There are a lot of big ideas wrapped up in Reconciliation Week - but one way to work for a shared future is through a shared language.
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Noah's Inclusion Services work with some of the youngest members of the Shoalhaven to improve kids' speech and share Indigenous language.
The Sounds, Words, Aboriginal language and Yarning program (SWAY) targets preschool aged children in areas with a high Indigenous population.
All kids at the centres are included in the program, which uses an Indigenous framework and Dharrawal language to help children develop their language skills before making the move to primary school.
Aboriginal Programs Manager, Marg Sutherland, said the program was initially developed by the Royal Far West School in Sydney for Aboriginal children living in remote communities.
Noah's adapted the program for the Shoalhaven, and it's been a great success.
A speech pathologist and a preschool educator work with small groups of children in short, engaging sessions.
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The children are encouraged to identify and develop confidence using different foundations of language such as sounds, syllables, and adjectives as part of the sessions. The preschool educators incorporate the lessons learnt in each session into the children's day-to-day learning.
Erin Smart is a speech pathologist who implements the SWAY program in the Shoalhaven, and said Indigenous culture formed the backbone of the program.
"The SWAY program is a culturally responsive program," she said.
"All of the units are based on a culturally-specific yarn.
"All the learning experiences the children have through that unit are connected back to the yarn and have specific goals that are culturally relevant to the children's learning.
"So the materials we use, the language we use, it's all specific to the children's learning."
SWAY is an evidence-based program that builds a strong foundation for language and literacy.
Ms Smart said the development of these skills is fundamental to long-term educational outcomes for all children., and is one way to help close the gap in education between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
"Reconciliation Week for us is about celebrating the work that we do all year," Ms Smart said.
"We're focussed on walking alongside familes and early childhood centres to close the gap in educaiton.
"We're really trying to help children acquire robust language skills, because we know they are the foundations for literacy development and we know that literacy is very closely correlated to outcomes later in life.
"Through a program that has culture at its heart we can achieve those outcomes in a way that respects and celebrates culture."
Parents and members of the community are encouraged to take part in the program through take-home activities, videos and community meetings.
The program also helps identify children who may have underlying challenges so they can be addressed before they make the jump to primary school.
For Reconciliation Week, an elder and other Aboriginal community members have been invited to send in a video to Noah's facebook page, explaining what reconciliation means to them.