NAIDOC WEEK

NAIDOC Week is an annual event that celebrates the history, culture, and achievements of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. In our group time, we read a lovely story called
“Finding Our Heart” to extend our children’s learning about Aboriginal culture and history.
Together we also explored Aboriginal Flag and discovered what are the three colours
Australian Aboriginal Flag composed of. The preschoolers showed great concentration and
curiosity while learning about the Aboriginal Flag. Afterwards, we were learning a lovely new
song Taba Naba.
During outdoor playtime, we invited some preschoolers to make their own individual Aboriginal
Flags using red, black, and yellow shredded paper. Some preschoolers engaged in colouring
“For the Elders” by using coloured pencils. We then continued learning about NAIDOC Week
by reading the ‘Welcome to Country’ book, followed by a video about the instrument called
didgeridoo. We then had a group discussion about the didgeridoo. We started our group time
with a book called “How the birds got their colours” The preschoolers really enjoyed listening
to this Tory and highly requested to read another. We also looked at “Where is Galah? and
discussed all the different animals we could see. We closed our group time by singing along to
our favourite songs and when we go outdoor we danced and sing the song named "Wombat
Wobble".

During NAIDOC WEEK, we invited Koori Kinnections to our Center. The kids had a fantastic
time exploring traditional instruments and engaging in interactive storytelling, learning more
about our First Nations People. Today’s incursion created a unique opportunity for our
preschoolers to participate in interactive and hands-on experiences with members of the local
Aboriginal community through educational and cultural programs. The best fun part of today’s
incursion was the children had their turn to freely touch and feel the shells, Australian animal
skins, Emu’s feathers, Aboriginal tools and musical instruments. Throughout the week, we
enhance children's curiosity, social and emotional skills, fine motor and gross motor skills,
language and literacy skills by proving various activities (Kearns, 2017).
Early Years of Framework - Outcome 1: Children have a strong
sense of identity - Children learn to interact in relation to
others with care, empathy and respect
Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to
their world - Children respond to diversity with respect
(Australian Government Department of Education and
Training, 2009).

Reference
ACARA. (2022). The Australian Curriculum. The Australian Curriculum V9.0: https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/
Australian Government Department of Education and Training. (2009). Belonging, Being & Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for
Australia. https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-
02/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf
Fellowes , J., & Oakley, G. (2019). Language, literacy & early childhood education. . Oxford University Press.
Howard, J. (2017). Mary D. Sheridan’s Play in Early Childhood: From Birth to Six Years. Taylor & Francis Group.
Kearns, K. (2017). Frameworks for Learning and Development. Cengage Learning Australia.