The Yarning Circle

Yarning Circle has been used by Indigenous people for centuries to learn from a collective group, build respectful relationships, and to preserve and pass on cultural knowledge. It is a safe space to encourage responsible, respectful and honest interactions between each other and builds trusting relationships. The Yarning Circle exposes students to these important interactions and to build community connections.

We commenced Yarning Circle in Term 1, 2023 with the Year 6 girls during lunch time each Thursday. We have spoken about what Indigenous painting is and what the symbols mean. Even though the painting has a lot of dots, these paintings also include symbols. Each symbol has a different meaning essentially, each painting telling a unique story. We have encouraged the girls to create their own painting by using the symbols and dot work.

We were able to source lemon myrtle leaves from our Darkinjung campus. We brewed lemon myrtle tea using the leaves and we spoke and learnt about the properties and uses of lemon myrtle. Lemon myrtle grows on trees, and having a lemon scent, helps to clear sinuses when you are sick.

It is a natural remedy used for centuries by Traditional Owners of the land. The tea can also be used in cooking such as: lemon myrtle scones and cheesecake. Adding lemon myrtle crushed leaves to a traditional scone recipe, we enjoyed warm scones, fresh out of the oven at our lunchtime chat. Recipes were shared and our hope is that the experience was enjoyed again with families at home.

We look forward to continuing our Thursday Yarning Circle throughout the year and learning more about the Traditional Owners of the land on which our school belongs.

Miss Nita West Junior School Teachers Aide (Pre-K - Y2)

Mrs Lisa Bonazza Junior School Director of Primary Curriculum/PYP Coordinator