Student News

RECONCILIATION WEEK AT SOUTH MELBOURNE PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL

I would like to begin with an Acknowledgment of Country. 

In the spirit of reconciliation, I acknowledge the land on which our school is located, the land of the Bunurong People of the Kulin Nation. I would like to pay my respects to elders, community members and families at our school who make up our Koorie community. I draw attention to the long history of knowledge and culture passed down through storytelling and song lines within the First Nations communities. Teaching us all that we learn from history and pass this knowledge down through generations. This land has never been ceded, it always was and always will be Aboriginal land. 

At South Melbourne Park Primary School, we are committed to respecting, 

acknowledging and incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into our teaching and learning programs. By acknowledging National Reconciliation Week between the 27th of May and 3rd of June is just one way we are working to celebrate the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and all other Australians. These two dates are two significant events in our history. With the 27th of May being the date the 1967 referendum was passed including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 

Peoples in our constitution. Then June 3rd when the Mabo decision was made recognising Native Title. 

All classes have been invited to acknowledge this week with Reconciliation Week activities, an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander authored text read aloud and a yarning circle around the theme Now More than Ever. To launch this week, we would like to invite all families to attend the assembly on the 24th of May where a student constructed Acknowledgement of Country will be read and aspects of the week discussed. 

Hope to see you there!

YEAR 3 NEWS

The Grade 3 classes have been reading a wonderful book, ‘Runt’ by Craig Silvey. It’s about a stray dog Runt, that is found by a young girl and together they enter into dog competitions. The issue is Runt does not like people watching him perform. We have been unpacking riveting vocabulary, watching videos about droughts, dog competitions and agricultural shows and learning about country life in Australia. Our most recent creation about this text was mapping the town ‘Upson Downs’ how we visualised it from the descriptive words in the text - see the beautiful pictures!

‘Runt is about a family that are in a drought and they are doing things so they can make money and fix the farm. I like Runt because Fergus Fink never succeeds.’ – Seb L 3A

‘I like Runt because it is really funny and there are lots of problems and solutions. It was funny when Bernadette stopped Fergus Fink from winning the agility course.’ – Harry 3A

‘The book is set in a tiny country town called Upson Downs, in Western Australia. This town is in a drought which is causing it hard to live’ – Amelie S 3C

‘I like how Runt was a stray dog and not just a pet from a store’ - Leon 3B

‘Earl steals all the water and Annie is on a mission to help the town get the water back’ - Trinity 3B