Eucalyptus Journal Term 3 Week 9

We thank our Artist in Residence Katrina Frazer for working so brilliantly with the children this term. The children, educators and Katrina herself enjoyed exploring clay and developing an understanding of concentric circles, whilst learning more about Indigenous Australian culture and connecting to our wonderful country.  The result is a stunning and deeply meaningful art installation, which welcomes families to St Leonard’s College each morning. The totem poles which are found at the entrance of the ELC and in our garden aim to inspire positivity and gratitude. As you arrive each day we invite you to run your hand along the totem, spinning them gently and making a wish for the day. As you leave please make the same action and speak of something you’re grateful for. This practice will further develop a culture of awareness, gratitude and positive thinking. 

Artist in Residence

Victorian Early Year Learning and Development Framework - COMMUNICATIONChildren express ideas and make meaning using a range of media. This is evident when children use the creative arts such as

drawing, painting, sculpture, drama, dance, movement, music and story-telling to express ideas and make meaning.

Eucalyptus Journal Term 3 Week 9

The children gained an interest in Australian animals after listening to a kookaburra laugh and learning the classic Australian song ‘The Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree’. The idea of a bird laughing tickled the children’s sense of humour and the interest grew and grew. This enabled a fabulous opportunity to combine this interest with our Connection to Country project and link in many aspects of Aboriginal culture through Australian animals. The children had many opportunities to learn more about Aboriginal culture this term. They experienced working with an artist using Aboriginal designs on clay to produce permanent artwork. They heard Aboriginal dreamtime stories and acted these out through drama sessions. An opportunity to meet many of the Australian animals occurred with the Wild Action incursion. The children loved the visit from Grandma Di to share her experiences from Northern Territory and hearing traditional storytelling and language from Grandma Jenny’s who came to visit from the Warruwi community. They also gained much enjoyment from listening to Wooly, our senior school outdoor education teacher, play the didgeridoo.

The children can now identify and know many facts about Australian animals. They have gained a greater understanding of our country and our unique animals. By being offered different materials the children became more aware of the diverse characteristics of Australian animals; their habitat, sounds they make, skin covering and what they eat. All of these experiences have seen many creative artworks, demonstrating their thinking, emerge from the Eucalyptus group. We hope you enjoy all the Australian animal inspired artworks the children have made. We are incredibly proud of all they have achieved.

Connection to Country The Eucalyptus Journey

What did you like about our project celebration night?James - I pretty much liked all of it, I was excited and I was really interested. Arty - I liked seeing my artwork. I felt happy when my Nanny took a photo of me. Everly - I loved my butterfly, mummy took a photo of it. Pippa - I liked when Katrina pulled the curtain down, I was surprised!Ariana - I liked showing my daddy my koala. Minnie - I liked showing my daddy my echidna. He said, “I’m proud.”Edward - I felt happy when they pulled down the curtain, I saw tiles. Cyson - I liked Jacaranda Edward’s Australian Bush, he made a snake and a bird and a waterfall. Jake - Last night I felt happy, I liked when daddy got a photo of my red back spider and my wombat. William - I liked when my mummy and daddy came and I liked them talking about clay stuff. I showed them my kookaburra and platypus and I showed Mr Davis. James - He’s the Principal. Zoe - I was happy because I love my Mum and dingos. Mum loved it. Ava - I was happy showing Mum my kookaburra, koala and crocodile.

Reflection…

Eucalyptus Journal Term 3 Week 9

Victorian Early Year Learning and Development Framework - LEARNINGChildren are confident and involved learners, they transfer and adapt what they have learnt from one context to

another. This is evident when they make connections between experiences, concepts and processes.

Eucalyptus Journal Term 3 Week 9

Our Thursday morning was spent with Boori Monty Pryor who had us all up dancing, singing and telling stories.

Boori Monty Pryor is descended from the Birri-gubba nation of the Bowen region and the Kunggandji people from Yarrabah, near Cairns. He has had a long career communicating Indigenous culture to schools in Australia, performing dances, playing didgeridoo, and storytelling, before turning to writing books. He has worked in film and television, sport, and music.

Boori is a beautiful soul who brought out so many smiles in the children and staff. He also visited our classrooms to see the incredible work that is on display and spent more quality time with the children outside.

Boori Pryor

Reflecting…William - We danced with Boori. Pippa - And sang songs. Jake - And we turned into a ghost. Minnie - We did Kangaroo hops. Cyson - And silly dancing! James - We were birds.Jonty - And we danced like emus. William - I liked him talking. Arty - I liked doing the silly dancing. Zoe - I liked the didgeridoo, the sound. Cyson - It has another name, 3 names.James - They only use it in other languages. We speak English but there’s other languages.

Boori told us a story, what was it about? Jonty - About birds. Arty - A Willy Wag Tail!William - A tiny bird. James - Some big birds too. Pippa -They lost the fire. James - They flew to the sun to get fire.

What was the message in the story? James - You can be small but you can be strong.