Students from St Theresa’s Primary School in Albion enjoyed a day out of the classroom on 10 December, learning about Indigenous Australian conservation practices, cultures, histories and stories.
Yorta-Yorta Barapa-Barapa man, trainee ecologist and cultural educator for Habitat Warriors Kai Lane led the day’s activities.
“It’s about teaching [students] how they would have been taught 65,000 years ago,””he said. From Dreamtime stories, outdoor activities…basically creating that living classroom.
Mr Lane is part of a program that makes Yedabila habitat pods — traditional woven huts — that have multiple uses including creating habitat for birds and small-bodied native fish, and providing safe shelters for turtles.
“So we’re going from teaching them how to care for Country with the habitat pods, and then we’re going to teach some Maan Grook.”
Maan Grook is a traditional Indigenous Australian football game where players compete to catch a ball, typically made from possum skin, after it has been punted high in the air.
After the trip to the creek, students learnt about symbols, native animals and animal tracks, and worked with Mr Lane to create original artworks to tell stories.
Family school partnerships coordinator Greg Woolford said the excursion aimed to complement students’ in-classroom learning.
“We want the kids to get a deeper understanding of how Indigenous people lived on the country, cared for the country and how it was done in their environment,” he said.
“And get [the students] to have that sense of appreciation so that they become, themselves, carers and proud to be in the country.”
