"Come Together Things Every Aussie Kid Should Know about the First Peoples" By Isaiah Firebrace, Jaelyn Biumaiwai (Illustrator)

From Miss Hailey Birchers Early Learning Beaconsfield: "The Kinders have had many adventures over the year and with NAIDOC week approaching it was felt that we have so many aspects of Indigenous perspective and elements throughout our days that we wanted to make a real connection to our community. Within our community we have Bunjil Place- the Home of Arts and Entertainment in the City of Casey. They are currently holding an exhibiton: Kungka Kunpu (Strong Women) showcasing and celebrating works by women artists from the Anangu Pitjantjajara Yankunytjatjara Lands. I invited our families to come and meet with me on a weekend to view the exhibition and it is from this that we were inspired to try making our own weaving sculpture. The Kinders worked hard together and on their own with me to learn about how weaving is use in different cultures especially in Aboriginal cultures. We decided to make Bunjil the Eagle which is our totem. Once Bunjil the Eagle was constructed we placed him on display on our family table for everyone to see. Aside from one side panel the Kinder children 100% created Bunjil the Eagle using a broken peg basket and three bowls, wire, wooden beads and coloured raffa. We explored totems and are very proud of our Bunjil."

"As we continued to connect nature with our learning, the Kinders worked with their friends in the Pre Kinder class to recreate the Aboriginal Flag during Reconciliation Week. Using the leaves we found we were able to use the black of our path and red and yellow leaves. We had been learning about the colours of the flag and what they represent and as we had a take home activity with our families to decorate a heart for our Sea of Hearts. We felt that we did not want to impose the political aspect upon the children however along with our families we agreed that it is important for our children to learn about what has happened to our First Nations Peoples and so we placed hands prints around our flag as we said our Acknowledgement of Country to signify that it is important Now More Than Ever to ensure generations to come grow with respect, understanding and the wanting for a better Australia for all."