Living in Australia

Footy Day with Barbecued Sausages and Lamingtons 

1. What students could learn from this resource (VELS/AusVELslevel & learning focus statement)

 Learning focus statements from VELS:

The Humanities- Level 1

… Participating in celebrations students begin to learn about culture and histories that have contributed to Australian society…

 Civics and Citizenship – Level 1

..they begin to develop a sense of belonging to a school community… 

2. How and why the resource would be used in the classroom for HSE learning (Prep – Year 2)

After focusing on Australian Culture for the week, and using sausages in bread, lamingtons, and the AFL as resources, we would hold a 'footy day' as the school. All of these ideas have been selected specifically because they are stereotypically considered to be part of Australian Culture. This would be a whole school activity and would also involve an AFL clinic that each year level can participate in during the day. It would be just a few weeks before the AFL grand final and a great whole school activity leading up to the event.

The BBQ lunch would be something that was discussed in the classroom as something that we eat in Australia when watching the Football.

3. A brief description of how your resource/activity responds to an aspect or aspects of the readings for that week.

Having a ‘footy day' at school and a BBQ lunch encourages students to think about ‘national cultural stereotypes and national symbols that we all recognise as Australians’ (Cousins 2006, p.15). Although Australia is such a diverse and multicultural country it is important to think about some of the things that make Australia different.  Looking at Australia in terms of food and sport ensures that it is taught in an appropriate level for Prep students. The whole school participation also allows the preps to gain a sense of belonging to the school community in an enjoyable celebration of Australian Culture.