In a time of uncertainty, it is a privilege to be a part of the Shearwater community and to be held within the sanctuary of Class 1. To arrive each morning to the sound of roosters crowing and cows mooing, to see the waterfalls after rain, tumbling down Koonyum Range – all of this is nothing short of a blessing.
Class 1K has had a beautiful first half of the year and, as we enter into Term 3, there is certainly a feeling of having settled into what it means to be a part of Primary School. The children have enjoyed many whole-school activities such as Swimming Carnival, Bush Dance, Autumn Festival and Winter Festival and on a weekly basis they are overjoyed to have their Class 5 buddies join them for games and reading. It has been an invaluable experience for the class to have the older children to look up to and be inspired by, and Class 5D have been truly exemplary students to have as role models.
Reconciliation Week was a very significant and celebrated week for us. We read, drew and reflected on many indigenous stories and participated in Wear It Yellow Day, an initiative of Children's Ground, an organisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children, which was begun by the family of a student in our class. The children dressed up in all the yellow they could find and we were very lucky to have Mudjai share some yidaki/didgeridoo and stories with us. During gardening, we picked a basket-full of White Aspin bushfood with our knowledgeable and beloved Nadia, which all added to the yellow of our day!
This term, we have started our Local Surrounds main lesson while also celebrating NAIDOC week, where every morning circle is about honouring nature and community through the words, songs and chants of First Nation peoples of America and Australia, including two songs from Mer Island in the Torres Strait. We share stories while passing around a talking snake, where each child has the chance to share something about their family, where they live, what they hear and see from their homes, and ways they think we can help to take care of nature. The children are also learning how to map their local surrounds including the classroom, their homes and other parts of the Budjalung Nation.
Last Friday, we went on our first excursion to the Three Sisters Walking Track in Broken Head. The children had a wonderful time looking out for whales, exploring the rock pools and rock-hopping in the little sandy cove beside the ancient sister-ancestors, who remind us to always heed the warnings of our elders and take care when swimming in the rough seas.
Here is a simple but pertinent Navajo prayer that we recite in our morning circle, to guide us through these times. May we strive to create beauty in our world - in our thinking, our feeling and our doing.
I walk with beauty all around me.
I walk with beauty before me,
I walk with beauty above me,
I walk with beauty behind me.
Let all my thoughts be beautiful!
Let all my words be beautiful!
Let all my deeds be beautiful!
I walk with beauty all around me.
Kia Moon
Class 1 Teacher
Class 1K has had a beautiful first half of the year and, as we enter into Term 3, there is certainly a feeling of having settled into what it means to be a part of Primary School. The children have enjoyed many whole-school activities such as Swimming Carnival, Bush Dance, Autumn Festival and Winter Festival and on a weekly basis they are overjoyed to have their Class 5 buddies join them for games and reading. It has been an invaluable experience for the class to have the older children to look up to and be inspired by, and Class 5D have been truly exemplary students to have as role models.
Reconciliation Week was a very significant and celebrated week for us. We read, drew and reflected on many indigenous stories and participated in Wear It Yellow Day, an initiative of Children's Ground, an organisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children, which was begun by the family of a student in our class. The children dressed up in all the yellow they could find and we were very lucky to have Mudjai share some yidaki/didgeridoo and stories with us. During gardening, we picked a basket-full of White Aspin bushfood with our knowledgeable and beloved Nadia, which all added to the yellow of our day!
This term, we have started our Local Surrounds main lesson while also celebrating NAIDOC week, where every morning circle is about honouring nature and community through the words, songs and chants of First Nation peoples of America and Australia, including two songs from Mer Island in the Torres Strait. We share stories while passing around a talking snake, where each child has the chance to share something about their family, where they live, what they hear and see from their homes, and ways they think we can help to take care of nature. The children are also learning how to map their local surrounds including the classroom, their homes and other parts of the Budjalung Nation.
Last Friday, we went on our first excursion to the Three Sisters Walking Track in Broken Head. The children had a wonderful time looking out for whales, exploring the rock pools and rock-hopping in the little sandy cove beside the ancient sister-ancestors, who remind us to always heed the warnings of our elders and take care when swimming in the rough seas.
Here is a simple but pertinent Navajo prayer that we recite in our morning circle, to guide us through these times. May we strive to create beauty in our world - in our thinking, our feeling and our doing.
I walk with beauty all around me.
I walk with beauty before me,
I walk with beauty above me,
I walk with beauty behind me.
Let all my thoughts be beautiful!
Let all my words be beautiful!
Let all my deeds be beautiful!
I walk with beauty all around me.
Kia Moon
Class 1 Teacher
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