FIRE Carriers

Dear Richard and Caitlan 

Thanks very much for making it possible for the FIRE Carriers to help open our 'From the Heart' Workshop last Sunday. All five students came, Alice, Annabel, Bella, Alessio and Ben. They were wonderful ambassadors for OLA Parish Primary. As Joan Kenny has mentioned in the attached suggested contribution for the school Newsletter, their grace, confidence and co-operation were evident to everyone. Please pass on our thanks to Alice, Annabel, Bella, Alessio and Ben and to their parents. If there is an opportunity for us to thank them on some occasion at the School, we would be very happy to do that. Thanks again.  

Best wishes, Adrian and Tony 

for Care for our Common Home Group 

FIRE Carriers open ‘From the Heart Workshop’

On Sunday 21 May, a “From the Heart Workshop” was held at Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Church. The workshop explored the “Uluru Statement from the Heart” and the forthcoming Referendum on the Voice to Parliament.

Five FIRE Carriers – Alice, Annabel, Bella, Alessio and Ben – carried the Aboriginal Message Stick with me into OLA Church, to open the Workshop. 

I met the FIRE Carriers to plan their roles shortly before we processed into the Church. As a team they decided on what each one would contribute when they took the microphone to explain the role of FIRE Carriers, together with one FIRE activity that each student has been involved in. I was very impressed by their planning, carrying the Message Stick into the church, and their confidence and clarity at the microphone. 

Thanks to the parents who brought the students to the church on a Sunday afternoon, and thanks to the students for their inspiring contribution to the Workshop. 

Joan Kenny, Care for our Common Home Group.

This week is National Reconciliation Week. 

The theme this year is Be a Voice for Generations.

National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.  The theme encourages us to be a voice for reconciliation in all of the things we do in our day to day life.

Living Culture Cultural Walk

On Monday 22nd May the F.I.R.E Carriers along with Mrs Lee and Mrs O’Meara went on a Cultural Walk at The Briars in Mount Martha! Our amazing guide Hudson from Living Culture was fantastic! As we walked we stopped to listen to him tell us about respecting the land and he also shared with us the wide variety of uses for the plants and trees that were right in front of us!  Plants that our First Nations people have used for thousands of years to eat, remedy headaches, clear sinuses, provide nutrition, use to fish and make ropes and spears from and so much more. We learnt so much and even got to taste a few of the plants! We have such a rich history right on our doorstep- what a fabulous experience! 

Recently the F.I.R.E Carriers went on an especially enjoyable walk. Something special on this walk took my breath away. This was the view, we saw lakes, trees, bushes, tents made with sticks, native animals and so much more. My favourite view was when we were at the top of a hill. I had an amazing, once in a lifetime experience. 

Ben

Hudson told us how to rub some Eucalyptus leaves in our hands to make a natural panadol. You smell the scent and it helps clear sinuses and helps us concentrate better.

Alastair                   

Hudson foraged and found us some native spinach named bower spinach and we even got to try it! The spinach was really fresh, crunchy and very salty. We got to taste a few things but this was definitely my favourite. 

Annabel          

While we were on our walk, our tour guide Hudson stopped to tell us about  a type of tree. According to Indigenous Dreamtime stories, there were once two birds who created the Earth. They were Bunjil the Eagle and Waa the Crow. Once they had made the world, before they returned to the Dreamtime they had to leave a guardian to watch over their creation. And so they grew a special tree, which is said to be our deceased ancestors watching over us.

Alice

On Monday the Fire Carriers and I went on an Excursion to the Briars. Our first bush tucker meal we got to try was a native plant. It tasted a little bit like a snow pea.   When you take something off the plant, if it didn’t let you take it will mean that it’s not allowing you to take it and you have to try and take from another plant. You only take what you need.

Alessio                                                                    

Ellen José Student Reconciliation Awards

Recently I entered the Ellen José Student Reconciliation Awards which is an award that honours the life of a Bayside Indigenous artist and social justice campaigner who worked to raise awareness in Reconciliation. I entered the artwork category which was to interpret “As a young person what does reconciliation mean to you?”

I have been fortunate enough to be selected as a top ten finalist which I am very proud of considering all of the other amazing art, with over 140 entries. My artwork is currently on display in the Bayside Corporate Centre.

On the 27th of May I attended a Flag Raising Ceremony during National Reconciliation Week . This is a photo of my entry.

Bella