How We Celebrate NAIDOC Week at Treehouse Early Learning Centre

NAIDOC Week, held each year in July, is one of the most meaningful weeks in the Treehouse calendar. It is a time to honour the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to help the youngest members of our community develop a genuine understanding of and respect for Australia's First Peoples.

Why Does NAIDOC Week Matter in an Early Learning Setting?

The early years are when children begin to form their understanding of identity, culture, and belonging. What children learn about the world between the ages of zero and five shapes the way they understand difference, community, and respect for the rest of their lives. NAIDOC Week in an early learning setting is not about a token activity. It is about planting something lasting.

Treehouse sits on the traditional lands of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains. We acknowledge this every day, not only during NAIDOC Week. Our full Land Acknowledgement is embedded in the centre's practice and read with meaning, not recited as routine.

What Does NAIDOC Week Look Like at Treehouse?

During NAIDOC Week, the program across all six rooms shifts to centre Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories, art, language, and connection to country. Activities are chosen with care, guided by the principle that cultural learning should be respectful, authentic, and age-appropriate.

Children engage with picture books written and illustrated by Aboriginal Australian authors and artists. Storytelling, mark-making with natural materials, and exploration of the outdoor environments are all natural extensions of how Treehouse already approaches learning through play and connection with nature. NAIDOC Week intensifies and focuses that connection.

Educators take the time to explain, in language suited to each age group, who the Kaurna people are, why acknowledgement matters, and what it means for a community to have a living connection to land and culture across thousands of years.

Why Is Cultural Inclusion Part of Every Day, Not Just One Week?

At Treehouse, inclusive and non-discriminatory practice is not something that gets switched on for special occasions. It is woven into the philosophy that guides the centre every day. Every child's cultural identity, background, and individual needs are respected and acknowledged as part of how we run each room and each program.

This is reflected in the diversity of the educator team, in the materials and books available to children, in the food prepared by Dawn in the kitchen, and in the way families are welcomed and included in the life of the centre. NAIDOC Week is an amplification of something that already exists, not a standalone event.

How Can Families Continue This Learning at Home During NAIDOC Week?

NAIDOC Week is an excellent time to explore some of the outstanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children's books available in Australia. Authors such as Bruce Pascoe, Sally Morgan, and Aunty Fay Muir have produced picture books that introduce young children to culture, country, and community in age-appropriate ways.

Local libraries often run NAIDOC Week programs that are free and open to families. Attending one of these with your child is a natural extension of what they are exploring at Treehouse during the week.

The most powerful thing families can do is follow their child's lead. Children who have been engaged with NAIDOC Week activities at the centre will often come home with questions, observations, and things they want to share. Listen to them. Ask them what they noticed. Let their curiosity open the conversation.

What Does This Tell You About a Childcare Centre?

How a childcare centre approaches cultural learning is a window into its values. A centre that takes NAIDOC Week seriously, that acknowledges Country with meaning rather than obligation, and that embeds inclusion into every room and every day is a centre that genuinely sees every child as worthy of care and respect.

If you are choosing a childcare centre in Hillcrest or the surrounding northern Adelaide suburbs, ask about cultural inclusion. Ask what NAIDOC Week looks like. Ask whether the educators can talk about the land their centre sits on. The answers will tell you a great deal.