comparisons to the attitudes among the Scotch cohort and national attitudes . They proudly recognised their strong commitment to reconciliation and being part of a school that values it .
Monday afternoon brought the entire Junior School together for a whole school Assembly dedicated to reconciliation , hosted by Aiden Richards ( Junior School Captain ) and William Batchelor ( Junior School Vice Captain ). Our School Captain , Dion Whitfield , a proud Kamilaroi man , addressed the boys and staff to commence proceedings . He spoke to the audience about reconciliation and its meaning for our school . Dion even read the Acknowledgement of Country in the Kamilaroi language . There was a sense of reverence in the hall as the audience listened with intent .
This was followed by our Year 2 performance , What is Reconciliation ? Every boy in the level was either a narrator or an actor . The story told of Australia ’ s past and expressed hopes for the future . Aiden and William did an exceptional job facilitating a panel discussion with different people from our community .
On the panel were staff members ( Mr Paul McMahon and Miss Tracy Taitoko ), Year 6 boys ( Brendan Yip and Sebastian Flynn ), parents ( Mrs Rebecca Baohm and Mrs Cissy Wang ) and Dion Whitfield . The panel represented the voices of many generations . They all shared their thoughts , ideas and hopes for the future of reconciliation .
On Tuesday , the focus for the Assembly moved to our Chaplain ’ s message on peace . The Years 3 to 6 boys listened to the Rev . David Assender talk about the importance of forgiveness and what it truly means to reconcile . Mr Andrew Strempel told the boys a wonderful story about his patriarchal history . The gift of peace prevailed , as his great-grandfather took meaningful action to reconcile with First Nation Peoples who owned the land where his church was built . It was a truly moving story and a wonderful example of peaceful action .
In Junior Primary , the Preps enjoyed an incursion by Wanyara . It was an excellent opportunity to learn about traditional
Indigenous games . There was a special reconciliation Assembly with songs , drama and more sharing of work completed in the classrooms .
Finally , at Assembly , the Years 3 to 6 boys showcased their work from the week , highlighting our school ’ s collective efforts .
Mr Savill set the boys a challenge during
the week to connect with one activity that was on offer .
As we move beyond this designated week , the challenge is to continue meaningful actions towards a future of reconciliation and to be part of creating a more just and equitable society for all .
RECONCILIATION TEAM
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