10/02/2026
We’ve had many important conversations this week around Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. That included marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, in small, large, and whole school groups, framing that recognition within work rooted in developmentally appropriate investigations.
“I think Truth and Reconciliation work in a Junior School is about unpacking traditions,” says Grade 4 Teacher Bart van Veghel, “looking for connections across cultures, and surfacing larger ideas of what brings different communities together.”
Grade 5 Teacher Soteira Briginshaw says, “I started our conversation by defining reconciliation as the repair or rebuilding of a damaged or broken relationship.” That included reading together from David A. Robertson’s 52 Ways to Reconcile, in which he draws parallels to reconciliation in friendships or sibling relationships after a conflict.
“This brings the concept to a really accessible place for Grade 5 students, who can certainly relate to being part of this kind of relationship fracture.” Students were able to gather outside to brainstorm ideas related to that concept. “Students talked about how trust needs to be rebuilt, and how repair can take time. All of this is true, I believe, as we think about our relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people on Turtle Island.” That work will continue throughout the year, with students returning to these initial conversations and investigations.
