Long Jetty Pre-School is dedicated to embracing and educating children about the history and importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. On August 4, we are joining in on the national celebration of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
The Aboriginal Children’s Day website shares the reason for celebrating this day. They say,
“ Children’s Day is a time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities and all Australians, celebrate the strengths and culture of our children. It is an opportunity for us to show our support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, as well as learn about the crucial impact that culture, family and community play in the life of every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child.”
Each day at Pre-School, we have our morning yarn followed by our own Acknowledgement of Country. During this time, we yarn and share about the happenings in the children’s lives as well as discussing the reasons why we do our Acknowledgement. That is- caring for our land, the water, the trees, the sky and the animals. How did we do that? By being sustainable, making sure our rubbish goes in the bin, our engagement and connection with Take 3 for the sea, our connections to our country and place and saying thank you to the Darkinjung for caring for the land and showing us how we can do the same. It is because of this, the children, families and communities of LJPS have a strong connection to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders culture. Many of the children join in, very proudly saying our Acknowledgement from start to finish and they are beginning to develop these understandings.
This year's theme is “Proud in culture, strong in spirit”. The key message is, "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities have provided love and care for their children, growing them up strong and safe in their cultural traditions, for thousands of generations. For our children, safety, wellbeing and development are closely linked to the strengths of their connections with family, community, culture, language, and Country"
How does this connect with Long Jetty Pre-School?
The connection is that LJPS is proud of culture, we support it and this is reflected by our strong spirit to share and educate children about the traditional custodians of the land.
How can you join in?
As part of our contributions to the celebration of National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander day, we will be creating collaborative artwork- something the children can contribute to, whether they are staying at home or coming into Pre-School.
Ask your child/ren if they can draw, paint or make something that represents our Acknowledgement (There is a video for the children to watch of our Educators doing the daily Acknowledgement). This could be drawing a clean happy ocean, a sea creature, Pre-School, how we care for everything around us, anything the children create will be amazing! If your child has any words to tell the story of their work we would love that too! When they have finished it, take a close up photo of it and email it to ljps@bigpond.com so we can put it together as one big digital patchwork, artwork. We can't wait to see what you can all come up with!
Please join Jess, Ange and the few children we have onsite today to celebrate the day and do our Acknowledgement.
For more information about the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day, head to https://aboriginalchildrensday.com.au
Take care,
From your Educators at Long Jetty Pre-School.