Lowers Sports Day

Reconciliation Week

Acknowledgement of Country

by Jonathan Hill

Today we stand in footsteps millennia old.

May we acknowledge the traditional owners, whose cultures and customs have nurtured, and continue to nurture, this land, since men and women awoke from the great dream.

We honour the presence of these ancestors who reside in the imagination of this landand whose irrepressible spirituality flows through all creation.

 

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. The dates for NRW remain the same each year; 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey— the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.

Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

At PPN, we wanted our students to have reconciliation etched into their hearts, minds and actions. Reconciliation Week opened with a special Assembly and will close with an even more special Chapel. Every class was also encouraged to create ‘Reconciliation Rocks’, a creative and colourful opportunity to share an empowering message with the wider community. Not only did students engage in Aboriginal Storytelling with their rocks but they were encouraged to hide their rocks in their local neighbourhood for others to find. This one little action will cause a cascading ripple of kindness because as the rock is found by someone, not only will they read the message but they will share it as well by hiding the rock again. It is very exciting to know that not only is PPN taking action at school, they are also taking action to Adelaide. Reconciliation does Rock! Great work PPN, keep being the respectful community God (and Australia) asks us to be.

Where do we live?

From rugged dry interior deserts and plains to fertile coastal landscapes, how do we tell the story of reconciliation? How do we live out our part and take action? In a land of contrasts, where conversation can lead to reconciliation, it is important to acknowledge our role in the bigger picture. This week in Nature Play, students have gained an understanding of ways of being that will encourage connection with Australia’s first people. We have encouraged contemplation and acknowledgement of what makes country significant and unique. This includes taking care of Australian habitat and wildlife. Finally, we have initiated conversations that will take us forward so that we can use our knowledge to start doing more towards reconciliation with Australia’s first people who value people, place, country and action.

One of the challenges schools and organisations are facing in wake of our world’s COVID experience is how to continue to have involvement from our communities while meeting our COVID obligations.

Our school community needs family involvement in the lives of our children. There are many things we are not able to provide for our children, if parents are not involved, volunteering, and helping out. One example is reading assistance. Many of our children benefit from having an adult sit and read with them. We know that unless our young readers get the opportunity to read to others, they will not experience the success they could in reading development. Some of our classes do activities in Art time that could use an extra pair of caring hands. We have various sporting events throughout the year and having a few extra caring, supportive adults at the events can make all the difference. We also run several afterschool basketball teams, and the majority of these are coached and led by our parents. We are really struggling at the moment to have enough parent coaches/assistants to have these teams operate. We need families to help and support our kids and their learning and experiences, and we also need families to support the parents who do take on this role.

There are a couple of things I am sure of in our Prescott Primary Northern community and that is we all care deeply about our children, and we are supportive of each other. Most of us have not experienced anything like the times we are now living in and even though the temptation is to shrink back to the security of looking after ourselves, Pr Fabiano, our Chapel speaker last week, gave me a wonderful reminder through quoting a Traditional African Proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” It has been ringing in my ears all week and resonating strongly.

If you would like to help out with volunteering at school, it would be much appreciated. We have Working With Children Checks and Reporting Abuse and Neglect programs that must be completed first, but we are more than happy to help with those things.

Have a great week with your kids,

Mark B

In 1 John 4:8 we read that, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”  The Bible makes it clear that God is love.  This means that whenever we serve other people in love, we are helping God with his mission, and whenever we act in an unloving manner towards others, we are hindering his work. 

This principle is true, regardless of our faith, religion, or worldview.  Jesus’ disciples failed to understand this, so they tried to stop a man who was trying to help someone else in Jesus’ name because he was not a part of their group.  When they explained this to Jesus he replied, “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you” (Luke 9:50).

God is love.  He loves us, and he wants to share his love with others through us.

God bless,

Roland Talamaivao-Amituanai  

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