2025 General Early Learning Sample - Wandana Aboriginal Education

2025 Wandana Aboriginal Cultural Immersion Early Learning Annual Program

This is a purpose built Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural immersion Program that covers all significant dates and events throughout the year. This annual Program has 30+ purpose built videos filmed on Country with related classroom activities. There’s a video to watch with an activity to enjoy nearly every week! Find the children’s favourites and enjoy them again and again. Included is your 2025 Calendar with all significant dates & events marked out for Educators as well as a printed Activity Booklet to guide you on this journey.

As many of you may know, ‘Belonging, Being and Becoming’, The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia V2.0, is being updated to include the strengthening Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives throughout the frameworks including the vision, principles, practices and outcomes. This critical update makes our Early Learning Links even more relevant than ever!!

This immersive annual program includes:

30+ purpose built videos filmed on Country with related classroom activities
Includes links to Early Years Learning Framework
Includes links to the National Quality Standards
Includes Wandana Professional Development online support
Includes Wandana printed Activity Booklet to guide and assist Educators
Includes Teachers notes
Includes 2025 Calendar with all significant dates and events

(Brian to update copy)

See full course details

Welcome and overview ( to be supplied )

Sample 2025 Course Videos

(Brian to update copy)

The course includes 30+ purpose built videos filmed on Country with related classroom activities. Here are 3 course videos and material as a sample.

Sample: Kangaroo & Goanna Dance

Classroom Activity:

Practice animal dance moves for the kangaroo and goanna lizard. Use flash cards provided with the animal names (download).

Teachers Notes:

Music and dance are important to Aboriginal culture and used as everyday life and to mark special occasions. Songlines tell stories of the Creation and Dreaming as Aboriginal people made their journeys across the land. Dances often imitated animals or birds.

Goannas

Goannas can grow up to two and a half metres in length, and they’re great runners and swimmers.
They belong to the ancient lineage that evolved during the Cretaceous period, 90 million years ago.
Like most lizards, goannas lay eggs.
Goannas are also know as monitor lizards and can live up to 40 years in the wild.
They can be found everywhere in Australia except Tasmania.

Kangaroos

Kangaroos are culturally and spiritually significant to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people.
The kangaroo can be seen in ancient rock paintings that date back thousands of years.
The name kangaroo comes from the ‘gangurru’, which was given to the eastern grey kangaroos by the Guuga Yimithirr people of Queenslands tropical north.
Baby kangaroos are called Joeys and when they’re born weigh less than 2 grams. That’s about the size of a jelly bean. After they’re born, they climb up into their mothers pouch and stay there for another six months before emerging to meet the world.
Because of their long feet and large tail they cant move backwards.
There are 60 species of Kangaroo
Female kangaroos can pause their pregnancies. This may happen when food is scarce or there is another joey still in her pouch. This allows the pregnancy to continue when conditions are right.
Kangaroos are the only large animal that move by hopping and can clear up to 8m in a single hop. That’s about 10 steps for an adult human.
Kangaroos are social creatures and live in groups called a mob, troop or court. They have plenty of ways to communicate with each other, including nose touching, stomping their hind legs and growling. Mother kangaroos will even make clicking or clucking sounds to call their young back to them.
If there’s danger about, baby joeys will dive head first into its mothers pouch.

Links to the Early Years Learning Framework

Learning Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity	Outcome 1.3 Children develop knowledgeable and confident self-identities
Learning Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world	Outcome 2.1 Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation
Learning Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world	Outcome 2.2 Children respond to diversity with respect
Learning Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners	Outcome 4.1 Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity
Learning Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators	Outcome 5.2 Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts
Learning Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators	Outcome 5.3 Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media

Sample: Emu Caller

Classroom Activity:

Make a sound from a recycled material. Make a birds nest using recycled materials including twigs, straw, etc.

Teachers Notes:

The emu caller is a small 30cm section from a Yidaki (Didgeridoo) or hollow branch which would be used for hunting. The sound created by hitting with an open hand would create the emu sound used to entice the animals into open space. This would provide the opportunity to collect one or two eggs.

Emus are fast runners, high jumpers and strong swimmers. They can run up to 48 kph and jump up to 2m high. Emus are the second biggest bird in the world behind the African ostrich but don’t actually fly at all.
Emus are the only birds with calf muscles.
Male emus build the nest and once the female lays the eggs, the male emu will incubate the eggs and raise the chicks. The male emu will incubate (sit on eggs) for appox 56 days during which he does not eat or drink. During this time the father emu may loose up to 1/3 of his body weight. The father emu stays with his chicks for up to two years.
Emus store lots of fat when food is plentiful, providing for leaner times. And follow storm clouds, sometimes trekking for hundreds of kilometres to get water.
5. Emus have two sets of eye lids. One for blinking and the other for keeping the dust out.

Links to the Early Years Learning Framework

Learning Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world	Outcome 2.2 Children respond to diversity with respect
Learning Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners	Outcome 4.1 Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity
Learning Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators	Outcome 5.2 Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts
Learning Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators	Outcome 5.3 Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media

Links to the National Quality Standards

Element 1.1.1	Approved learning framework	Curriculum decision- making contributes to each child’s learning and development outcomes in relation to their identity, connection with community, wellbeing, confidence as learners and effectiveness as communicators.
Element 1.2.1	Intentional teaching	Educators are deliberate, purposeful, and thoughtful in their decisions and actions.
Element 1.3.2	Critical reflection	Critical reflection on children’s learning and development, both as individuals and in groups, drives program planning and implementation.

Sample: Didgeridoo

Classroom Activity:

Classroom Activity: Watch Wandana Sean Ryan video below (1.05min) and practice own dance moves. Look at didgeridoo on your Wandana artefacts chart provided. Boys colour in didgeridoo and girls colour in clap sticks.

Teachers Notes:

The traditional Aboriginal name for the didgeridoo is called Yidaki and its the worlds oldest wind instrument. It’s believed to have originated over 1,000 years ago.

The Yidaki is a naturally hollowed out eucalyptus branch or log by termites. The Yidaki originated from the Yolngu Aboriginal people of north east Arnhem Land from the top of the Northern Territory.

Traditionally it is played along with Ceremonial dancing and singing as well as for solo or recreational purposes.
It’s played by blowing with vibrating lips to create a drone sound while using a special technique called circular breathing to be able to play continuously.

Links to the Early Years Learning Framework

Learning Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world	Outcome 2.2 Children respond to diversity with respect
Learning Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners	Outcome 4.1 Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity
Learning Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators	Outcome 5.2 Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts
Learning Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators	Outcome 5.3 Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media

Links to the National Quality Standards

Element 1.1.1	Approved learning framework	Curriculum decision- making contributes to each child’s learning and development outcomes in relation to their identity, connection with community, wellbeing, confidence as learners and effectiveness as communicators.
Element 1.2.1	Intentional teaching	Educators are deliberate, purposeful, and thoughtful in their decisions and actions.
Element 1.3.2	Critical reflection	Critical reflection on children’s learning and development, both as individuals and in groups, drives program planning and implementation.
Element 6.2.3	Community engagement	The service builds relationships and engages with its community.