Our Response to Sea Country (2022)
Our learning occurred on the land of the Nuenonne people; the traditional and original owners of this land (lunnawanna-alonnah). We pay our respects to the indigenous people; past, present, and emerging, who have cared for the land, the sea, and the air for thousands of years.
At Bruny Island District School, we are inspired by the yearly NAIDOC Week theme and this year was no different. The invitation to Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up spoke to all of us and with this we have been inquiring into Sea Country through the lenses of modern-day science and that of indigenous perspectives.
The call to action came when we learnt about the importance of caring for Sea Country to ensure the sacred cultural practices of our indigenous people were able to continue. It was learning that our Sea Country is suffering that our school decided to Get Up, Stand Up and Show Up about the importance of caring for Sea Country and all that is within it.
We hope you enjoy our reflections captured in this short video.
ya pulingina (hello, welcome). We pay our respects to the traditional and original owners of this land, the Nuenonne people, and to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people, Elders past, present and emerging, as the continuing custodians of this land, lunawanna-alonnah. Together, we sincerely hope that we can work in partnership to acknowledge the past, be authentic with our learning, and work towards a connected, sustainable and respectful future.
Healing Nuenonne Country is a celebration of the rich and authentic inquiry the students at Bruny Island District School have undertaken this year. This is our response to the 2021 National NAIDOC theme: Heal Country which culminated with an entry to the Indigital Minecraft Challenge for 2021 and a teaching and learning experience that included much more than we could have ever planned for. Healing Nuenonne Country demonstrates how a 3-dimensional curriculum can weave the Learning Areas, General Capabilities and Cross-Curriculum Priorities whilst engaging with our local community and focusing on the Learner Dispositions of being: thinkers, collaborators, communicators, researchers and self-managers. Intercultural Understanding with a particular focus on learning from an Indigenous Perspective is clearly captured throughout this inquiry and it is our hope that this inquiry encourages and supports the continued cultivation of respectful values and dispositions that will help us work towards our vision of every child being empowered to develop the skills and confidence to enrich their lives and the lives of others.
Congratulations to our Year 4-5-6 class for representing our school and sharing their learning through the Indigital Minecraft Challenge for 2021.
The Indigital Minecraft Education Challenge invites Indigenous and non-Indigenous students from Foundation to Year 10 to discover and explore their local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural knowledge, histories and languages and represent this learning through the Minecraft Education Edition.
This year’s Challenge saw over 200 teachers and 6500 students across 160 schools take up the Challenge to build Minecraft Worlds, celebrating the 2021 National NAIDOC theme Heal Country.
Bruny Island District School was named:
• National Finalist Best Narrative 2021
• National Finalist Best Minecraft World - Primary 2021
Our prize is a $1000 voucher for new technology with thanks to Microsoft. But what are we most proud of? The incredible and authentic teaching and learning experience our students have had in response to the theme of Heal Country.
Learning Together
At Bruny Island District School we want to work in partnership with our families. We have listened to your feedback and based on your suggestions we have developed a short 6-part mini-series called Maths In Minutes. Each episode will explore a different Mathematical concept and in video we will share some practical ways you could explore this concept at home.
Our hope is that we can work together to immerse your child in rich thinking tasks and support families to develop your child’s Mathematical vocabulary and confidence.
We hope you have enjoyed our Maths In Minutes series.
Maths in Minutes
Episode 1:
Estimation
This video will share with families some different ways to encourage more Maths-talk at home. We want to encourage our families to think about the various opportunities where you could ask your child to estimate and discuss some of the rich vocabulary and mathematical thinking that is associated with estimation.
Episode 2:
Maths is Everywhere!
In this episode of Maths In Minutes we are talking about the many ways you can incorporate more maths talk at home by noticing all of the ‘maths’ around you!
Maths is everywhere and the best thing you can do to support your child is to incorporate simple skills like counting, pattern finding and number talk throughout your day-to-day activities.
Episode 3:
We Are Problem Solvers
In this episode of Maths In Minutes we are encouraging families to stay curious for longer and support their child to be a positive problem solver.
Episode 4:
Number Splitters
Number Splitting is a strategy where you can break the numbers up to make them easier to work with and today we have represented this using an open number line.
Episode 5:
Multiplication
We want all of our students to understand the concept of multiplication and be able to visualise what a multiplication question is asking of them as well as having a range of strategies to help them find an answer.
Episode 6:
Telling the Time
In this episode (season finale) we want to share with you some different ways that you can engage your child with ‘time talk’ at home.
Telling the time is often a difficult concept for children but it is an important life skill.