Narooma Preschool authentically and respectfully embeds Aboriginal content

Narooma Preschool has responded to updated Early Years Learning Framework requirements to include Aboriginal cultural content in an authentic and respectful manner, which not only takes into account the preschool’s broader community context, but also supports other early learning services in the Eurobodalla to be successful. 

Rather than purchasing products or services, the preschool team undertook a journey of over a year, engaging with many different stakeholders from the community to create engaging and meaningful material relevant to its community context, which it is now sharing with 20 other early learning services so that young children in the area all have access to a locally relevant language and culture teaching tool.

For Director Kathy Phipps it was important to provide true historical and cultural learning experiences for all children that were respectful within the Narooma community context, something which ‘off the shelf’ oral language and literacy programs could not offer. 

“It had to be authentic and I couldn’t find anything Yuin-based,” she shared with About Regional. 

Ms Phipps used grant funding from the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, to build a program unique to the preschool and its community, working in tandem with colleague Kate Heffernan.

As a starting point the pair reflected on what was already in place, and had meaning and connection for the children – a preschool song, and three Aboriginal authors’ books – Mad Magpie, The Toast Tree and A Home for Bilby. To those, Ms Phipps wanted to add five Dreamtime stories.

Seeking permission for the project from a knowledge holder led Ms Phipps to teachers Patricia Ellis OAM and Kerry Boyenga. The sisters, with their brother Waine Donovan, wrote the Dhurga Dictionary and Learners’ Grammar Book. Not only did the teachers give their blessing, but they became an integral part of the project.

Knowing that strong visuals would be an essential part of the program, Ms Phipps approached local Yuin artist Natalie Bateman to make storyboards, featuring  Baranguba Montague Island, and photographs from the bushfires which swept the region, over which artwork was layered. 

“They can be interactive with other stories. They are an amazing gift to our community of educators, children and families,” Ms Phipps shared with About Regional. 

To support staff on the journey the team undertook a language course at TAFE, committing two hours every Monday for six months on top of their ECEC workloads. As a result all staff are now confident in teaching Dhurga language.

While there was grant money allocated to pay for this language learning, the TAFE community saw the immense value in the project to the broader needs of the community and waived the fees for staff to learn Dhurga. 

As well as strong visuals, Ms Phipps wanted props to support the children to engage with the stories, which were created with the support of the Narooma Men’s Shed who made wooden animals. Staff member, Yuin woman Talia Moreton-Stewart, made patterns for the Men’s Shed team to etch into the timber. 

Wanting to ensure children had a tangible connection to Yuin history, Ms Phipps asked local Yuin craftsman Eddie Moore for advice and support. Mr Moore and the Gadhu craft girls made spears, boomerangs and coolamons and other artifacts for the children to see, touch, interact with and have conversations about.

Using the remaining grant money Ms Phipps made 20 baskets to give to other early learning services in the community, featuring the storyboards, props and artifacts, along with an invitation to have a cultural tour of the preschool. 

“We found a lot of educators are struggling with making a connection with culture, elders and knowledge holders in the local area,” Ms Phipps outlined. 

During the project, the preschool became involved with Narooma High School, which has a native bush and medicinal herb garden. The two groups now have a memorandum of understanding, extending the continuity of learning for children in the community from the early years through to the final years of schooling. 

“The grant has opened doors,” Ms Phipps said. “People are beginning to understand language and culture, and it is bringing people together.”

Read the original coverage of this story here.