Indigenous art enriches pre-school learning

JAN Juc children have a permanent and colourful reminder of their school’s Indigenous heritage after helping create new artworks.

Teachers and parents said the new murals would provide an engaging way to teach future students about First Nations culture.

Wadawurrung artist Billy-Jay O’Toole had workshops with pre-school children to create murals of the creator spirit Bunjil on previously dull water tanks.

Children also contributed to a second artwork inside the pre-school, designing two feathers each for a piece depicting Bunjil as a wedge-tailed eagle.

Emily Torney, from the pre-school’s parent advisory group, said families were impressed with the artworks.

“They do some Indigenous learning through the year, and learn about flora and fauna and the names of animals,” Ms Torney said.

“They found it really interesting to learn about Bunjil. The tanks are painted in such a way that the teachers can tell the stories behind the images.

“So it’s not only something for now, it’s something for future learning as well.
“They add so much colour and vibrancy, these two grey tanks now look fantastic.”

Billy-Jay’s mother, Wadawurrung woman Corrina Eccles, shared a smoking ceremony for the school community to launch the works earlier this month.

Surf Coast Shire councillor Rose Hodge, a former pre-school parent and parent group president, was at the smoking ceremony and said she was impressed with how children had engaged with stories to help create the “glorious” murals.

“The paintings will be valuable visual storybooks for years to come, deepening and enriching children’s understanding of First Nations culture,” she said.