When they come in they put a stamp on the attendance chart, then put their lunch in
the fridge, bags in their lockers, then they'll be brushing their teeth after that, and putting
their names and photos on the ‘who is here today’ chart.
You really want parents to help them, but not us. So when they come in next time, you
don't have to tell them. Then they write their name. Then after that they just - I'll ask
them what they want to do, choose an activity that they want to play.
We acknowledge… We acknowledge…
and pay our respects… and pay our respects…
to our ancestors… to our ancestors…
and elders… and elders…
past… past…
present and future. present and future.
I guess one of my favourite shared rituals with the children is the Tungan children sharing,
or serving the morning tea and the lunch to the rest of the kids. It makes them important,
it makes them that they're giving back to the children in their group, but it also inspires
the other kids, because they all want to go and sit in the Tungan chair, because they
want to serve the meals.
It's also the fruit sharing circle, that's
a ritual that's happened every day. Part of that process, apart from giving the children
some morning tea and learning about healthy eating, it's also a sharing circle where children
are telling each other stories about their weekend or what happened yesterday when they
went home after school.
It's time for Ischmael. Ischmael? Good morning,
my name is Miss Jo. What's your name? Mali.
Say good morning Mali. Good morning Mali.
Sharntasia, where did you go? Did you go - at the beach? Did you catch anything? What did you catch?
Fish.
Somebody caught a fish. Yeah.
Oh wow. Okay you can have some fruit. And we're back to the beginning. Maybe we can
have… And I guess by this time too, the kids have
really developed a sense of routine by now. They know what to do. When Johanna was over
there, the kids were still tidying up and immediately when she started singing, I am
waiting, I am waiting - when they heard that cue, they all walked to the carpet and they
knew to sit down when they heard that.
[SINGING] I am waiting, I am waiting for you
to hurry up, for you to hurry up, time is ticking…
In remote communities and in communities, we have so much freedom anyway.
We have freedom because we're extended family, so when they
come here, the children need to know that there are rules and there are boundaries.
When you have routines, you can incorporate so many - and they are intentional teaching
moments - you know, you can incorporate that into your routine, and get the kids to develop
and learn more skills in that way. And for children with additional needs, like autism
or foetal alcohol, sometimes kids with foetal alcohol, they can hear the information but
can't process it. So it's the case of okay I'm seeing everyone else do it, so I might
as well just do it too.
Right we're going to go around, ready?
[SINGING] Take a tissue, from the box. Just one, not lots.
Fold your tissue in half and put it in front of you.
With a one, and a two and a three, let's blow.
Wipe it all with that tissue, wipe it all.
Okay bin in the middle.
And so it becomes - they get to fit in.
If everyone is doing the same thing, everyone fits in and no one's left out.