Free PALS Packs Available Now!
Congratulations to every school that has registered for the 2008 PALS Program. It is great to hear all about the exciting projects students and teachers are getting involved in across the state.
As a special thank you to our schools for 2008, every school that registers with PALS will receive a special pack with all sorts of PALS goodies. These packs include t-shirts, posters, balloons, hats and other great giveaways.
Get in quick, because packs are limited!
New to PALS? Find out more now!
If you would like to be involved in PALS 2008 and have a chance to win some fantastic prizes, register your school now to get your projects started!
PALS Registration Checklist
Spotlight on Projects
Hedland Senior High School has got off to a great start in 2008, continuing with their project Reclaiming and Connecting the Community.
Concerned with the high incidence of diabetes in the Indigenous population, the school created a project to promote healthy lifestyle messages to the wider community, building a community garden to incorporate Indigenous culture.
This year the high school students will be maintaining the garden and developing creative ideas to incorporate bush tucker with European food. They will do this through experimentation and working with local Indigenous elders.
The recipes will be shared in a cook book sold to the wider community, with proceeds going to a nominated charity (i.e. Diabetes Australia). Previous editions have been printed in both Australian English and local dialect to promote healthy lifestyle messages to as many people as possible.
Reconciliation Week
Reconciliation Week is fast approaching, starting on National Sorry Day, Monday 26th May.
There are a number of ways you can celebrate Reconciliation Week in your school. Reconciliation Australia suggests these ideas to recognise the occasion;
- Invite an Indigenous elder to talk about Aboriginal traditions, ceremonies or connection to Country.
- Learn about who are the Elders in your community. As relationships develop there may be opportunities for elders and students to meet and talk.
- Watch a movie or read a book about Indigenous history and culture such as Ten Canoes, Rabbit Proof Fence or The Tracker.
- Arrange a heritage walk with a local Indigenous leader.
- Arrange a school excursion to an Indigenous community.
- Design a poster about reconciliation and what it means to you.
- Have a day of bush tucker - invite and involve local Indigenous people to help with the cooking.
- Acknowledge traditional owners of Country at assembly and other school gatherings.
- Hold a class debate about land rights for Indigenous people.
Many other ideas are available from the Reconciliation Australia website.
If you are participating in the PALS Program, be sure to let the PALS Team know about your activities. We can help you promote the activities and are always interested to hear about the great work you are doing!
Resource Centre
To test your knowledge of Indigenous issues the PALS website has two interactive quizzes available.
The PALS Power Quiz is available for Beginners and Intermediate, and is a good tool to gauge students’ knowledge on Indigenous heritage and affairs.
The quiz can also be a good tool to evaluate the educational value of the PALS program you are running. If students complete the quiz before and after their PALS project the scores they get can be compared to see where they have gained new knowledge.
Feedback
If there is something you would like us to include in the PALS Newsletter, please feel free to contact the PALS Team. Your feedback helps us to make PALS even better!