Last week we celebrated NAIDOC week throughout our school. This years theme of "Always was, Always will be" was explored in many different ways in classes from Kinder to Grade 6. In Kinder, the children listened to an oral retelling of the introduction of Europeans on Australian soil and were asked to reflect on how our Indigenous Australians would have felt during this time. They followed this inquiry by connecting to Country during bush kinder explorations and through various activities that highlighted our acknowledgment of the first owners of this land. In Grade 2 everyone worked together to write a RAP song and make a mini-movie or a poster. In Grade 4 students explored the impact European colonisation had on Aboriginal people and how we can work together to make sure we look after and care for our land and each other. Grade 6 explored stories of the Dreaming and what the message from the stories was. They created their own "Dreaming" stories from moral such as telling the truth, treating others with respect and appearances can be deceiving.

Our school's vision for reconciliation begins with our RAP document. As a school, we celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and identity each day by starting our morning with an Acknowledgment of Country. At Holy Rosary, we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the Land on which we work, live and play, the palawa people and recognise their connection to land, water and community. We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging.

Our RAP Vision

At Holy Rosary Catholic School, reconciliation is about all students being embraced for who they are. We learn, we ask questions and we explore the histories, contributions and the continued influence that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have on Australia through the past, the present and the future.

We hope to invite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members to share their stories and experience so as to create a safe space for unlearning, relearning and learning the truths of Australia’s First Nations peoples.

We believe that knowledge is the most powerful tool that we can use to help work towards an environment of true reconciliation, we will strive to achieve this by learning about the past, learning about the present and learning what the future may look like in regards to reconciliation.

You can view our RAP document in our school foyer with the display made by students in Aboriginal students in Culture Club.