Issue 1

When you go to the Merri Creek at this time of year, what changes do you notice in the environment?

Muddy banks and the high, gushing waters? Moss and mushrooms sprouting between the rocks? The early signs of silver wattle flowers sprouting in the leaves?

The four-season calendar of Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring has never really suited Melbourne’s variable climate.

That’s because the Wurundjeri people, like other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples, have their own seasonal markers, based on changes in the landscape.

These changes might be the types of animals they hunted, the flowers and plants they harvested or changes in the stars and weather.

As part of the Merri Creek project, our children have been fortunate enough to learn some of these seasonal markers from Uncle Dave Wandin.

“I think we should start saying the Aboriginal seasons instead of the European seasons” – Yuna, 1/2D

Right now, according to the Western calendar, it’s mid-winter. How depressing! But if you look closely, you’ll notice that already the silver wattle trees are beginning to flower – and soon magpies will be sharpening their beaks ready to swoop…

According to the Wurundjeri calendar of seven seasons, we’re now in a time of transition between Waring and Guling seasons.

Waring season is the coldest and wettest season, with misty mornings, high rainfall and low temperatures. At this time of year Waring, or wombats, could be seen foraging about in the sunshine.

 After the rain, the rain moth emerges after living underground for years as a grub eating tree’s roots. Last term our Grade 1/2s found these rain moth casings and tunnels next to trees.

Now, as we enter term 3, we’re entering a new season called Guling, or orchid. The cold weather will start to ease and you’ll see orchids and silver wattle blooming.

Here are the seven seasons of the Kulin calendar according to Museum Victoria:

Biderap (Dry season)
Jan-Feb
Hot and dry weather, low rainfall.
Tussock grass is long and dry.
Southern Cross high in the south at sunrise.
Female common brown butterflies flying.

Iuk (Eel) season
March
Cooler temps.
Eels are fat and ready to harvest.
Manna Gum is flowering
Days and nights equal length.

Waring (wombat)
April-July
Misty mornings and cold, rainy days.
Days are short and nights are long
Wombats seen during day seeking sunshine.
Moth and fungi by the creek

Guling (orchid)
August
Cold weather eases.
Wattle and orchids blooming
Common brown butterfly caterpillars feed at night
Males koalas bellow at night

Poorneet (tadpole)
Sept-Oct
Temps rise but rain continues.
Pied currawongs calling
Yam daisies flowering.
Days and nights are of equal length.

Buath Garru (Grass flowering)
November
Weather is warm and rainy
Kangaroo grass flowers
Bats catch insects in flight
Male Common Brown Butterflies flying

Gunyang (Kangaroo-Apple Season)
December
Changeable, thundery weather.
Goannas are active
Kangaroo-apple fruit appears.
Longer days, shorter nights.

While we might not be lucky enough to see wombats ambling about in the morning sun any more, or hear koalas bellowing at night, how many of these other seasonal markers can you recognise if you keep your eyes and ears peeled?

It is Warin (wombat) season in Wurundjeri country and we’ve been having the most amazing time with learning area 1/2s along Merri Creek. Together teachers, students and their families and/or carers, artists, educators and scientists have enjoyed learning and experiencing Merri Creek. The integrative topic of the 1/2s curriculum this term is: My city, in response the creekulum team organised sessions in collaboration with teachers to create a sense of place and connection to place through learning about the history, waterways, seasons and more-than-human living forms of our city.

On the first week Sarita and Meg did an introduction to the program and for many students it was the first time ever to visit Merri Merri creek. We learned how important is to acknowledge Country with our own words and from the heart and we talked about the many things we learned with Uncle Bill and Mandy Nicholson and the Djirri Djirri dancers at the Welcome to Country. On this week many of us found casings of the rain moth, a moth that comes out in Warin season after the rain after been living underground as a grub eating tree’s roots for years.

On the second week Angela from Merri Creek Management Committee came to share with us all her knowledge and ideas about the creek. We saw a very big map of the Merri Merri and with some of Angela’s bush toys we learned more about the fabulous odyssey of iuk (short finn eel) and then we had a close look to the water and saw how fast water bugs move, we saw so many different types of small living creatures! We draw them and then we moved like them.

On the third and fourth week Briony and Gregory from Scale Free Network joined us and we’ve been learning so much about scales. They shared a presentation called “Merri Merri from BIG to small” and we have been using portable microscopes along the creek to look at bark, trees, leaves, insects, hair, skin, soil, plants, and so many more things! This week we’ve been learning more about baan (water) and we saw a projection of one drop of water of Merri Creek and we couldn’t believe how many living beings make their home in one drop
of water!

Next week is the last week of 1/2s creekulum and we will have Addrienne to come along. Adrienne is a weaver who has been experimenting with weaving for many years and learning from Indigenous weavers for many years in the Northern Territory. She will guide us to harvest local grass and make a bush toy.

There’s been a lot of things happening at the creek! Perhaps the most important is that we finished our first 5-weeks along Merri Merri with 1/2s learning area last week and it was great! But our program has far from ended and there are many exciting things we want to share.

Uncle Dave Wandin coming to meet 1/2s learning area

On Tuesday 18th June at 12pm we’ll have the honour of welcoming Wurundjeri Elder Uncle Dave Wandin to our school. Uncle Dave is visiting us to have a conversation with 1/2 students about their experiences walking and learning with Country at Merri Merri creek. It will be a wonderful opportunity for our students, teachers and community to get to talk and share their learning with Uncle Dave.

Uncle Dave is one of the keepers of water and fire knowledge of the Wurundjeri tribe and has ample experience sharing this knowledge with young people. The Firestick project – a partnership between Uncle Dave from the Wurundjeri Tribe Land Council and Dixons Creek Primary School – was awarded with the Australian Disaster Resilient National School Award in 2018. The book “Shh The Parent Trees are Talking” was produced during this project and can be found here: https://firesticks.app.box.com/s/t3rbla9aki7mo7tfb1i6x2q64ylv9h2e

Parents and carers of 1/2 students are welcome to attend the session.

 Learning to read Country – Reflections of the 1/2 creekulum with Uncle Bill Nicholson

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To prepare for one of theIndigenous knowledge weeks of the creekulum for 1/2 students we had a consultation session with Angela Foley from Merri Creek Management Committee, weaver Adrienne Kneebone, Sarita Galvez and Uncle Bill Nicholson. We discussed the program so far and how children have been making interesting findings along the creek, such as seasonal markers of Warin season (cold and wet season). Over the last five weeks, children have found rain moth’s casings, moth’s tunnels next to trees, fungi, we listened to the wind through the leaves and have felt the rain, seen the water from the streets of Coburg falling through the drains right to Merri Creek and harvested native grasses according the law of Country. All these are local seasonal markers and makings. In response to these stories Uncle Bill said “these children are learning to read Country, this is important because they are learning now how to take care of it.”He continued to talk to us about the importance of enacting the law of Caring for Country for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living on Wurundjeri land.

Reconciliation week – Reflection by Sharmila Blair and Sirous Safari

Last Thursday the 30th of May, we held a gathering about “what reconciliation means to us” after school. We moved around a circle and had mini “listening post” conversations with parents and their children about the meaning of reconciliation for us as a school community. I believe at the heart of reconciliation is acknowledgment of past wrongs committed against the First Peoples of our nation, and embracing the real stories.Storieswhich are vastly different from those manyparents were taught in school during the seventies and eighties. It is about encouraging our children to learn this story and to discussthe difficult questions about our history. Reconciliation also involves responsibility in the here and now. For me, as a Moreland Primary parent, it is about moving towards community, it is about conversation and connection, it is moving out of our comfort zones towards others who are different from us.

We are planning to continue creating spaces for connection, reflection and discussion. More information soon. If you’d like to contribute with ideas, please drop us a line at creekulum@gmail.com.

Creekulum for 5/6s

In close collaboration with 5/6s teacher team, we are now preparing and planning our creekulum program for 5/6 learning area and we are very excited about what’s coming! Uncle Bill Nicholson will deliver the Indigenous Knowledge component, Angela Foley from Merri Creek Management Committee, Briony and Gregory from Scale Free Network and Meg Petrie (Storyteller/ACMI) will be running digital storytelling workshops. Students will start their program at the end of this term and continue as soon as they get back in Term 3! Soon students, parents and/or carers from 5/6 learning area will receive more information and a consent form to send back to school. And we will need parents, carers and/or grandparents volunteering to walkto the creek and join in the sessions. If you have any comments/questions get in touch via email to creekulum@gmail.com.

Social media & communications

We have now set an Instagram account of our creekulum project. Follow us in @creekulum_moreland_primary to keep up to date.

Also Marty and Mariko (Isa’s parents) and Tom (Juna’s dad) are making magic with an amazing website/blog and a communication plan. In parallel Chris (Astrid and Thea’s mum) and Emma (Nell’s mum) are preparing a seasonal project plan to have at school and online.

Upstream – Zine

The team at Upstream are getting ready to put issue two to bed. Students from all year levels have so far contributed articles, interviews, games, stories, poems and pictures. The deadline for submissions is now Monday the 17th of June, so if you have something you’ve been thinking about, time to get it done! Contributions can be made to the art room on Monday lunch times, to any of the editors, or to nathanwhitcher@gmail.com

Podcast – Upcoming!

Bryan (Sam and Nahuel’s dad) will begin a new adventure at MPS: our very own podcast program! What is a podcast? It’s like an online radio, so if you like sound making, sound recording and having conversations maybe these podcast sessions are for you. They are designed to be children-led and create an inclusive space for students of all learning areas. This will happen fortnightly at lunchtime starting on Tuesday the 18thJune. Parents/carers that want to get involved please contact Bryan (bryan@galambo.cl).

Young Dark Emu – Listening to Uncle Bruce Pascoe

This is an extract of a recent opinion piece published by Uncle Bruce Pascoe in The Guardian speaking of his recently published book “Young Dark Emu”.

“…We need our children to care about the planet like those who have saved the whales for the enjoyment and reassurance of all. We need our children to consider the orthodoxy of the world, and examine it for its merit. That is called education.

When I was told at school that Aboriginal people were wanderers and the most backward people on Earth, I was ashamed rather than rebellious. Inquiry had been drilled out of me. By the time elders had drilled it back in, years after I left university, I began using the greatest research tools of all: curiosity and doubt.

We don’t need the kind of doubt that cripples us into inaction, but the kind that inspires generous thirst for investigation. I want students to read Young Dark Emu, not to vindicate my own opinion but to raise a platform for vigorous inquiry and generous doubt”

Read more in: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/01/bruce-pascoe-teach-your-children-to-rebel-teach-your-children-to-doubt

And this https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/24/dark-emus-infinite-potential-our-kids-have-grown-up-in-a-fog-about-the-history-of-the-land

Creekulum Newsletter – End of Term 2

Upstream Zine #2 

Big shout out to all who participated in the creation of the amazing stories, drawings and reports of Upstream #2!

Inspired in the odyssey of the short fin eel or iuk in Woi Wurrung that swim thousands of kilometers upstream to live in the Merri Merri and many other creeks, our zine is a student-led initiative that emerged as a manifestation of the fun, creative and risky adventure of our project.

This week Nathan (Emmett and Delilah’s dad and a main conspirator!) and the editorial team have printed and put together the zines! They will be available on the last day of school at 2:30 pm for a gold coin donation. Come and get yourself a great holiday reading!

Everyone is welcome to come and join the team for next term.

Community walks – Family connection to Merri Merri

As an extension to the Merri Merri Creek Project the kids are enjoying at school, we are trying to engage families outside of school time to participate in a walk along the creek from Coburg to the confluence of the Merri Creek and the Yarra River at Birrarung/Yarra Bend Park. This area is of deep significance to the Wurundjeri People and would be a really nice place to visit and acknowledge as part of our growing appreciation for Indigenous history and connection to land.  The following video was produced by the Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne and is a nice taster of where we will finish the walk https://vimeo.com/245114433.

As the total distance is approximately 8km we have decided to break the walk up into 3 separate sections which will be walked on 3 different days.  We are planning the walk over 3 Sundays over 3 months.

Suggested dates for walk:

21 July

18 August

15 September

Each walk will be approximately 5km return, beginning with a welcome and perhaps a game or introduction or intention for the walk. We believe this will be a manageable distance for most kids 4-5 years of age and above (however we can also let people know the start and end points if they want to organise one way journeys etc).

So, lock in these dates and join the Merri brigade for a beautiful walk down at the creek.  Needless to say, families are most welcome to walk one or all parts of the walk.

Seth Consedine (Arlo and Tobias’ dad)

Merri Merri Creek Team

Come and join the 5/6 creekulum program 

If you are a parent, carer or grandparent of a 5/6 student you are more than welcome to join the 5/6 program along Merri Creek. We value the presence of members of our community as active participants in the process. You can join one session or all of them. Students will leave school at 11:30 am from Monday to Thursday for the four first weeks of term and come back at 3:30 pm.  Because we’re in cold and wet season and our program runs mainly outdoors don’t forget your raincoat, warm clothes and comfy shoes. You need a Working with Children Check and you can apply for free (as volunteer) here: https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/individuals/applicants/how-to-apply

Week 1 – Term 3

 Angela Foley

From Merri Creek Management Committee

https://mcmc.org.au/about-merri-creek/the-waterways

 Discovery week

Participants will find their meter square* of the Merri Creek to study.

(*or a cubic meter of water or air!)

Week 2 – Term 3

Briony and Gregory

From Scale Free Network

https://scalefreenetwork.com.au/

Participants will explore their chosen meter square of Merri Creek using different scientific and artistic techniques

Week 3 – Term 3

Briony and Gregory

From Scale Free Network

https://scalefreenetwork.com.au/

Participants will explore their chosen meter square of Merri Creek using different scientific and artistic techniques

Week 4 – Term 3

Uncle Bill Nicholson

From Wurundjeri Tribe Land Council

https://www.wurundjeri.com.au/

 Participants will understand their chosen meter square of Merri Creek through Wurundjeri knowledges