We Acknowledge.

Our mornings begin with an Aboriginal Acknowledgement song and “Nina Marnii” to show respect for Traditional Owners and the continuing connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to Country.

You can see our pre-kindy singing the Aboriginal Acknowledgement song here.

• We are passionate about our Narragunnawali Reconciliation Action Plan
• Excursions to extend children’s aboriginal cultural awareness to the living Kaurna Cultural Centre and Adelaide Museum.

‘Walking On’ exhibits the journey of our culture staying strong and continuing on. It combines the theme of Reconciliation Week, ‘In this Together’ and the ongoing statement of Survival Day, ‘Always was. Always will be.’

‘Walking On’ pictures a path that begins at the bottom of the artwork and concludes in the top corner. This path represents the journey that we walk on together as Indigenous Australians. The footprints displayed on the journey are that of the children. They used the side of their hands to create the feet, stamping their mark on the journey shared. On the bottom right corner, a circle of fingerprints is prominently displayed. The fingerprints are those of myself and the children and is my interpretation of representing people sitting together. The majority of the artwork exhibits different-sized dots, completed to make circles. The colours used for the dots include different shades of blue, green, pink and yellow. These colours are significant to Confident Kids Childcare and Early Learning and are used in the piece to show the connection and acknowledgment that Confident Kids has with Aboriginal culture.

Whilst completing ‘Walking On’ with the children, it provided a great opportunity to discuss our culture, our connection and the importance of being proud of our history and how our strong history influences our world today. It was heart warming to sit with the children and watch as they added their input to the artwork, knowing that we were contributing to keeping Aboriginal culture alive as well as building connections between us all. “Educators view culture and the context of family as central to children’s sense of being and belonging, and to success in lifelong learning.” (The Early Years Learning Framework, Practice 6 - Cultural Competence).

We hope you enjoy viewing our piece and ask that you kindly take the time to acknowledge Aboriginal culture and pay respects to the Kaurna people, whose ancestral lands we meet on today.

“We walk different paths but will always share this one significant connection.”

– Coda Cox, Ngarrindjeri woman and Educator