02 Jun 2018
This week students at HopeTown have been learning about National Reconciliation Week. National Reconciliation week is an annual celebration and is a time for all Australians to reflect on our shared histories, and the achievements of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
On Friday the 1st of June, students attended a whole school assembly to pay their respects and reflect upon the meaning on National Reconciliation week and Sorry Day. They also participated in a range of activities to close the week including cooking, Aboriginal games, art making and a movie.
HopeTown also created our own sea of hands art installation as a dedication to these significant days. The idea from the ANTaR Sea of Hands which was first held in front of Australian Parliament House in 1997 and has come to symbolise the People's movement for Reconciliation and will be Hopetown's acknowledgement.
MAY 27 – Marks the anniversary of Australia's most successful referendum and defining event in our nation's history. In 1967 referendum saw over 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise them in the national census.
JUNE 3 – Commemorates the High Court of Australia's landmark Mabo decision in 1992, which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a special relationship that existed prior to colonisation and still exists today. The recognition paved the way for land rights or Native Title.