Our interactive Language journey began back in August 2023, when Aunty Lyn Brown visited our little preschool for a cultural event. While admiring our Dharawal Seasonal Calendar, designed and painted by Dharawal artist Michael Fardon, Aunty Lyn made the suggestion to make it interactive by including spoken Dharawal words for some key components.
We selected Aboriginal Languages Week in October to mount our first buttons. These proved to be hugely popular, and several weeks later we added more, extending it to include Nagganbi (hello/welcome) and Nandawabi (goodbye/see you soon) to our entryway.
Our Dharawal Seasons Calendar has been a focal point of our preschool environment for many years now. Spanning a whopping 13 metres, our calendar depicts the 6 Dharawal seasons. We reference our calendar regularly as we notice the changes we see within our immediate environment. We have also added the children’s photos according to their birthdays, as well as many significant cultural days and events. Adding our Dharawal language buttons has had benefits in ways we could never have anticipated!
We have been overwhelmed by the far-reaching impact these little buttons have had on the whole preschool community. Not only have they been fully embraced by our preschool children, they have also become a highlight for siblings, parents and grandparents during pick-up and drop-off times. Our youngest siblings are listening to and repeating the words, rapidly expanding their developing vocabularies. We have had grandparents telling us how they have loved learning about Aboriginal culture and language alongside their grandchildren, something they were deprived of during their own schooling. There are also several children who have minimal verbal communication, and they too have enthusiastically interacted with the buttons, excitedly repeating words in Language. At least one of our families plans to implement these at home.
Our Language buttons are assisting in bridging the gap between generations, abilities and cultures. We have been so inspired by the response to our Language buttons, we are already making plans to implement them throughout the preschool environment, both as a Dharawal Language tool and also as an aid to assist our children with additional needs.
We are also proud to announce that Bradbury Preschool children and educators will be participating in a Dharawal Language program delivered by Gujaga Foundation in 2024! From little things, big things grow!
We are so excited for what the future holds for all of us here at Bradbury Preschool as we embark on our Dharawal Language journey!
Parent Feedback
Courtney: This has been so great. In just 2 days, Spencer was able to remember a couple of the words and what they mean. Love it 😍
Amanda: What a great idea!
Belinda: Amazing 😃
Nicole: These are a fantastic educational tool! I love that my child is exposed to Dharawal language daily. It’s extremely important to me to have my son educated on Aboriginal culture and language is the perfect pathway.
