Bridging Now to Next #NRW2025
If you are anything like me, you will be waiting in eager anticipation for National Reconciliation Week coming up soon! This special week is such a beautiful time of year when we see teachers, educators and organisations, embracing and celebrating our First Nations cultures, histories and communities. Our collective call for reconciliation in our country is one that is powerful.
I think that this year’s theme, Bridging Now to Next, is a really poignant one and an interesting space for services to engage with, as it is highlights the somewhat tumultuous space that reconciliation in Australia seems to currently sit within.
This year’s theme is grounded in recognition that while Australia as a nation may face uncertainty in its reconciliation journey, we all must continue to look ahead and carry on. This theme calls on all Australians to ‘step forward together’ as ‘past lessons guide us’. It encourages us to reflect on our past, consider our present, and envision our future.
27 May to 3 June this year, we are urged to reflect on the ongoing connection between past, present and future, acknowledging not only the disappointing setbacks, but the significant strides we continue to make every year in the reconciliation space; strides I firmly believe are driven largely by the individual and collective passion of so many everyday Australians, to work towards a more reconciled Australia.
Have you checked out the artwork yet for this year? It was beautifully created by Kalkadoon woman Bree Buttenshaw. Her piece centres on native plants − which are known for regenerating after fire and thriving through adversity − symbolising our collective strength and the possibilities of renewal. From Monday 5 May, you can collect a free National Reconciliation Week 2025 A2 poster from one of the 172 Officeworks stores nationwide. The posters will be displayed in a branded #NRW2025 stand at the front of the store.
Reconciliation Australia have already made some great resources available to help you celebrate in your classroom. You can get creative with the #NRW2025 colouring resource! Perfect for use in schools, early learning services, disability services, at work, home or at your National Reconciliation Week event. For a larger project, have a look at their Community Installation Activity.
For resources to help you celebrate, we encourage you to check out our Indigenous Resource Bundles, which are jam-packed of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learning resources.
Be sure to check out our Reconciliation Week Craft Pack too, for a simple but effective activity for your students and children. We created this little resource to commemorate the Sydney Harbour Bridge Walk for Reconciliation which happened 25 years ago. Twenty-five years ago, Corroboree 2000 brought together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous leaders in a historic call for reconciliation. Corroboree 2000 and the Sydney Harbour Bridge walk were significant events in our long journey and our determination to continue that journey towards a reconciled Australia and justice for First Nations peoples is unstoppable.
