Barmah Kindergarten 2019
Here is the woka, (land)
Here is the yurratha, (sky)
Here are my anganya, (friends)
Here am ngain (I)
We thank the Yenbena (Aboriginal ) people of the area
On which we dagaba (play) today.
This is the acknowledgement that the children of Barmah
Kindergarten do each session, and is part of the way that
the Aboriginal culture is embedded into the program. With a
majority of the children being Indigenous we believe that
this is very important. In July this year we were successful in
gaining a grant to teach the Yorta Yorta language at the
kindergarten for the next 4 years. This have been an exciting
addition to our program, with Roxanne teaching us the
Yorta Yorta language and help embed it into the program,
such as the in the acknowledgement.
The language program has been complemented during the year, with special events such as an afternoon
tea for reconciliation week, and a special session when we celebrated Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Children’s day and we invited Nathalia
Kindergarten children to join us, it was wonderful to watch
the children being able to share their knowledge of the
Aboriginal culture and have fun with the children from
Nathalia.
We were also privileged to be invited by the Nathalia Police
to visit Nathalia, and help to raise the Aboriginal flag for
the first time at the police station. The children enjoyed this
and even shared our acknowledgement with the special
guest.
The program at Barmah Kindergarten is guided by the children and
their interests. This years children enjoyed the balance bikes and
spent a lot of time on them, we have a track down the back of the
kindergarten and they decided that the track needed bike jumps, so
over several sessions the children worked to build bike jumps,
which were enjoyed and worked on over the year.
We have a vegetable garden and chooks and the produce from
these are used in the program. The children decide what they will
cook. Often after finding an egg in the chook pen, or another hiding
spot, the children would request to
make pancakes with the egg, or
something else.
The children are encouraged to
take risks, such as building high
towers of blocks by asking an
educator for the step ladder so that
they can make their buildings even
higher. Of course the children are
guided to do this
safely, and set
their own rules so
that it is done
safely.
Fires are also a very popular activity in term 2 and 3, with
children often requesting a fire, which we have in the centre of
our yarning circle. The favourite item to cook is johnny cakes,
with the children requesting them frequently.
The program is enhanced by incursions such as GV Water,
Smiles for Miles, Melbourne Museum and In the Wild, these
along with excursions to the local schools, the supermarket and
around the community. The
children especially liked walking
to the Barmah Forest and Dungala ( Murray River), with frequent visits
and children observing their environment changing over time.
The year ended with the children creating their own Christmas tree out of
cardboard boxes, and they painted it blue, and then decorated it and this
was then used as a centre piece at our family break up and kindergarten
Christmas Party.
Thanks must go the wonderful children and parents of Barmah Kindergar-
ten and Occasional Care, who make the centre the lovely place it is.
A special thank you to Elwyn, Roxanne and Leanne and to the staff of
GRPSA—Sue, Amy, Carol and Amanda, for the wonderful management of
Barmah Kindergarten.
Robyn Trickey
Thank you
Robyn Trickey—B ED–Early childhood