Topic Spotlight

Reconciliation Week at BPS

Each year level embraced Reconciliation Week with meaningful activities and reflections. We invite you to discover how our students across the school participated in honouring this important week.

Prep

As part of our Reconciliation Week celebrations, the Prep students read Somebody’s Land by Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing. The story helped us explore the meaning and importance of an Acknowledgement of Country. We learned that an Acknowledgement of Country is a way to show respect to the Traditional Owners of the land and to recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have cared for Country for thousands of years.

To deepen our understanding, we decorated leaves with traditional Aboriginal symbols, which we learned can be used to tell stories and share knowledge. This activity helped us to connect with Aboriginal culture in a creative and meaningful way.

Year 1

In Year 1 we thoroughly enjoyed listening to Briggs (Adam Briggs), the famous Aboriginal Australian rapper and singer read his picture story book 'Our Home, Our Heartbeat' aloud. We loved how he included so many famous Aboriginal Australians in his book and we found out that he is thinking of writing another book. We were impressed with all of the brightly coloured illustrations in the book, by Rachael Sarra; a talented Goreng Goreng artist and Kate Moon; an illustrator and character designer from Melbourne. We followed the read aloud with our own colouring. We were inspired by the colours used in 'Our Home, Our Heartbeat'.

Year 2

For Reconciliation Week, the Year 2 students learnt about the story of Bunjil and the importance of Bunjil to the Bunurong people. We watched some videos of First Nations People retelling the story of Bunjil and then had a go at drawing our own interpretation of Bunjil. They explained that some First Nations people believe that Bunjil created the land, animals and people. We also learnt about how places in Australia got their name and learnt the different First Nations names for places. We loved referring to Melbourne as ‘Naarm’!

Year 3

For Reconciliation Week, the Year 3 students have been reflecting on Australia’s history and the impact of the First Fleet on the lives of Aboriginal Australians. They have been building their awareness and appreciation of Country through class discussions, reading stories by Indigenous authors, and writing their own Acknowledgement of Country. The students also reflected on their visit to McCrae Homestead, where they learnt about the strong connection formed between the McCrae family and the Bunurong community. They recognised this relationship as significant in demonstrating how mutual respect and friendship developed between Europeans and Indigenous Australians, particularly through the shared use of art.

Year 4

The Year 4 students are reading the novel 'Uncle Xbox' this term, written by Indigenous author Jared Thomas. For Reconciliation Week, the students used the Indigenous language map to investigate Kaurna country (where the story is set). They also listened to an episode of the 'Word Up' podcast in which Indigenous artist James Tylor shares his love for the Kaurna word paitya (meaning "deadly") - a word the main character, Dusty, often uses. The students were also challenged to learn some Kaurna names for native Australian animals, playing a memory game and completing a colouring sheet. Overall, they enjoyed investigating more about the place Dusty comes from and deepening their understanding of his Indigenous culture.

Year 5

The Year 5 students learned about the history of Reconciliation Week and why we celebrate it. They were offered three activities to commemorate Reconciliation Week. The activities were:

Significant Indigenous Australians: students researched famous Indigenous Australians who are 'deadly' and give back to the Indigenous community.

Songlines: students learned the significant role songlines play in Indigenous culture and created their own individual songline.

Podcast: students listened to a podcast about Yallock (the waterways). They created their own podcast or slideshow about the Indigenous culture, land or animals.

Year 6

Year 6 acknowledged Reconciliation Week by watching a video about Patty Mills and exploring his cultural heritage and contributions as a proud Torres Strait Islander. Students reflected on the meaning of reconciliation and revisited key historical events such as the 1967 Referendum and National Sorry Day, building on their learning from last term.