2025 National Reconciliation Week Celebrations

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. The NRW 2025 theme, ‘Bridging Now to Next’, reflects the ongoing connection between past, present and future. ‘Bridging Now to Next’ calls on all Australians to step forward together, to look ahead and continue the push forward as past lessons guide us.

Special activities and experiences took place across all our services and programs to celebrate National Reconciliation Week. From the many rich and meaningful children’s play and learning experiences; to sharing deeply reflective daily questions; to reading the story of Sky Country in every service; to creating reflective ‘Reconciliation Trees’; to engaging in professional development sessions on Country; to attending reconciliation breakfasts – we certainly embraced and celebrated this important week in LGT’s calendar.

Embedding Indigenous Perspectives at Penna Road

In recognition of the 2025 National Reconciliation Week theme: ‘Bridging Now to Next’.

At Penna Road, we are committed to embedding Indigenous perspectives in meaningful and respectful ways throughout our daily program. In line with this year’s National Reconciliation Week theme, ‘Bridging Now to Next’, we aim to honour First Nations culture in the present, while empowering our children to carry that respect and understanding into the future.

We incorporate practices such as an Acknowledgment to Country during our daily group experiences and ensure that Indigenous resources are always accessible within our learning spaces. These inclusions support children in building cultural awareness, appreciation and connection.

During National Reconciliation Week, the children engaged in several experiences that reflected this ongoing commitment:

During our daily yoga sessions, relaxing Indigenous music played in the background, sparking conversations among the children about the different sounds they could hear, such as the didgeridoo, clapping sticks, bird calls and rainfall. These discussions provided a valuable opportunity to explore the cultural significance of traditional instruments and their connection to Country, storytelling and ceremony.

Children harvested warrigal greens from our garden and used them to make a dip for afternoon tea, giving them an opportunity to explore the flavours of native bush foods. While picking the greens, an educator explained that warrigal greens are a native Australian plant and an Indigenous vegetable commonly used in cooking. The children were excited to learn that these greens would be added to their dip, and the discussion sparked their creativity as they began suggesting other recipe ideas that could include the versatile ingredient.

During a musical experience, Normita invited the children, to sit in a circle and join her in singing the Indigenous Australian children’s song ‘Inanay’. The children responded with enthusiasm, clapping their hands and attempting to follow the melody and rhythm. Some swayed gently to the music, while others sang along with growing confidence.

Creative expression was supported by using natural materials collected from our yard as painting tools. Children explored the textures and shapes of leaves, branches, sticks, seed pods and bark to create their artwork, discovering how each item left a unique mark. By using materials from nature and learning about their cultural significance, children began to develop an appreciation for Indigenous perspectives and the deep relationship First Nations people have with the environment.

Briar created an engaging, hands-on learning experience using Indigenous-themed resources and information, followed by a display to help reinforce and revisit the children’s learning. While exploring the display and scanning QR codes to learn how to say different Aboriginal place names, Annabel asked, ‘What’s White Beach’s name? We always visit there on holidays’. After some research, we discovered that it is called Turrakana. The children then practised the pronunciation together with much enthusiasm.

During another group time, an educator used both QR codes to further explore the information in the display. One video shared the correct pronunciation of places such as Tasmania, Mount Wellington, and other areas across the island in the local Indigenous language. The children showed great interest in practising these names together, deepening their understanding and appreciation of local Indigenous culture.

Using the second QR code, the group watched a short video about the critically endangered Miena Cider Gum, a rare tree species found only in a small region of the Central Highlands in Lutruwita (Tasmania). The children engaged in thoughtful discussion about the different shapes of the trees and described what they could see in the landscape—pointing out the sky, sun, grassy plains and other natural features.

Through both subtle daily practices and intentional learning experiences, the children were given meaningful opportunities to connect with and appreciate Aboriginal culture. These moments help us in ‘Bridging Now to Next’ – laying foundations for a more respectful, inclusive and culturally aware future.

FROM THE TEAM AT PENNA ROAD