CMIS Evaluation

Congratulations to Borden PS for being recognised for their work in Reconciliation.

Having no indigenous students at the school did not stop the school undertaking an
exciting project to investigate the town’s rich Nyoongar history.

Other Award winners which were announced at the Wardarnji Aboriginal Cultural Festival on November 14th
can be accessed at this link

Indigenous Perspectives

Following the completion of the Stage Three units, Primary Connections has launched the Indigenous Perspectives section within the Primary Connections website.

Included on the website are the indigenous perspectives framework and the site also incorporates information and links to many of the Primary Connections units, and to each chapter of the Connecting Minds DVD.

The framework contains six key concept areas which are non-hierarchical and interconnected, and includes: a teaching and learning guide; curriculum unit links to relevant Indigenous perspectives; and a professional learning module to support teachers’ development and implementation of relevant, contextualised and embedded Indigenous perspectives.

The units are accessed by clicking on the relevant headings.

It’s PALS time once more

Registrations are now open for 2009 and close on Tuesday June 30. Grants of $750 are available for school to promote Reconciliation Projects.  Further information is available from the PALS website. Here teachers can gather project ideas for their school.

What is PALS?
PALS (Partnership, Acceptance, Learning, Sharing), a partnership between the Department of Indigenous Affairs and BHP Billiton, encourages young Western Australians to develop projects that promote and advance Reconciliation.

Using the PALS model, teachers and students turn the concept of Reconciliation into action by making new friends, building Partnerships in their community through Accepting differences, Learning about our own culture and the cultures of other people and Sharing this knowledge with our family, friends and the wider community.

It’s not too late to register your school for National Reading Day on September 3rd. This is just one of the Literacy & Numeracy Week activities. National Literacy & Numeracy Week runs from 1 -7 Sept and information and suitable activities can be accessed from the official website.

Reach for the Stars covers the numeracy angle for the week.  ‘Reach for the Stars’ activities allow students to practice ‘real-life’ mathematics.   Both the Reading and Mathematics websites have lots of practical ideas for classroom activities across all phases of development.

Along with the government initiated  week of activities,  teachers and students can also be involved with Indigenous Literacy Day which also takes place on 3rd Sept . Information about school registration, participation and activities can be found on the website.  On ILD, part of the Indigenous Literacy Project all Australians are invited to join together to raise funds to address literacy needs in remote Indigenous communities.

As part of the ILD in WA there is a morning of storytelling to be held at the State Library of Western Australia at 10.30 am on Wednesday Sep 3rd. Participants include author Sally Morgan and former Fremantle Football Club player Troy Cook.

The CMIS Evaluation Aboriginal Literacy Strategy page gives more ideas on books to use in the classroom.

All of these events are precursors to the United Nations International Literacy Day on September 8th. This year marks the middle of the UN Literacy Decade which aims to extend the use of literacy to those who do not currently have access to it.  Universal Eucation and literacy is a key aspect of the millenium Development Goals.

Staff members can become involved in a “Staff Reading” –  Perhaps a whole school assembly with different people reading a favourite book or using the school PA system.

NAIDOC WEEK, celebrated in the first full week in July each year, has become an important conduit in moving towards spanning the cultural differences between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. The current celebrations have grown from mainly unsupported activism during the early 20th Century, through the 1938 Day of Mourning, National Aborigines Day to the present NAIDOC WEEK observance. 

The NAIDOC Perth Logo 2008 was designed by Mt Lawley SHS student Helena Chestnut.

What’s on in WA for NAIDOC WEEK? Check out the activities at the PROGRAM of EVENTS on the Perth NAIDOC WEEK website.

       Does your school have PALS?

PALS, which stands for Partnership, Acceptance, Learning and Sharing, is a reconciliation initiative run by the Department of Indigenous Affairs (DIA) in partnership with the major sponsor, BHP Billiton.

Is your school interested in advancing the reconciliation cause? Then entering the 2008 PALS Schools Reconciliation Awards could be just what you’re looking for. Schools entering for the awards receive a grant of $750 to fund their project.

School projects can be entered in any of the following categories:

• Community Development
• Education
• Environment
• Arts & Culture
• Health
• Sustainable Partnerships

 The awards are presented annually at the Wardarnji Aboriginal Cultural Celebration. Wardarnji is held on the second last Saturday of November on the Fremantle Esplanade.  

For more information about the PALS School Awards visit the PALS website

Sharon O’Neill, Director General of Education, is encouraging staff to acknowledge the Australian Government’s formal apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who were forcibly removed from their families and communities as children.

CMIS has a large range of resources recommended for teachers and students in public schools.

Key websites from our Resource Bank include:

• Reconciliation Australia has prepared material to help understand the background to the apology.
• The Apology from the ABC includes links to video and audio files of the parliamentary speeches and community reactions.
• Bringing them home includes all sections of the 1997 report and more recent commentary on the 10th anniversary of the report’s release.
• Racism. No way!
• Schools in action: valuing cultural diversity
• PALS: Partnership, Acceptance, Learning, Sharing
• Indigenous Australians EdNA theme

More

Aboriginal Culture

• Dust echoes: ancient stories, new voices
• Indigenous Australia
• Lore of the land: reconciling spirit and place in Australia’s story
• Message Club
• Roebourne Primary School

Imaginative stories and personal narratives can be an excellent way of conveying the emotional reality of events and supplementing information titles.
Resources for Primary students

• A is for Aunty by Elaine Russell
• Born to run: my story by Cathy Freeman
• The burnt stick by Anthony Hill and Mark Sofilas
• Going bush by Nadia Wheatley and Ken Searle
• Home to mother by Doris Pilkington, a junior version of Follow the rabbit-proof fence
• Idjhil: and the land cried for its lost soul by Helen Bell
• Papunya School book of country and history by Staff and students at Papunya School, with written text Nadia Wheatley
• Tell me why by Robyn Templeton and Sarah Jackson
• Towards reconciliation by Rebecca Steinberg
• When I was little, like you by Mary Malbunka

More

Resources for Secondary students

• Angela by James Moloney
• Barefoot kids by Steve Hawke
• Bye, beautiful by Julia Lawrinson
• Coonardoo by Katherine Susannah Pritchard
• Follow the rabbit-proof fence by Doris Pilkington
• Njunjul the sun by Meme McDonald & Boori Monty Pryor
• The rabbits by John Marsden & Shaun Tan
• A story to tell by Laurel Nannup
• Ten canoes [videorecording] written by Rolf de Heer
• Yolngu boy [videorecording]

More

These are just a few of the resources that may already be in your school library.