From The Classroom

Team 3-4 Incursion - 'Aboriginal for a day'

On Wednesday 12th February, Team 3/4 students participated in a special cultural incursion called ‘Aboriginal for a day’. This incursion supports the learning in the classroom of the history of the Australian community including Indigenous communities, the First Fleet and stories of first contact between European settlers and Indigenous Australians.

Students began the day altogether, listening intently to our 3 presenters, who spoke a little bit about their culture and what was in store for them for the day. To really immerse students into the Indigenous Australians culture, they had their face painted with traditional art. They were then split into 3 groups and rotated between 3 different activities.

One activity involved students learning about symbols used in traditional artwork. They then listened to a story and watched as the presenter used these symbols to tell the same story through a visual representation. Students then had the opportunity to create their own artwork.

Another activity involved students learning a special dance. The girls were dancing eagles, whilst the boys were dancing emus. They learned some basic steps and put them together to the beat of some traditional clapping sticks.

The last activity had students learning more about Indigenous Australian culture through the use of dreamtime stories. Students were amazed to learn that there are 324 Aboriginal tribes in Australia and each tribe speak their own language.

To finish off a wonderful day, the students were treated to a special performance by the presenters. They watched as one presenter played the didgeridoo whilst another danced wearing traditional clothing and paints. Some students were even invited up on stage to show the dance they had learnt earlier in the day. Overall, it was a wonderful incursion that really immersed our students in the culture of the Indigenous Australians.