Remembering the Children

For our community, wearing orange on September 30th is one way to uphold survivors of the residential school system, honour their families and their healing journeys, as well as commemorate those who did not return home.

Throughout our school, learning was age-appropriate with content, discussions, and reflections being sensitive to the difficult subject matter.

With guidance from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and aligned with their 2022 theme Remembering the Children, this year’s full school activity was particularly symbolic. Students used the NCTR database to learn about children at residential schools in specific locations. They then inked the names of children who did not return home on orange ribbons and tied them on strings to create a collaborative art installation that continues to be displayed at the top of our atrium staircase. “There was a somber disposition during the activity, but it was a good opportunity for students to better connect to the realities of colonisation in Canada and build on their previous Indigenous learning,” shares Drew Vodrey, Upper School teacher and DP TOK Curriculum Coordinator.

In Grades 3-6, students connected Truth and Reconciliation to their Units of Inquiry. “We talked about how norms can influence how we present ourselves, and how children in residential schools lost their sense of identity and self,” explains Megan Pakulak, Grade 4 teacher.

For our youngest learners in preschool to Grade 2, teachers guided conversations about land acknowledgments and Orange Shirt Day history through reading materials. After looking at the books Amik Loves School: A Story of Wisdom by Katherena Vermette and Learning My Rights with Mousewoman by Morgan Asoyuf, Ts’msyen, students in Kindergarten decorated paper orange shirts with drawings and writing about what every child deserves to have growing up.

During our National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and every day, we urge all members of our community to take time to learn more about the important topics related to our country’s history and the ongoing intergenerational impacts of the residential school system.