What is Eid?

Eid al-Adha "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Bairam" is a religious festival celebrated by Muslims all over the world. It is when Muslims sacrifice a goat, sheep, cow or a camel, sending meat to poor people as a donation. It marks the end of the Pilgrimage or Hajj for the millions of Muslims who make the trip to Mecca each year and pray 5 times a day. They like to tell Allah what they are thinking and hope for him to help them, and remember Ibrahim and Ishmael's courage and devotion to God.

On this day famiy, children, friends gather and celebrates this festival happily. Many muslims across the world and especially in Australia people travel to Mecca for celebrating Eid al-Adha.

When is Eid?

Begins in the evening of Monday, 2 May and ends in the evening of Tuesday, 3 May

Activities:

• Inviting families or providing a Middle-East feast for the staff and children to celebrate the meaningful gathering.
• Intentional teaching: How many people across the world including Australians travel to Mecca to gather and celebrate Eid al-Adha.
• Discuss how different cultures and religions celebrate different days, however celebrated in the same concept as family gathering, time of giving and acts of kindness. 
• Baking cookies of Eid - Click the following link for the reciepe: https://cleobuttera.com/middle-eastern/fabulous-kahk-eid-cookies/
• Reading books to children about Eid Al-adha and learning more about the festive season their family, friends, neighbours and people in the community celebrate - https://childrenslibrarylady.com/books-for-ramadan-eid/
• Centre project - Raising money or hamper collecting and donating to the poor where staff, families, children. 

For further acitivity ideas click on the following link: https://www.twinkl.com.au/resources/topics/festivals-and-cultural-celebrations/eid-ul-fitr

What is Schools Tree Day? 

National Tree Day is celebrated annually, which started and has grown into one of Australia's biggest community events since 1996 as the community gather in tree-planting and nature care event. 

As we should be educating and encouraging taking are of our mother nature everyday, we celebrate Schools Tree Day to the last Friday in July.

When is Schools Tree Day? 

Wednesday, 28 July

Activities: 

• Centre project - Getting the children involved in planting a tree around the service and learning the importance of playing an active role in the community. 
• Intentional teaching - Learning and discussing the life cycle of a tree, how it grows and what it needs to grow
  - Creating a poster
  - Create an ongoing tree and plant care program with your children.
• Seed experiment - Children plainting their own plant and watching the plants grown and taking care of their plant by ensuring it is watered, recieving enough sunlight reflecting off their life cycle of a tree - https://www.pre-kpages.com/science-kids-growing-plants-experiment/
• Reading books regarding taking care of our environment
• Have a week dedicated to environmental awareness. Download our educational lesson plans for your students to learn more about the environment.
• Arrange a visit from a ranger or local council representative. They may be able to provide you with information and tools for your event or to arrange a demonstration on how to plant correctly and what native wildlife may be attracted to the plants.
• Creating a recycling corner to save trees! 

For further information regarding how to get involved in School Tree Day click on the following link: https://treeday.planetark.org/get-involved/schools

What is National Diabetes Week?

National Diabetes Week raises awareness of the signs and symptoms of diabetes to increase earlier detection and promote action.

Every day almost 300 Australians are diagnosed with diabetes. But for many the diagnosis is being made too late putting them at risk of life threatening or serious health issues. That’s why we’re urging people to “take the time” to learn the signs and symptoms of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Type 1
Each year 640 children and adults are admitted to hospital because the early symptoms of type 1 diabetes – severe fatigue, thirst and weight loss – are not recognised. More than half of these hospital admissions are children and teens and when you know that type 1 diabetes can be fatal if not diagnosed in time – making sure the early signs and symptoms are picked up is critical.

Type 2
On top of this there are almost half million who are living with type 2 diabetes but don’t know it. That’s because type 2 diabetes can be “silent” and occur without any obvious symptoms. Find out more about the signs and symptoms of Type 2 diabetes.

When type 2 diabetes goes undiagnosed there is the danger of complications like vision loss and blindness, kidney failure, nerve damage and heart disease occurring.

When is National Diabetes Week?

From Saturday, 8 to Saturday, 15 July

Activities:

• Promote intentional healthy eating activities - Cooking activities i.e. Fruit Kebabs
• Discuss food chains which outlines sometimes and always foods
• Children to use their fine motor skills to cut images of sometimes and always food to great a poster.
• Encourage families to allow children to pack/make their own lunch from what they have learnt
• Celebrity Heads with Fruit and Vegetable - Children will wear the fruit and vegetable headbands. The child will sit facing the other children and describe what type of fruit is on their head. (ideal for preschoolers)
• Fruit and vegetable memory game
• How much sugar is in what we drink? - Experiment by counting how many spoons of sugar are in; soft drinks, milk, juice v's water

Click on the following link to persual further activities ideas: http://www.goodforkids.nsw.gov.au/media/1081/he-learning-experiences.pdf

What is World Chocolate Day?

World Chocolate Days, also know as International Chocolate Day, is an annual observance that occurs globally every year.  Celebration of the day includes the consumption of chocolate. 

When is World Chocolate Day?

Friday, 7 of July

Activities: 

• Making chocolate playdough (with brown food colour).
• Make a chocolate cake/chocolate cookies to take home and share with the family.
• Learn and watch documentaries on how chocolate is made.
• Discuss how chocolate is a sometimes food and some children are allergic to chocolate due to certain ingredients used

Important Notice: The National NAIDOC Committee has decided to postpone NAIDOC Week 2020 (5 July - 12 July) in the interest of safety for our communities as a result of COVID-19.  A new date, toward the end of the year, is expected but not yet finalised. 

What is NAIDOC Week?  

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. The week is a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. This committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week and its acronym has since become the name of the week itself. Find out more about the origins and history of NAIDOC Week.

Local community celebrations during NAIDOC Week are encouraged and often organised by communities, government agencies, local councils, schools and workplaces.

When is NAIDOC Week?

2th to 9th August

Activities:

• Display the National NAIDOC Poster or other Indigenous posters around your classroom or workplace.
• Start your own hall of fame featuring Indigenous role models.
• Listen to Indigenous musicians or watch a movie about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history.
• Particpate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and crafts.
• Research Indigenous history online or visit you library to find books about Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples.
• Intentional teaching - Learning the meanings of local or national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander place names and words.
• Invite local Indigenous Elders to speak or give a Welcome to Country at your service.
• Invite an Indigenous sportsperson or artist to visit you.
• Incursion for the children to participate and learna about Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander history, culture and dances 
• Indigenous Inspired Story Stones - children looking for stones in the garden and creating their own stories

For further activity ideas for NAIDOC Week, click on the following link: https://www.cleverpatch.com.au/ideas/by-occasion/naidoc-week

Click on the follow link to view logos and banners to help you on your way!