Year 5 and 6 students attended the Murrook Culture Centre today as part of their Aboriginal History unit this term. They participated in a variety of activities, including Aboriginal Totem Art with Rachel, Bush Medicine and Tucker with Makayla, Aboriginal Artefacts with Adam, and Worimi History with Steve. It was a fantastic opportunity for students to learn about Worimi culture from Worimi men and women. Thank you to the teachers who accompanied Year 5 and 6 today, and a special thank you to Kristy Pascoe, Lucy’s Mum, for giving up her time to come along with us today. Enjoy the photos from our day.
Tag: history
Interview Task
Welcome to 2017 and 6B! It is going to be an action-packed year! To kick us off is an interview task that links with our History unit this term, for students to complete at home and present in class next week. Regular homework will begin next week. If you have any questions, please feel free to come and see Mrs B 🙂
Reconciliation Week
Today marks the last day of Reconciliation Week for 2016.
Each year National Reconciliation Week (NRW) celebrates and builds on the respectful relationships shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians.The dates that bookend the week are significant milestones in the reconciliation journey.
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.
3 June—Commemorates the High Court of Australia’s landmark Mabo decision in 1992, which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a special relationship to the land—a relationship that existed prior to colonalisation and still exists today. This recognition paved the way for land rights or Native Title.
During Reconciliation Week, we have discussed the significance of these events and the Apology to the Stolen Generations by former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.
The theme for NRW 2016 is Our History, Our Story, Our Future.
Our History, Our Story, Our Future is derived from the State of Reconciliation in Australia report, which asks all Australians to reflect on our national identity, and the place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and rights in our nation’s story.
‘Our History’ reminds us all that historical acceptance is essential to our reconciliation journey. Historical acceptance will exist when all Australians understand and accept the fact that past laws, practices and policies deeply affected the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, often having devastating immediate impacts and causing much of the disadvantage that exists today. It is also a commitment to ensuring these wrongs are never repeated in the future.
‘Our Story’ reflects the fact that the journey towards reconciliation forms a significant part of Australia’s story, as do the stories of both trauma and triumph told by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It also encourages each and every one of us to make reconciliation part of our own story.
‘Our Future’ reinforces that reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, in the knowledge that we believe in fairness for everyone, that our diversity makes us richer, and that together, we are stronger.
Sydney Excursion
Well done to everyone who attended our Sydney excursion on Friday. We had a terrific day participating in programs at the Botanic Gardens and Hyde Park Barracks as a culmination to our History unit Australia as a Nation: Immigration. We learnt about various Aboriginal uses for different plants and also about the experiences of convicts and women migrants. Thank you to our parent helpers who did a great job helping out throughout the day.
History: interviewing someone who has moved to Australia
For homework this term, and as part of our history unit on Immigration, students were asked to interview someone that has immigrated to Australia. This afternoon, India spoke to an old family friend, Christine, who came to Australia with her husband, Willem, from Belgium and Holland in the 1970s. It is wonderful to hear from people who have moved to, and made, this country their home. Thank you to Christine for sharing her story, and to India and her family, for organising and recording this fantastic interview.
History: what does it mean to be Australian?
This term in History, Stage 3 are studying the unit of Australia as a Nation – Immigration. To kick off the unit we talked about what it means to be Australian. As a group, the students spoke of different Australian icons such as Uluru, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Vegemite, Advance Australia Fair, and many more. Then we talked about who we had forgotten to include and how we could try and be more inclusive of others when talking about being “Australian”. From here, students were asked to redesign the Australian flag. The design brief required them to include symbols that included all Australians. It was a proud teacher moment when Imogen showed me her flag design. What a wonderful generation of children we have to guide our world.
