Education & training

Angela Willsmore. Falls in older people are a serious health concern. In South Australia, SA Health reported in a March 2020 report that 47 people are admitted to an SA public hospital every day due to an injury caused by a fall ... Earlier this year, Good Country Physiotherapy commenced a falls prevention pilot program at Longridge Aged Care.

I was unexpectedly, and in the end pleasantly, surprised to find a story that is as much about 1950s and 1960s Australia as it is about one young woman’s experiences. It is the north-west Western Australia of Aboriginal missions, of cultural clashes, of extremes in temperature and of distance, of hardships tempered by moments of joy, of connections made and still treasured more than half a century later.

The Melbourne Cup visited Allora with guests from the Victoria Racing Club, Ray Dummett and jockey John Letts ... Cr Marco Gliori presented a poem he wrote about the thrill of the Melbourne Cup.

An Australian university has discovered four in five primary school students have no idea how modern milk is produced. The survey of more than 5000 Australian primary and secondary students found many had outdated ideas about where food came from, with the majority thinking cows were still milked by hand.

Fancy dresses and suits were the order of the day last Friday evening as the students of the Tennant Creek High School attended their annual Formal. School shirts were put aside as the students made every effort to look their best, and succeeded, in most cases to look like they could have easily attended New York Fashion Week.

Vale View State School was the place to be last Saturday, its fete a huge success with a crowd numbering in the hundreds turning up to support a small local school ... Crowds were kept entertained by the student performances, MC and singer Victoria Q, Garbage to Garments Fashion Parade and performances by Tornados All Stars, JE Dancehouse, Radiance Academy Toowoomba and Pinkies on Ice.

Sunshine Coast migrant residents are invited to apply for their chance to attend low-cost learn-to-swim classes. “Everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy our wonderful lifestyle and the Migrant Learn to Swim and Beach Safe Program incorporates water safety and water confidence techniques along with basic swimming lessons”: Sunshine Coast Council Community Portfolio Councillor David Law.

Pam Dillon. Rainy weather did not deter the 11 schools who participated in the first ever Barkly region inter-school soccer carnival recently. There were beautifully sunny skies on the first day of great competition out at Purkiss Reserve. In between games, teams attended health clinics run by Anyinginyi Health. Students still keen to be out on the field at the end of competition, helped their teachers from remote schools complete a mini roos coaching course run by John Moriarty Foundation.

Yanco Agricultural High School celebrated its centenary and family day at the college grounds last weekend ... Our speciality in developing students with a focus on agriculture, with students having the opportunity to work as an integral part of the school's sheep, cattle and show stock teams, as well as our equine program, is what makes us most proud": Principal Marni Milne.

Climate change threatens our forests, but it is not necessarily an existential threat, according to a leading Australian scientist. “It’s not necessarily the case that we will be wiped out by wildfire. The existential threat of fire can be mitigated, but we must use ALL knowledge,” Mark Adams, Professor of Bioscience and Innovation at Swinburne University of Technology ... This included indigenous people’s use of fire as a management tool.

The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA), through the Tasmanian Red Meat Industry Steering Committee (TRMISC), proudly announces the launch of the AgCard Managing Livestock for Red Meat Production certificate unit in collaboration with the Tasmanian Government and Primary Employers Tasmania (PET). This certificate is funded through the $1 million Tasmanian Government commitment to support the development of the red meat industry.

Charles Sturt academic, Dr Joanne Connolly explores what makes koalas unique and how Charles Sturt University is contributing to saving endangered populations, including research into the Narrandera koala population ... ARR.News asks some questions of Dr Connolly.

Bushfire affected environmental recovery monitoring in south-west NSW by a Charles Sturt University PhD research student has revealed a hitherto un-noted lizard species in Woomargama National Park. Mr Grant Linley in the Charles Sturt  Gulbali Institute of Agriculture, Water and Environment  said his research obtained photographic evidence of a species, the  heath goanna  (also known as  Rosenberg’s goanna), in Woomargama NP which has not been observed by scientists to occur in the park.

Emma Pritchard. When Clarence Valley resident Paul MacNamara decided to transition from an everyday teacher to an education officer in the prison system, he found himself in an unfamiliar classroom with strict settings and new students. Some were sex offenders and murderers, others were serving time for armed robbery, drug offences, or breaking and entering ... "I noticed that people of all ages would ask me about my job and what is was like to teach in a gaol," he recalled.

The installation of a series of colourful storyboards in parks at Boonah and Beaudesert has marked  a new chapter for Scenic Rim libraries ... the Story Walks at Springleigh Park, Boonah, and Jubilee Park, Beaudesert, aim to encourage children’s early literacy through play while strengthening family connections and the Scenic Rim’s links to its Indigenous heritage.

Ten Territory nurses will spend the next 12 months building their skills and providing services to remote communities under the Transition to Remote Practice Program. This year is the first time the program recruited a second cohort of participants. They will join the 12 nurses who commenced the program at the beginning of 2022.

Teachers in Tennant Creek took to Peko Park to protest against the national crisis in education. Around 16 staff from the both Primary and High Schools who are members of the Australian Education Union NT (AEU-NT) were armed with placards to promote the cause ... Teachers who took part in the strike were not paid on the day. The AEU-NT says around 75 per cent of schools in the Territory are understaffed with 59 per cent planning to leave the profession.

Mount Alexander Sustainability Group’s Healthy Soils team is looking for commercial farmers with soil issues within a 50-60km radius from Castlemaine. This Healthy Soils Project offers the opportunity for 20 participating farms to receive free soil constraint assessments and soil testing, as well as assistance with developing a soil health management and monitoring plan.

Last week Maldon Primary School received the first of four visits from two very special guests: therapy dogs Archie and Mo, two members of the PAWS in Schools Program ... Evidence shows that the use of therapy dogs in a school setting can contribute towards improving the overall well-being of students.

With the state's year 12s soon to start their mock exams, I thought it opportune to go back and have a look at how our country high schools are performing. Some may recall an article I wrote in 2020, ‘Country High Schools = F Fail’ and I wondered if there has been any improvement.