanginy. 

Nyingarn Koorda Djinanginy is a story about a little nyingarn (echidna) who wanted a friend but was too spiky for all the other animals.

Tim Phillips

Marrung Leader