Nicholls Early Childhood Centre

Reconciliation Garden

The circle's perimeter tells a traditional Ngunnawal story; and is read in a clockwise direction starting from the right-hand side of the performance stage. The rim is broken into four parts and tells the following story:

Nicholls Early Childhood Centre officially opened the Reconciliation Garden on Friday, 16 April 2021. The Reconciliation garden symbolises respect to Australia’s First Nations people and the Ngunnawal country where Nicholls Early Childhood Centre educators’ care, nurture and educate children. Respect for the Ngunnawal people and the land is shown through mindful practice when enjoying the garden to sit, read, reflect, and most importantly, for our diverse NECC community to come together and share stories with the children about their culture.
The rocks in the garden symbolise the Ngunnawal First Nations people and their connection to the land. The imprints in the concrete circle tell a traditional Ngunnawal story; read the story clockwise.

The Performance Stage

The stage and shelter symbolise a platform for which all peoples can come together rain, hail and shine to share in cultural celebrations such as singing, dancing, and performing.

The Red Gravel

The gravel around the yarning circle symbolises the red earth of the Australian land.

The Logs

The logs are placed around the yarning circle and welcome all people of all cultures to sit, listen, and respectfully communicate.

The Outer Circle

Part 1

We were at a campsite near the river.
One person went on a journey in the rain and saw an Emu and a kangaroo.

Part 2

We saw a Goanna, a Kangaroo and an Emu.
We used a boomerang for hunting the Emu and took it to the meeting place.

Part 3

We are at the river with Spears and Boomerangs hunting.
We went to the campsite and used clap sticks to celebrate the rainbow.

Part 4

People came from both directions to a meeting place.

The Rocks

The garden rocks symbolise the Ngunnawal people and their connection to the land from which they are born and returned.

The Pathways

Four pathways lead to the centre (sun) of the yarning circle, and each path is imprinted with the following:

Pathway 1: Handprints of children, parents, and grandparents of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous people
Pathway 2: Imprints of Australian native animals; these are the dingo, bullock and deer.
Pathway 3: The footprints are of a First Nations person (walking from the outer rim towards the sun) and a non-First Nations person (walking from the sun towards the outer edge.
Pathway 4: Imprints of Australian native tree leaves and plants.

The Inner Circle

The inner-circle represents the sun and is at the heart of the yarning circle.

The Reconciliation Garden was made possible by the Stronger Communities grant from the Federal Government and the Community Services of Gungahlin Inc. Management Committee. Nicholls Early Childhood Centre would like to acknowledge the businesses and families that assisted with the creation of our Reconciliation Garden:

Rawcrete Concreting and the Rawlinson family
Rockin Job landscaping
Richie Allen, Tyronne Bell and Adam Shipp for counsel, design, art and traditional Ngunnawal story
Greg's Property Maintenance
Photographer An, for the creative photos