Halifax St Children's Centre & Preschool

Halifax Street Children’s Centre and Preschool respectfully acknowledges the Kaurna People as the Traditional Custodians and protectors of the Land on which our centre resides. Therefore, alongside the local First Nations Community, we are committed to driving positive social change towards reconciliation.

We commit to building engaging, reciprocal relationships between our centre, the local Kaurna community, and diverse First Nations community members to demonstrate our respect and openness, taking responsibility towards creating a welcoming place of cultural safety for all.

Together with children, families, and educators we will actively challenge preconceived or prejudiced attitudes towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and contributions to acknowledge the diversity and dynamism of First Nations cultures develop and empower our learning community. We will do this through:

•Truth telling •Respectfully integrating First Nations cultures, knowledge systems, languages, and values in everyday learning •Advocating for an inclusive society, by uniting and working together with the local First Nations Community •Proactive participation in professional learning and the current political movement  

Collaboratively learning and working together with local Kaurna Elders and community members, and alongside our children, families, and educators, we will actively recognise and address the need for deep reflection and healing, challenge biases, and have brave conversations to progress shared understandings. We aspire to be an educational community of life-long learners that drives equitable and inclusive practice.

We recognise that, as educators, we are in a privileged position to make a difference and pave the pathway forward for our current and future citizens to have their rights actively recognised and to be owners of the truth. It is our obligation to continue to evolve and deepen our practice to facilitate this. 

We believe children are the vehicles for sustained change. We will ensure our culturally safe practice develops a positive sense of identity for all children, families, and educators as we commit ourselves to working together towards the future of reconciliation to come.

 We are committed to ensuring that we live out our philosophy in ways that weave understanding, knowledge and respect for First Nations peoples and cultures into all that we do as we work together towards reconciliation.