We are celebrating National Reconciliation Week at Calvin this week.
Started as the “Week of Prayer for Reconciliation” in 1993 and supported by Australia’s major faith communities, National Reconciliation Week has continued to grow across the nation. More than 30 years later, we celebrate by learning about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and exploring how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation within our Calvin community and beyond.
Our Food Technology students participated in ‘Bush Tucker’ sessions, identifying plants for medicinal culinary and domestic uses. Students have also prepared indigenous-inspired foods including mealworm pretzels, wattle seed cookies, wallaby and mountain pepper-berry meatballs, lemon- myrtle saltbush crackers and warrigal-green salsa-verde dip. Staff tasted some of these items at the official opening of the Calvin primary Bush Tucker Garden on Monday afternoon.
Year 4 students participated in a ‘knowledge sharing’ session with Janelle Smith, a palawa member of our Calvin staff team. In their library sessions this week, primary and Year 7 students have enjoyed books by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and participated in a ‘yarning with yarn’ activity that will form an art installation in the Library. By the end of the week, our hope is that all of our Year 7 students will have learned more about the history and culture of the palawa people through a HASS excursion to TMAG.
Reconciliation and forgiveness are central to our identity as a transformational Christian learning community. We are reconciled and restored with God through Jesus. But it doesn’t end there, as we are then called to deliver the message of forgiveness, restoration and reconciliation to the world around us. Jesus gave us two inseparable commands – to love God, and love our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:37).
At Calvin, we seek to understand what it means to “love our neighbour.” This sometimes requires soul searching. It often requires healing. It certainly requires us to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and experiences.
Bonny Moroni - Head of Secondary