A sense of pride and excitement is in the air at the Eden Public School, as students immerse themselves in a range of NAIDOC week activities.
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Yuin woman and Eden Public School teacher Ms Jackson said NAIDOC week was an important time to continue teaching students about First Nations history and culture.
"The more exposure we give the kids about learning these important stories and traditions, the more we can bridge that gap and lead towards reconciliation," she said.
Schools across NSW were celebrating NAIDOC in their last week of school term, Monday June 27 to Friday, July 1. The official NAIDOC Week was not set to begin until Sunday, July 3.
NAIDOC is celebrated not only by Indigenous communities but by Australians from all walks of life, celebrating the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
This year's NAIDOC theme is Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!, with a goal of encouraging people to champion institutional, structural, collaborative, and cooperative change while celebrating those who have already driven and led change in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities over generations.
On Monday June 27, Eden Public Primary School opened its NAIDOC week celebrations with a series of Aboriginal dances performed by students in Years 3 to 6.
Ms Jackson said there had been around 40 dancers involved in performing traditional dances, including one performed to welcome people on country.
"We also had the privilege of performing some new dances that were passed on by the Djaadjawan women's dance group" she said.
Ms Jackson said the students had been very excited to get involved on the day.
"They were all dressed up in their costumes, ochred up and it was really beautiful," she said.
On Tuesday June 28, the whole school got behind the iconic Sea of Hands reconciliation activity, which encouraged students to draw and/or inscribe personalised messages of reconciliation on cut out hand prints.
"Some of the common words that we saw written on the hands were love, hope, sorry and unity," Ms Jackson said.
Ms Jackson said it had been "lovely" to see the students coming up with their own versions of what a more reconciled country meant to them.
"The kids all relished in the task and were quite engaged in their classroom activities which has been quite beautiful to experience," she said.
Ms Jackson said the students were also looking forward to get involved in the deadly door competition later that day.
The deadly door competition saw each class create a collaborative artwork, inspired by the NAIDOC theme.
The artworks were later judged by the school's Aboriginal Education Officer, Corey Stewart, with students set to wait until the NAIDOC assembly on Friday to discover which collaborative artwork won.
The rest of the week's activities included a visit and dance performances at the Monaroo Bobberrer Gudu Keeping Place at Jigamy Farm on Wednesday, in-class activities and the NAIDOC assembly at the school on Friday.
Ms Jackson said as coordinator of the Aboriginal education team at Eden Primary School, she was "passionate" about teaching kids about First Nations culture and said it needed to be taught consistently throughout the year.
"My vision is that we celebrate and learn about First Nations culture and history at all parts throughout the year, not just during days of celebrations or significant days," she said.
Ms Jackson said she was very "proud" to be working with "such a supportive team" at the Eden Public school.
"I'm grateful to work with a principal who continues to support and advocate for cultural inclusion and First Nations education," she said.