Gilgandra Preschool combines road safety with Wiradjuri language and culture

Educators from Gilgandra Preschool have worked to include the spiritual totem of the Wiradjuri people who live in and around Gilgandra, into areas of the curriculum including road safety education.

The goanna, known as Girrawaa in Wiradjuri language, is an important spiritual totem for the Wiradjuri people and after consultation with local Aboriginal Elders and families at the centre a painting of a Girrawaa was made to create props for the children and educators to create their own version of the popular “five little monkeys” rhyme, based on the  Kids and Traffic version,  to further the children’s learning about road safety. 

The rhyme also provided opportunities to link to early numeracy through counting and making connections between quantity, number and numerals.

Educators also adapted the Kids and Traffic dominoes, adding Aboriginal artwork and images to reflect more of the local Aboriginal culture. Using these with the children, educators were able to promote discussion about the Key Road Safety Messages and to help develop mathematical skills such as matching, categorising and sorting.

A lot of work has been done to educate the children about road safety, with the preschool’s bike track featuring a pedestrian crossing and large road signs, and educators having regular conversations with children about safe pedestrian behaviours and with the road signs providing great opportunities to support children’s understandings of how symbols and pattern systems work.

To learn more about Gilgandra Preschool please see here. Information about the Kids and Traffic Program can be found here. 

Image source; Kids and Traffic website