Sunny Yelgun, shine your light, keep us happy keep us bright.
Sunny Yelgun, with your glow, and your goodness help us grow.
Sunny Yelgun, full of love, shining, shining from above.

At Shearwater we are living and working, learning and growing on Bundjalung land.

This year the Kindy children, among other class groups in the Primary School, contributed to Reclaim the Void, an Australia-wide reconciliation and cross-cultural project seeking to raise awareness of the story of country and its importance in Aboriginal culture in both its physical and spiritual dimensions.

Country is alive with story, song, dance, law, Tjukurrpa. When we wound country, we wound ourselves, and end up with a scarred physical and cultural landscape. This project carries the desire for healing country, healing community and healing ourselves. It is about acknowledging the hurt and contributing to restoration. It offers people the chance to learn about country and culture.

Getting involved in the Reclaim the Void project has been a wonderful way for the Kindy children to weave through the seasons and connect with Country. We decided on a yellow theme to represent Sunny Yelgun shining down on Country.  Yelgun, the Bundjalung word for sun; has great significance for Bundjalung people and is a source of energy, life and protection. Yelgun represents the first light of the rising sun, and forms the colours of Country.

Throughout the year, the children and their parents wove, and slowly watched their sunny Yelgun growing bigger and brighter. Last week, the Kindy children very proudly sent off their golden rug to add to many, many other rugs being woven across Australia; a meaningful way to use our hands and hearts in this gesture of caring for Country.

Kara Mallory
Hummingbee Kindergarten Teacher