Year 4 News
From Elly and Georgie, Year 4 teacher
Student write about Reconciliation Week
This week we recognised National Reconciliation. We read lots of different books about Reconciliation, Sorry Day and other indigenous themes.
Our students reflected on what Reconciliation Week means to us
Asma: Sorry Day is about saying sorry to the indigenous people because thousands and thousands of years ago the white people came and took the indigenous people's land.
Pareen: When we talk about reconciliation I think about language, culture, traditional owners, land and colour.
Miranda: Reconciliation is about sharing land and promising they will never take country away again.
Mundell: When we talk about Reconciliation Week I think about the Stolen Generation. The indigenous people were treated terribly.
Ronit: Reconciliation Week is about saying sorry to the indigenous people because the white people took their land.
Emina: One thing I have learnt this week is that when the indigenous people first saw the white people they welcomed them to their land with cheering and smiling.
Max: I learnt that when the white people took the children away they thought it was a good idea, but it wasn't.
Sulaiman: I learnt that when the white people came to Australia they called the land 'terra nullius' which means 'no ones land'. They thought it belonged to nobody and they took it away from the indigenous people.
Johnson: Sorry Day is when the whole Australian community finally comes together to say sorry for what we have done to the indigenous people.
Mary: Reconciliation Week makes me think about the Stolen Generation when children were taken away from their families. They did not learn about their land and culture and they were very sad.
Khang: When we talk about Reconciliation Week I think about how the white people came and took the land and the animals and trees from the indigenous people.
Gabrielle: Sorry Day means saying sorry for what we did in the past and remembering to work together in the future.
Osama: Reconciliation is about saying sorry for what happened in the past and it made people very sad.
Lucas H: When we talk about reconciliation I think about when the children were taken away and they didn't just forget their family they also forgot their culture.
Raj: Reconciliation Week means about respecting the indigenous elders both past and present. I feel angry when I think about the white people treating the indigenous people badly just because of their colour.
Des: When we read about Reconciliation Week it makes me think about how they sent aboriginal children to foster homes and they had no connection to their parents.
Lucas W: Reconciliation week is about the traditional owners because when the white people took the land away they didn't know how to care for it, the elders tried to teach them but they ignored them.
Charlotte: Reconciliation Week is about apologising and recognising the mistakes we have made in the past and bringing people together.
