Director of Mary Bailey House and OOSH

National Reconciliation Week (NRW), held annually from 27 May to 3 June, is a time for all Australians to come together and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia and reflect on how each of us can contribute towards achieving true reconciliation in this country.

The 2026 NRW theme is, ‘All In‘. The MBH Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Vision for Reconciliation explains how we’re All In, through our ongoing commitment to raising awareness about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and ways of knowing and being. This year we’re doing this through the RAP action Respect in the Classroom. MBH teachers and educators have used the 8 Aboriginal Ways of Learning pedagogy of Story Sharing to raise awareness. This pedagogy involves learning through narrative, which is a daily practice at MBH. Picture books from Deadly Reads series have been used in each playroom to educate children from one to five years old in various ways to teach them about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Deadly Reads have been written and illustrated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples https://cool.org/activities/deadly-reads-for-0-5-year-olds. The MBH RAP can be viewed on the Narragunnawali website. 

Out of School Hours Care (OOSH)

Vacation Care is only weeks away and have we got a program that will excite and entertain children. The incursion and excursion program has several old favourites and a few new ones too. As per usual, we’ve planned a few in-house parties as we know that our children love a celebration, there’s the: Pizza Party, Christmas in July and the longstanding Pyjama Party to close out Vacation Care. New incursions include Mini Golf, Cosmodome, Reverse Garbage, Bubble Soccer, Radical Reptiles and Become a Scientist. In addition to heading to the Opera House to see a show, going bowling and seeing a movie, these holidays also include an excursion to the Australian Museum followed by a picnic lunch in Hyde Park. The fun doesn’t stop there, when the children aren’t involved in incursions or excursions, they’ll be designing, constructing, creating and producing arts and crafts. On most days the children will have something to take home, if they don’t eat it for lunch or afternoon tea.

If you would like to child to enrol your child in OOSH so they can attend vacation care program, please contact the OOSH Coordinator Frances Windon at ooshmail@ssc.nsw.edu.au. Numbers are limited for excursions so book early so your child doesn’t miss out.

Jackie Baxter
Director of Mary Bailey House and OOSH