Manly Vale Public School

“Mum where do I put my trash?”, a small child said.
“Just throw it in the ocean”, the mum said.
As the child goes to throw the rubbish into the still water, she felt heartbroken.
The water was the bluest water you would have ever seen. It was clear, clean and
visible to all the coral and marine life. Forced by her mother, she felt compelled to
litter and that’s what she did. As the rubbish starts to sink down to the bottom of the ocean, something gets caught unexpectedly. Two bright green reptiles that were searching for food. Too slow to swim away, the turtles were stuck. They didn’t know how to escape.

1 hour had gone past and they were still imprisoned. They started to wiggle their
hard shell back and forth but were still trapped. They started to lose hope and
knew they were going to die. From the distance they could see a dark blue object swimming towards them. Their hearts start to beat as fast as a cheetah. They start to wriggle for their life. As the creature comes closer and closer, they realise that it’s their friend Bob the blue whale. They were both relieved and hope started to kick in. Bob had a great idea. With his mighty force and will power, he used his forehead
to push the rubbish off his friends. The rubbish hit the sea floor, making the sand
rise from the ocean floor.

When Bob and the two turtles were swimming, they noticed a little girl crying. To make her feel better, Bob jumped out of the water with his two turtle friends to
show her that they were safe and well.
The next day, the little girl called the council about people throwing their rubbish into our oceans and harming our marine animals. It wasn’t long after that until ocean sweepers were hired to clean the seas and signs were placed everywhere
saying “littering is not permitted”.

Author’s statement:

I wrote this story because when the Europeans invaded Australia, they did not
care about our oceans and animals. I wanted that to be visible in my writing. First Nations peoples are spiritually connected to this land and they made sure
it was always protected.

Reconciliation means…

Reconciliation to me means not forgetting the past. It’s about making everyone aware of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and heritage. It is celebrating First Nations peoples.

Author: Antwan Rhodes

Teachers Click Here

Many of these resources and activities have been developed in consultation with NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) to ensure that the program meets NSW curriculum outcomes for Stages 3, 4 & 5.