Bourke Street Public School held a special school assembly. The Indigenous students in the school had met prior to the assembly to write their own Acknowledgement of Country which they presented. A Year 6 student wrote and presented a beautiful poem which recognised the relationship Aboriginal people had and have with the land, and called on us to respect and care for the land. Students wore the colours red, black, yellow, blue, white and green to represent the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags. In classes, students learned about NAIDOC Week and investigated its significance.
On Wednesday June 21, Poets Corner Preschool held a special event. It was a wonderful opportunity to unveil the children’s art work completed during Term 2, with encouragement and guidance from Aboriginal artist Kathryn Farrawell, supported by Trish Johnson and Tania Lever from the SDN School Yarning project.
The preschool was very fortunate to host a performance by Aboriginal Elder, teacher and artist Walangari Karntawarra, who provided engaging learning experiences for both the children and adults. Walangari started with traditional ochre painting of the children’s faces, before performing traditional and contemporary didgeridoo sounds and rhythms, including animal sounds, to the delight of the children. He also showed them how to identify animal tracks through creative dance, music and art. Aboriginal bush tucker and medicine were also explored, teaching us how relevant they still are today.
The morning concluded with a beautiful catered lunch thanks to the NCIE and the Biri Biri Café in Redfern.
