NAIDOC Week

'Keep the fire burning: Blak, loud and proud'

This is the theme for this year's NAIDOC week and so our activies have centred around investigating what this means.

During the week, students have participated in an activity each day, these have ranged from cross age group work to didgeridoo meditation.

To start us off, we all listened to the story "Our Home, Our Heartbeat". This was to tune us in to what makes each of us special. Everyone decorated a heart shape with the things they hold dear to their own hearts.

Next, we learnt about the importance of the camp fire and fire in general to Indigenous people. We watched a video about 'yarning circles' and the importance of sharing stories and talking around the circle. Everyone is equal within the circle and that this is how knowledge and stories are shared. We created our own 'campfires' and placed ourselves around them.

We were very lucky to have our Art teacher, Miss Maree share some pictures and videos of her work in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. Miss Maree travels regularly to communities to create mosaic murals and brought some artifacts to share as well. During Art Miss Maree helped students to create a musical instrument to re-create the sounds of rain...they were lovely!

In our regular PBS groups students listened to some podcasts about sounds of the bush (country). We listened and discussed and then drew what it made us think about or feel. Some groups then listened to the sounds of the 'Bunyip bush".

Didgeridoo meditation took place Friday. Tom played the didge, while we all relaxed and cleared our minds!! Thanks so much to Tom for volunteering his time!