Every year, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) invites schools across the country to pause and celebrate First Nations stories, languages and knowledge systems. This year marks the day’s 19th anniversary, and the theme “Country Is Our Teacher” is an invitation for students to look beyond the pages of a book and start listening to the land, waterways and skies around them as sources of knowledge in their own right.
For educators, that’s a powerful and genuinely achievable classroom idea. Here’s how to bring it to life, with a strong focus on grounding the day in the Country your own school actually sits on.
The ILF has put together two free, curriculum-aligned centrepieces for 2026:
Schools can register to stream both at ilf.org.au/ild. It’s an easy, ready-made way to anchor the day if your planning time is tight this term.
The national program is a brilliant starting point, but “Country Is Our Teacher” really lands when students can connect it to the Country beneath their own feet. A few ideas to layer on top of the ILF’s resources:
1. Find out whose Country your school is on – properly. Go beyond a generic Acknowledgement. Use the AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia and your local council’s reconciliation or Aboriginal engagement pages to identify the specific language group and, where possible, learn the local name for your school’s suburb, river or ridge. Share this with students as a piece of real, local knowledge rather than a formality read out at assembly.
2. Reach out to your Local Aboriginal Land Council or community organisation. Building a relationship with local Traditional Owners takes time, so Indigenous Literacy Day is a good prompt to make first contact if you haven’t already, even if a visit doesn’t happen this year. Many communities can point you toward a local Elder, storyteller or cultural educator willing to visit (and should always be paid for their time and knowledge).
3. Take literacy outside. Walk students through the schoolyard or a nearby park and ask: what would this place be teaching us if we were listening properly? Native plants, water flow, animal tracks and seasonal change are all “texts” in their own right. Pair the walk with journalling, “What does Country teach us where we live?” as a literacy task that ties directly into the day’s theme.
4. Learn a handful of local language words. Many language centres and Land Councils publish simple word lists for local Country and Kinship terms. Even five or six words, used respectfully and with the right acknowledgement of source, help students see language as something alive and local — not something confined to a textbook.
5. Read First Nations voices from your own region. Where possible, choose picture books or texts by authors connected to your local area or state, alongside titles from the ILF shop. Set it up as a genuine literacy circle rather than a one-off read-aloud.
6. Join the Great Book Swap. A simple, low-prep whole-school event: students bring a much-loved book to swap with a classmate in return for a gold-coin donation, with funds supporting culturally appropriate books for remote communities. It pairs naturally with a local reading celebration.
7. Sing along with Busking for Change. ILF Ambassador Dobby and Kelsey Iris, together with children from Brewarrina in northwest NSW, have written a song in language for the day. Learning and performing it as a class or year group is an easy, joyful way to bring language into the classroom.
8. Turn it into student art. Ask students to respond to their local Country in colour and image — what tones, textures and shapes reflect the land near their school? It’s a natural extension activity after the walk and journalling task above, and a lovely way to display student reflection around the school for the rest of term.
9. Access the ILF Teacher Resources. Developed by ILF Ambassador, educator and proud Yankunytjatjara and Wirangu woman Shelley Ware, each resource supports students to connect/learn/explore. These resources help you explore First Nations storytelling, culture and language through books created in partnership with remote Communities. You’ll find practical classroom tools to guide discussion and deepen understanding. Access the resourves HERE.
Local language. Search for a language centre or language program connected to your region (many Land Councils and community organisations run one) rather than using generic “Aboriginal words” lists that aren’t tied to your specific Country.
Local seasons. The CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology both publish Indigenous seasonal calendars developed with community knowledge holders for particular regions. Comparing your local Indigenous seasonal calendar (which might have five, six or seven seasons keyed to plant flowering, animal behaviour and weather patterns) against the standard four-season European calendar is a genuinely rich science and literacy activity — and it’s built entirely from real, local, place-based knowledge rather than a generic “Aboriginal culture” lesson.
Local place names. Many rivers, mountains, suburbs and landmarks already carry, or once carried, a local language name. Local councils, land councils and some state geographical names boards publish these — turning “what does our town’s name actually mean” into a research task is an easy way to make Country a live part of everyday geography and literacy lessons.
Local sites you can actually visit. Botanic gardens with Indigenous plant trails, local Landcare bush tucker plantings, or a community-run keeping place/cultural centre are often more accessible starting points than a request to visit a significant cultural site, which may have public-access restrictions.
Indigenous Literacy Day works best as a doorway, not a single lesson. The relationships, local knowledge and classroom habits you build this week, an accurate Acknowledgement, a first conversation with your Local Land Council, a shelf of locally-connected First Nations texts, are ones you can keep building on right through the year.
If you’d like support turning any of these ideas into ready-to-run lesson resources, that’s exactly what we’re here for at Songlines Art, Culture, Education. Get in touch or browse our collections for curriculum-aligned resources that help you bring Country into the classroom respectfully and consistently, not just on the days that are marked on the calendar.
