How is it half-way through January already? Time seems to pass faster and faster. My boys are growing too fast and I wish there was a way to slow down time, just a little.

Well, here we are at the last full week of school here in NSW and the final challenge chatter email. I hope you’ve had a great week and an even better term despite the craziness that always is Term 4.

The tree is up, the elf has arrived and Christmas craft has started coming home from school – Christmas has arrived!

NAIDOC is coming up and this year’s theme ‘Always was, always will be’ is a great theme to build your planner around.

​This week we announced the #PlanningWithWingaruandMrJ Challenge – an initiative to get teachers thinking and talking about including more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content in their classrooms.

One question that teachers regularly ask me is how often they should include Aboriginal content or perspectives in their classrooms.

I have always been exposed to natural medicines and cultural ways of life. My Dad, Andrew Gall (kurina), always hunted for food when I was young.

This week marks 250 years since Lieutenant James Cook explored the east coast of a largely unknown southern continent in the Endeavour and ultimately claimed the entire land for the British. Despite significant protests, the Australian Government recently planned extravagant events and monuments at enormous expense to celebrate that history*.

Anzac Day is usually an occasion where schools come together to remember those who fought for our country, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice. Our children sit in assemblies and learn about the wars that Australia has been part of and how we continue to commemorate those events and the people who fought. Some children would also normally participate in Anzac activities with their families or extra-curricular groups.

This week we have been celebrating eggs! Eggs are an important part of bush tucker. The types of eggs available to Aboriginal people differed depending on the environment they lived in.

This week we are celebrating eggs! Eggs are an important part of bush tucker. The types of eggs available to Aboriginal people differed depending on the environment they lived in. Each day this week we will have an activity sheet to explore the types of eggs included in the traditional Aboriginal diet.

This week we are celebrating eggs! Eggs are an important part of bush tucker. The types of eggs available to Aboriginal people differed depending on the environment they lived in. Each day this week we will have an activity sheet to explore the types of eggs included in the traditional Aboriginal diet.

2020 has brought a lot of changes to all of us. We are spending more time at home as lockdowns and isolation restrictions are in place around the country and getting tighter as COVID-19 continues to impact our lives. It certainly is not life as usual.

What a week Australia has had! With increasing uncertainty about just about everything, life is changing drastically for most Australians.

The catastrophic bushfires that have torched much of the country since September have raised many questions about fire management in Australia. While a shocked and shattered population are blaming everyone from environmentalists to the Prime Minister other stories are emerging of what appear to be lucky escapes but may just hold the answer to best-practice fire management for the future.

Can you believe it is 2020 already? I feel like 2019 passed by in a blink and all of a sudden we are here, a few days away from a new school year. A fresh start with new challenges ahead for teachers, students and parents.