Ashwyn is an amazing woman and a truly inspiring teacher who works hard to support both her colleagues and students with Aboriginal perspectives. Ashwyn has lead Aboriginal education at two schools and we have been lucky enough to work with her both in 2017 at Busby West Public School and 2018 at Cartwright Public School.

As the mum of a kindy kid, I spent a lot of time in parent forums and groups during the first term of this year. I gained some valuable insight into school life and how best to support my child in his first year of school. But there was one thing that bothered me – so many parents were quick to criticise teachers and complain about the job they were doing and often this criticism seemed unfair.

This week we acknowledge World Environment Day and World Oceans Day. Both of these events focus on raising awareness and encouraging action to support a healthy planet. Modern society does not treat the environment well and the impact is starting to be seen.

​This week is Reconciliation Week. Reconciliation means acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the First Peoples of this land, and recognising the dispossession, persecution and oppression they have suffered as a result of Australia’s colonisation.

National Sorry Day is celebrated around the country each year on the 26th of May. As the day approaches, there are Australians out there who are asking why we need to have such a day. Many of these people see Sorry Day as Aboriginal people stuck in the past and not being able move forward.

With Mother’s Day just gone and Sorry Day fast approaching, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge all the mums of the Stolen Generation: the mothers whose children were taken, without cause, and in many cases never returned. For those mums, Mother’s Day isn’t about sleep-ins, flowers and carefully selected gifts that symbolise love and thanks. It is about a loss that never goes away.

For those of us who are dedicated teachers of English and literature, literacy has always meant more than the ability to read words on a page. Literacy is the ability to make meaning from those words. To read them, evaluate them, use them, create content with them, understand and make meaning from them.

Remembering Our Soldiers - Uncle Phillip McLeod

Over the last week we have been honouring Black Diggers for their service. I am overwhelmed by the response! Every single person who has served for this country deserves the highest respect and I have seen that this week. The pride the Aboriginal community has for our soldiers is heartwarming. It is great to see Black Diggers getting the recognition they deserve.

On 17 April 1816, Aboriginal men, women and children were murdered after Governor Lachlan Macquarie dispatched soldiers to ‘rid the land of troublesome blacks’.

I’m really excited this week to have our new platform, Wingaru Bubs, available to early childhood education providers. It is a digital resource centre, filled with informative, engaging and flexible resources that support educators and children as they explore Aboriginal perspectives.

One of the visions I have for Wingaru is that we are able support people to consider Aboriginal perspectives in a new way. By making information more accessible and providing complete packages of resources that support a range of learning outcomes, Aboriginal perspectives can easily be included regularly and not just limited to the designated ‘Aboriginal unit’ or ‘Aboriginal week’ that a lot of schools have delivered in the past.

Our Closing the Gap activity is a free resource for primary school teachers to promote discussions on the issues surrounding National Closing the Gap Day. By facilitating a role playing activity students will gain a greater understanding of the importance of the commitments made by the Australian Government, whilst brainstorming their own solutions.

​I was an above average student throughout my schooling but was staggered one day to discover that I just couldn’t answer the questions in a certain test. The test was undertaken in a large hall and based on a tape recording of dubious quality but aside from that, I discovered that I just wasn’t a good listener. Without pictures and written text, the spoken words just didn’t sink in.

10 years ago today I was standing in Martin Place in Sydney, watching then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd make history by apologising to the members of the Stolen Generation for the wrongs that had been done against them under the policies of previous Australian Governments.

​Why do people with a 230 year ancestry get to tell me, with a 100, 000+ year one, that they are "over" the change the date debate because they are sick of things being changed to suit Aboriginal people.