Indigenous Literacy Day

On Wednesday the 7th of September, it was Indigenous Literacy Day. Indigenous Literacy Day is all about celebratingStories, Cultures and Languages. We participated in a digital event where we met a lively group of children in remote Milikapiti and Jilkminggan, in the Northern Territory, who shared their Stories, Cultures and Languages with us. 

Year 3/4 students also read an Indigenous text to the whole school each morning. On Monday, Emma and Ava read 'Somebody's Land' by Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing. 'Somebody's Land' invites us to connect with First Nations culture, to acknowledge the hurt of the past, and to join together as one community with a precious shared history as old as time. 

On Tuesday, Mietta read 'When the Snake Bites the Sun' which is an Aboriginal Dreamtime Story told by David Mowaljarlia of the Ngarinyin people. 'When the Snake Bites the Sun' invites us to see the daylight and the sun go down on our land, the home of the Dreamtime, and to live here to our old age and really understand Indigenous culture.

F/1 students read 'Tiddalick the Greedy Frog'. Here are our thoughts on this Dreamtime Story. I think that the frog was a bit greedy because it drank all the water in the world. We should share - Ivy. We should all share and be kind and not be greedy - Sienna. It taught be about being really good and it teaches us to be really respectful and don't take things from others - Jaxon. We should all share and be kind and not be rude to other people like Tiddalick the frog - Evie. Tiddalick drank all the water in the world and he was fat and greedy - Billie. Next time when we read that book, Tiddalick should share all the water with all the other animals. He wasn't sharing and all the animals tried to make him laugh to take all the water out of him - Edith. The greedy frog should not be selfish and he should be nice - Hunter. The book was about a greedy frog and it taught us we have to share and not be greedy - Aria. 

On Wednesday, Thomas and Eli read 'Backyard Birds' by First Nations author and illustrator Helen Milroy. Helen is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. She is also she AFL's first Indigenous Commissioner. 

On Thursday, Gwyn read 'Finding Our Heart', which is a story about the Uluru Statement, by Thomas Mayor. Thomas Mayor is a Torres Strait Islander man born on Larrakia country in Darwin. This is a wonderful book about understanding Australia’s past, so we can have a shared future.