If you are anything like me, you will be waiting in eager anticipation for National Reconciliation Week coming up soon! This special week is such a beautiful time of year when we see teachers, educators and organisations, embracing and celebrating our First Nations cultures, histories and communities. Our collective call for reconciliation in our country is one that is powerful and will not be drowned out by division and racism, despite a lot of the ugliness that we are seeing a lot of in the media these days.
I think that this year’s theme, Bridging Now to Next, is a really poignant one and an interesting space for services to engage with, as it is highlights the somewhat tumultuous space that reconciliation in Australia seems to currently sit within.
This year’s theme is grounded in recognition that while Australia as a nation may face uncertainty in its reconciliation journey, we all must continue to look ahead and carry on. It calls on all Australians to ‘step forward together’ as ‘past lessons guide us’. It encourages us to reflect on our past, consider our present, and envision our future.
27 May to 3 June this year, we are urged to reflect on the ongoing connection between past, present and future, acknowledging not only the disappointing setbacks, but the significant strides we continue to make every year in the reconciliation space; strides I firmly believe are driven largely by the individual and collective passion of so many everyday Australians, to work towards a more reconciled Australia.
Understanding this year's artwork and exploring connection to Country through native plants
Have you checked out the artwork yet for this year? It was beautifully created by Kalkadoon woman Bree Buttenshaw, who runs an Indigenous art and design business called Little Butten.
Her piece centres on native plants − which are known for regenerating after fire and thriving through adversity − symbolising our collective strength and the possibilities of renewal.
From Monday 5 May, you can collect a free National Reconciliation Week 2025 A2 poster from one of the 172 Officeworks stores nationwide. The posters will be displayed in a branded #NRW2025 stand at the front of the store.
The artwork provides a great platform upon which to share with children about Aboriginal connection to Country, particularly exploring the connection to plants and bush foods in your local area.
Sustainable use of native plants is an example of Aboriginal connection to Country that's easy to explore, as you can learn about how different plants were and continue to be, used by Aboriginal people across the country for a wide range of food, medicinal and material uses.
For example, did you know that:
- The River Red Gum has multiple uses: its fragrant blossoms contain sweet nectar which can be drunk, and it also creates an edible manna from its trunk.
- The dry flower spikes of Grasstrees can be used to make fire drills and spear shafts. The resin from Grasstrees can also be used to create a type of ‘bush’ glue. A similar resin can also be found in desert spinifex plants, and scientists have discovered that strands of spinifex fibres with a tensile strength eight times greater than steel!
- Different types of fungi can be used as tinder or for carrying fire.
Last year I co-wrote a DIY-Science experiment for National Science Week around making your own ‘bush glue tool’. You can check it out here if you are interested. While this activity is targeted at older children, you could adapt it for a younger audience, or check out the many readily available online videos to share with children around how Aboriginal people use native plants.
In my experience, younger kids love this video clip in which Aunty Dale Tilbrook shows kids how to use kangaroo poo with grasstree resin to make glue! It always sparks interesting conversations with the little ones!
Some other ideas to explore native plants could include:
- Starting a bush food garden at your service – getting children involved in the design and care for the garden. This is a great way to engage with your local Aboriginal community as well.
- Having a bush food inspired morning tea exploring native flavours like lemon myrtle and wattleseed. These can also be used as scents to add to playdough play!
- Using native plants in nature play; going on a nature hunt to identify native plants, having a nature scavenger hunt, using native plant materials in art collages etc.
Understanding the meaning behind the words
The other really important parts of this year’s theme of course, are the words themselves, ‘Bridging Now to Next’.
These words relate back to a very special event that took place 25 years ago; Corroboree 2000.
Corroboree 2000 brought together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous leaders in a historic call for reconciliation at the Sydney Opera House on 27 May 2000. It was a defining moment in history and showed that public sentiment was moving towards support for more concrete steps in the reconciliation process.
What also took place was the Sydney Harbour Bridge walk for reconciliation. For this walk, 250,000 people walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, showing their support for reconciliation. I’m proud to say that I was one of this special event; a shy 12 year old who walked proudly with her family and marched for reconciliation.
Similar events soon followed in other Australian cities and towns; collectively these bridge walks formed the biggest demonstration of public support for a cause that has ever taken place in Australia.
So this year marks the 25th anniversary of these momentous occasions, and National Reconciliation Week is an opportunity for us to not only remember and celebrate these events, but a chance to look forward to the future, and to consider how we today might make our mark for reconciliation.
Conclusion
However you choose to celebrate National Reconciliation Week this year, let’s do it in a spirit of positivity. We know that the journey of reconciliation is not a linear one, as a nation we certainly have had setbacks, but we also continue to make great strides.
Our role as educators in the early childhood space is to contribute to this journey in positive ways, and help build in our children a true understanding of reconciliation and of the immense value and unique perspectives to be shared from the rich cultures and histories of Australia’s First Nations peoples.
Other resources and links
Reconciliation Australia has already made some great resources available to help you celebrate in your classroom.
They have released a gorgeous colouring sheet, as well as instructions for a community installation activity you might want to consider doing within your service. This activity is ideal to do as a staff activity, and provides an opportunity for individuals to reflect on what their reconciliation efforts up to now have looked like, and draw or write out what actions they can take towards a reconciled future.