Education & training

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.

Serena Kirby. WA College of Agriculture Denmark’s open day last weekend also marked 80 years since the school was established. To commemorate, education dignitaries were on hand to unveil an old collegians society plaque ... Principal Rebecca Kirkwood said she was proud of the school’s achievements as it was now widely known for its excellence in cattle and dairy programs.

WA College of Agriculture Denmark student Ella Smith won the Junior Paraders title at the recent Beverley Show ... In Junior Paraders, students lead heifers, bulls and steers and are judged on their ability to control the animal which can be a 600kg bull.

Narrandera High School finally celebrated NAIDOC Day, its first in three years, with the Welcome to Country and Didgeridoo welcome setting the scene for a day of inclusivity and education. The highlight of the day was the final event - the commissioning of the Stewart James mural.

Wyreema State School is lucky enough to have access to its own Story Dog, Lady, on a weekly basis and the students love reading to her. Lady is directly sponsored by the Toowoomba West Lions Club but the program itself is run by the charity, Story Dog Australia, which covers the training and insurance of the dog.

Keith Blaikie. In order to keep our students at the centre of the school’s vision, which is to be an inclusive community committed to high levels of learning for all, staff have been engaged in a body of research known as the Science of Reading.

Vincent Savolainen. Professor Vincent Savolainen has come back to Lord Howe Island to set up new research about the role that underground fungi may play in generating and maintaining plant diversity ... Our understanding of how species originate has changed considerably since Darwin's seminal work. One aspect, however, that has been totally ignored is the role that microbes can play in driving plant and animal diversity.

Most of the staff are dressed as crayons to represent the book “The Day The Crayons Quit” by Drew Daywalt. After having a giggle at their teachers the P-10 students enjoyed the day by dressing as their favourite book character.

Dog owners are being cautioned to keep an eye on their animals this spring to ensure a simple frolic does not end with a trip to the veterinarian. Charles Sturt University academics are leading the country in research that could provide widespread benefits for dog owners and veterinarians across the globe.

The Murdoch University research team - working with local industry including Synergy, Bluewaters Power Station and South32 - investigated the feasibility of using fly ash and other industrial by-products and waste materials as an ingredient in a low carbon concrete product called 'Colliecrete'.

Virginia Gale. On President Beth Gale’s patio we all gathered together for a quick meeting as there wasn’t a lot to report. We were then joined by Skye MacPherson, Project Coordinator for South Eastern Red Tailed Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii) ... The Red Tailed Black Cockatoo are on the endangered list and there are about 1500 in the South East.

Greenmount State School is one of fifteen schools in Queensland that is taking part in Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) Zoomed-In-Science virtual outreach program ... “For rural communities this program provides access to fabulous lab facilities, and knowledgeable staff who are in tune with students and who demonstrate a real keenness to engage all students in all things science": Greenmount teacher, Kelly Stenzel.

Kirstin Nicholson. Leitchville’s Matthew Hawken is part of a new program designed to strengthen the future of regional communities through capacity building and collaboration. The Drought Resilience Leaders Development Program is an initiative of the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund offered in 12 regions around Australia. The Mallee region program includes 25 people working in agriculture, financial service providers, irrigators and self-employed business consultants.

Research led by a Charles Sturt University academic examined the innovative ‘SayBananas!’ app that may assist children with speech sound disorders (SSD) and their parents living in less populated areas ... the effectiveness study examined the usability and rating of ‘SayBananas!’, a Mario-style video-game providing high-dose individualised speech therapy with rural Australian children.

Grain growers across the wheatbelt have gathered to hear the latest advice for managing mouse damage to crops this growing season at a series of in-paddock workshops with Steve Henry, leading mouse expert and research officer from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO. The field walks visited 11 locations across four days, from Calingiri down to Beaumont, as part of a Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) investment addressing increased mouse activity in WA’s grainbelt.

Two hundred years ago, a university was judged on the quality of its teaching, today it is on its research output. While there are many dedicated academics who produce useful research, the “publish or perish" syndrome can also lead to undesirable outcomes. I heard recently that a retired scientist published 400 peer-reviewed papers, as well as two books in a 40 year career. I calculated that a paper was produced, on average, every five weeks.