‘Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians, and it can start with small steps.’ (ABC Kids Early Education)

In National Reconciliation Week this year, the teaching and learning in our ELC was informed and inspired by the well-researched Play School National Reconciliation Week Special: Walking Together. This episode supported the development of the girls’ early understandings about our shared histories and the role we all play in building relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures and futures.

After watching and learning from the episode Walking Together, the Mamie girls created their own artwork – a visible walk showing footprints taken together in unity. To construct their special piece, the girls were invited to paint their feet and walk along together, demonstrating that even though we are different, we can all walk together. This artwork has been displayed on the wall in the Mamie House and is reflected upon as a reminder of the importance of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships with each other. Respectful Relationships, a Wilderness School value, was certainly held at the heart of this learning.

In the Annie House, the girls connected with this learning in another way, creating hands to represent the idea of raising our hands for reconciliation. This learning was deepened further when the question, ‘How can we be responsible citizens and care for Country?’ was posed. In response to this, the girls’ answers were scribed onto the back of the hands they had created and placed in the garden. As we learnt in Walking Together, Country is the place that Aboriginal people connect to and not only refers to the land but includes all living things. It was clear in this learning that another special Wilderness value, Responsible Citizenship, was a key component.

Throughout the rest of the week, this learning included the girls watching an Acknowledgement of Country with Play School and reflecting on the special items found on the land we walk upon. In the Annie House, the girls also read a Dreamtime story, How the Birds Got Their Colours, which supported their learning about the concept of a Dreamtime story and its message.

To conclude National Reconciliation Week, our smallest Wildy girls have taken their very own small steps as a part of our journey, a journey that commenced before Thursday 27 May and will continue after Thursday 3 June. It is a journey that remains true to our Wilderness School values and one that seeks to build a community that values all cultures, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their histories, cultures and futures.