News

National Reconciliation Week is a week to share information, stories, experiences, knowledge and culture, but what happens once the week is over?

Between 27 May and 3 June this year, schools and early learning services around Australia celebrated National Reconciliation Week (NRW) with creativity and commitment.

NAIDOC Week is over, and it’s as good a reason as any to remind ourselves how important it is to make sure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures are part of every day of the year.

Sharon Davis is a Bardi Gija woman from Western Australia. Sharon brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her role as Team Leader of the Aboriginal Education Team at Catholic Education Western Australia.

This short film, presented by hip-hop artist Adam Briggs (a.k.a. Briggs), is a confronting yet compassionate look at Indigenous youth currently serving time in Reiby Juvenile Justice Centre in the Sydney suburb of Airds.

Great things happen when individuals translate their passion and commitment into supporting and inspiring others. Read about Kim Knersch and the educators at Wyndham City Council and their work integrating reconciliation into 23 early learning services in Victoria.

Issue 3 of Narragunnawali News shares the experiences schools and early learning services had during National Reconciliation Week and provides ideas for continuing your reconciliation journey year-round.

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a good chance for teachers and educators across all subject areas and year groups to talk about reconciliation with students and children in classrooms.

Jess Staines, Wiradjuri woman and educator from New South Wales, chats about her passion for supporting other educators to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into early learning programs.

The NEOMAD comic series follows the story of the Love Punks and Satellite Sisters, tech savvy young heroes from the Pilbara who speed through a digitised desert full of ‘spy bots’, ‘magic crystals’, fallen ‘rocket boosters’ and mysterious petroglyphs.

St Brendan’s Catholic Primary School ’s values of truth, belonging, success and relationships have guided their vision for reconciliation as a dedicated group of parents, teachers and community members worked together to develop the school’s first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2016.

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2016 – ‘Our History, Our Story, Our Future’ – celebrates 25 years of formal reconciliation in Australia and the launch of the State of Reconciliation 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.

This issue of Narragunnawali News has been designed to help get your creative juices flowing in preparation for a very important week of the year, National Reconciliation Week or NRW (27 May to 3 June).

The Narragunnawali team is always scanning the media for events and issues that could help schools and early learning services understand how we are all tracking on our journey of reconciliation.

Cara Shipp is an Aboriginal/Welsh educator and a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation. In this Teacher Feature, Cara chats about the importance of inviting local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members into the classroom to share their knowledge and skills with students.