iServi News | 4 June 2021 | Term 2, Week 7
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.
NRW2021 ARTWORK: ACTION
The 2021 National Reconciliation Week theme graphics are drawn from the artwork Action by Jessica Johnson.
The artwork reflects our connection and mutual obligation to one another, community, and Country. Through commonality and difference, we can come together and achieve real change.
Students this week have been learning about Aboriginal Culture and delving into themes surrounding Reconciliation:
Year 7: I discover that there are similarities and differences between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People’s creation stories and Christian creation stories.
Year 8: I seek to understand the importance of connection to country for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and how this relates to the Christian understanding of stewardship of creation.
Year 9: I become aware of intergenerational trauma.
Year 10: I choose to hear and respond to the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
In Homeroom, students have been making mauve hibiscus flowers and placing them around a prayer focus in the Alexis building as a sign of their of their response to the call to action for authentic Reconciliation in Australia. The mauve colour represents compassion, courage and healing and the hibiscus plant grows all around Australia and is a hardy plant, which is why it was chosen as a symbol for the Stolen Generation and Reconciliation.
Mrs Monica Maxwell
Head of Learning Area – Religious Education
Student Reflections
I learned that 1967 referendum of 27 May 1967 was the most successful referendum in Australia. It allowed Aboriginal people to be included in the census and gave them the right to vote.
Milla Aquilla (SM7)
Reconciliation means acknowledging the past, present and the future. Working together to achieve respect, trust and equality. In Homeroom we all created mauve hibiscus flowers as a sign of our solidarity.
Aria Cozza (OLS2)
We learned that Aboriginal people often get judged by people in society. We watched a TedX talk where Tui Raven explained what it was like for her growing up in Perth as an Aboriginal person.
Alessio Macri (AN4)
National Reconciliation week is a time to think about the history of Australia and its Aboriginal population. It acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and how they have been wronged in Australian history. It also represents our path towards reconciliation, the mending of our relationships.
Jenny Nguyen (SA3)
This week in Homeroom we created a prayer to acknowledge and respect the traditional custodians of Australia and their histories to promote reconciliation in the future.
Luca Paolino (SM7)
This week I learned that it is important that you pronounce words in the Aboriginal language correctly, otherwise you might be saying something you really don’t want to be saying!
Francis Tran (SA7)