This year’s theme – ‘Our History, Our Story, Our Future’ – asked 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. The response was immense, with more than one million Australians taking part in National Reconciliation Week on social media in a single day (28 May). Narragunnawali put out the call to schools and early learning services to let us know how you celebrated and what the theme meant to you. We are very happy to showcase some of the responses we received.

Patty Lamaro, Teacher: “For NRW, we watched videos, browsed websites and had discussions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and reconciliation. Students were then asked to create a poster about the theme for NRW - Our History, Our Story, Our Future. Students were asked to consider their posters’ purpose, audience and reasons why they chose certain design features. We then created a class jigsaw puzzle with a timeline of significant dates in the history of reconciliation. This has been a very valuable learning experience for my students.”

Bunjil the Eagle is the creator spirit of the Aboriginal people of the Kulin Nation. Bunjil created the land, water, animals and the people. Bunjil the eagle protects the lands and watches over people. As a part of celebrating NRW and our ongoing journey of reconcilliation, The Grange Kindergarten have worked in partnership with The Grange P12 prep classes, our families and The Grange Community Centre 3+ groups to create a Community Bunjil the Eagle.

Le Fevre High School, South Australia Le Fevre High School celebrated NRW with a whole school assembly that featured comedian Josh Warrior and traditional Kaurna dancing. Students at the school also made a film reflecting on what reconciliation means to them. Take a look here.