Celebrating Indigenous culture at PCYC Gaven Outside School Hours Care

At PCYC Gaven Outside School Hours Care (OSHC), Indigenous culture is not only celebrated, but also embedded into the service culture.

Every morning the OSHC children begin the day with an acknowledgement of country, and incorporating different words from the Yugambeh language such as Gumera (love), Jingeri (hello), Baugull Bujera (good morning) and Yallburu (happy) is a regular occurrence for both staff and students alike.

OSHC Coordinator and proud Aboriginal woman Logan Marks is teaching the children about Indigenous knowledge, culture, and beliefs, and combining Aboriginal knowledge and westernised knowledge together through displays, activities and crafts.

“As a proud Australian Aboriginal it is important to me that this generation of children we are educating at our service learn about the traditional owners of our land, and the history of the first Nations people who have occupied and cared for our country for 65,000 years,” said Ms Marks.

“This year’s NAIDOC Week theme of ‘Always Was, Always Will Be’ is all about hearing, seeing and learning about Australia’s true history before European settlement – and these concepts are taught in our service consistently, not only during NAIDOC Week.

“Some examples of topics we teach regularly include our seasons, space and galaxy, nature, celebrating and learning about successful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, animal tracking activities and Dadirri mediation.”

“Much of this celebration of culture can be attributed to a former Educator Carolyn O’Halloran, another proud Aboriginal Women from the Wurundjuri tribe, who created such a strong Aboriginal cultural within our service. She not only taught the children, but also the staff and families how important it is for us to honour our traditional owners.”

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