“Gather ’round people, I’ll tell you a story. An eight year long story of power and pride…”

This is the beginning to Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly’s immortal anthem “From Little Things Big Things Grow” which tells the story of First Nations leader Vincent Lingiari’s fight for land rights for the Gurindji people of Kalkarindji in the Northern Territory.

Today marks the beginning of Reconciliation Week. The theme of Reconciliation Week 2022 is “Be Brave. Make Change.” One of the many rich learning opportunities that will occur at King David across Reconciliation Week will be a mass Senior School learning and singing of this song as a means of exploring First Nation People’s connection to land. As Kelly and Carmody state: “But this is the story of something much more. How power and privilege can not move a people who know where they stand, and stand in the law. From little things big things grow.”

Other Reconciliation Week activities include exploring First Nations’ footy guernsey designs, a special series of daily Acknowledgements of Country crafted by students and staff across the School and a whole of staff professional development session run by Children’s Ground on truth telling and implementation of local First Nations’ perspectives in our curriculum.

Another significant event occurred today when the whole Senior School belatedly watched the documentary In My Blood it Runs. This was intended to occur last year but due to the COVID-19 lock down it was not possible. The documentary is about Dujuan Hoosan, a young Arrernte and Garrwa boy who lives in Mparntwe (Alice Springs). It is an eye-opening celebration of Dujuan’s rich and powerful cultural heritage while exploring how he negotiates the disadvantages that are reflected in the gaps in economic, employment, justice and health circumstances for First Nations Australians.

We feel that this will be especially important as later this year we will send our Year 8 students to Central Australia so that they can augment their developing understanding of First Nations’ perspectives by visiting culturally significant First Nations’ landmarks in Australia’s red centre.

The King David School Reconciliation Action Committee have been hard at work elevating our cultural practices, learning opportunities, programs and behavioural norms to ensure that we provide our students with a rich grounding in knowledge of First Nations history, culture, traditions and current challenges as well as inspiring our students to care about First Nations issues. We aim to create a generation of King David graduates who are determined and equipped to stand alongside First Nations People to be part of the reconciliation process.

We believe that through instilling our students with deep learning opportunities and through meaningfully incorporating First Nations perspectives we help build a future where they can truly “Be Brave. Make Change.”

From little things big things grow.

Shabbat Shalom,

Marc Light