School News
National Reconciliation Week
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is celebrated across Australia each year between 27 May and 3 June. The dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey — the anniversaries of the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision. Last week was a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements and to explore how each of us can join the national reconciliation effort. The theme this year is ‘Grounded in Truth’.
It is a time to acknowledge the past and look towards a united future. It is about our nationhood, citizenship, identity and maturity. It is about the kind of Australia we want to build, what it means to be an Australian citizen and the values that express citizenship. Central to Australia’s view of itself as a nation is the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the wider community.
May 27 - Marks the anniversary of Australia’s most successful referendum and a defining event in our nation’s history. The 1967 referendum saw over 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise them in the national census. As a result of the referendum, Aboriginal people were to be counted in the census. The referendum established citizenship status and confirmed voting rights for all Indigenous Australians.
3 June 1992 - The High Court of Australia delivered its landmark Mabo decision which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a special relationship to the land—that existed prior to colonisation and still exists today. This recognition paved the way for land rights called Native Title.
Reconciliation is about unity and respect between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and non-Indigenous Australians. It is about respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and valuing justice and equity for all Australians.
The staff and students at LNPS acknowledge the traditional owners of these Kaurna lands and recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay our respect to the Kaurna people and their culture, and to elders both past and present.
Reconciliation at LNPS
At LNPS our teachers and students got together to celebrate and recognise Reconciliation Week.
Students were asked what reconciliation means to them. Here are Jed's thoughts.
In small groups students created a story using the Kaurna symbols around the theme Everyone Belongs. This is Daniel, Mitchell, Yanni and Cooper's story.