Year 4 Assembly - Understanding Impact and Reconciliation
- 10 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Over the course of this term, Year 4 has been inquiring into the arrival of the First Fleet in Australia. The students looked at what life was like for First Nations Australians before the arrival of Europeans, living conditions in England in the late 1700's, the conditions for convicts during the journey to the new penal colony and the impacts of their arrival on indigenous Australians.
One of the key concepts was how the arrival is seen differently from different perspectives. Our assembly was all about telling the story of everyone involved in the colonisation of Australia. Classes shared early indigenous life and the importance of Country through the Rainbow Serpent story. We also got to compare and contrast present day life for a 9 year old to the much more challenging lifestyles of young people in London at the end of the 17th century. One of the students remarked about how it was incredible that children so young had to do such difficult work - like a chimney sweep!
The arduous journey to Australia was creatively presented through a re-written song. We have learned in this unit that stories can be both told and sung. Finally, we talked about the conflicting views of colonisation. This brought our learning to the point of acknowledging the truth of what happened and moving forward through respect and listening to each other. Reconciliation is an ongoing process and Year 4 now has a much deeper understanding of what this means in Australia.
Students showed amazing determination and perseverance as they prepared for their presentation. Overcoming nerves and building self-confidence was a bit part of the assembly experience. A learner remarked that they felt a bit scared before the start of the assembly but was so proud of themselves at the end for getting up there and 'doing it'!
This was truly an historical learning journey and a huge growth in personal development for our students!
Bruce Home
Grand Pooba of Year 4
