Two of Gunnedah's early learning centres will receive almost $18,000 in funding to engage pre-school aged children in the Gamilaroi culture.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mary Ranken Child Care Centre and Good Start Early Learning Centre are among 10 centres, which will be able to spend the grants on buying and developing educational resources, employing an Indigenous elder or community member to teach culture, and encouraging educators to further promote culture.
Mary Ranken's Cherie Ison said Gamilaroi man James Hogbin, known as Frog, facilitated a very successful program for ages 3-5 at the centre in 2021, and this second round of funding would enable it to continue.
"We're using [the $8000] to get an Aboriginal elder or teacher in to be more hands-on and have [culture] embedded in our program," Ms Ison said.
Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous children participated in the program, which was chock-full of activities, including cooking rabbit, kangaroo and Johnny cakes (bush scone), learning about traditional hunting techniques, native flora and fauna, and active language lessons.
"They loved it; they were very engaged in it," Ms Ison said.
The director said it was especially wonderful to see the pre-schoolers' soak up the Gamilaroi language over many months.
"The language was really good ... by the end of November, they were all speaking different words," she said.
Ms Ison said the program would start again in April and run for the rest of the year. The centre is also looking into more Indigenous resources like hand-painted dolls.
Goodstart director Amanda Magney said the grant of almost $10,000 would have "a positive impact" at the centre.
"We plan to invest this grant towards more cultural resources and importantly, more resources and training opportunities for our educators to deepen their knowledge about First Nations history and culture and embedding perspectives into every day learning experiences," she said.
"Our early learning centre aims to be a culturally safe place for all children to thrive."
Gunnedah local and Minister for Education and Early Learning, Sarah Mitchell, said these grants would enable services to provide educational activities that would strengthen the foundations of children's learning in the crucial years before school.
"The NSW Government is committed to increasing educational access to quality early childhood education services, particularly for children from low-income families, and those from Aboriginal families," Ms Mitchell said.
"They'll also be able to provide access to specialised staff to deliver targeted support to local children and their families."
