Education & training

Catherine Grimley. Everyone is aware of how much of a disadvantage low literacy can be in everyday life, and how those with literacy problems can be reluctant to ask for help for a variety of reasons. This issue is set to be less of a problem in Tennant Creek with the Literacy for Life program setting up to start classes at premises in Noble Street.

Pam Dillon. Students from the Barkly demonstrated their prowess and love for the round-ball game at the recent NT Under 12 Soccer Championships and Development camp in Darwin.

Kirstin Nicholson. A Cohuna vet has taken out the Agricultural Student of the Year award. Amy Munro received the award at a ceremony held at Parliament House in Canberra on June 17. Amy, who grew up on her family farm at Cumnock in New South Wales, is an associate veterinary surgeon at Clavin Rogers and Associates. She moved here in August last year after graduating from university.

Emma Pritchard. Featuring a colourful and symbolic representation of Maclean and its place on Yaegl land, and the importance of connection to country and culture, Frances Belle Parker’s stunning design printed on the Maclean Public School uniforms also incorporates the powerful message of Angwirri, her artwork which featured prominently on the Sydney Opera House.

Last Wednesday a group of 40 local sheep producers attended a Lamb Marking Best Practice workshop organised by Western Murray Land Improvement Group (WMLIG) and Central Murray Sheep Producer at “Glenbar” in Mallan. The workshop was facilitated by Geoff Duddy from Sheep Solutions who has dedicated the last 30 years to improving sheep producers’ and enterprises’ skills and knowledge base across all areas of sheep production. Whilst recent wet weather has not been ideal for marking, the dry day offered up the opportunity for farmers to learn and recognise best practice.

Wakool Burraboi Public School students will write and star in a new play being shown at Wakool and Barham this month, as part of the ACRE21 festival. Local communities are invited to see the show for free. Theatre maker, Angela Frost, has worked with the Wakool school’s 12 students this term to write a play called Heading to Yallapenya ... “A little girl gets lost in a place like Wakool, she visits a farm, goes to a big community event called ‘The Classic’, and everyone helps her get on her way.”

Strong winds and raised dust did little to dent enthusiasm among remote Barkly students who recently got a taste of inter-school sports competition. Sixteen students from Irrultja Homeland Learning Centre travelled to nearby Ampilatwatja to join local school students for a two-day athletics carnival.

TAFE NSW and Airways Aviation will start delivering world-class training to students at Airways Aviation’s base from July at the Lismore Regional Airport, Lismore City Council’s Commercial Services Business Manager Kevin Trustum said. “Along with the university, it strengthens Lismore as the educational centre for the Northern Rivers and beyond,” he said.

Sloping banks make it difficult to access the Richmond River at Casino. The sound of the river water echoes up the slopes to a winding path where Casino High School students are planting 800 native trees behind Queen Elizabeth Park. Teacher Rod McFarlane said they wanted to revitalise the whole area to make it accessible for elders.

The National Farmers Federation has welcomed recent announcements on the roll-out of the Future Drought Fund’s (FDF) Farm Business Resilience Program, a program that will provide practical training for farms on strategic business management, natural resource management, and personal and social resilience. "This program will be crucial in building our farmers fundamental business and strategic planning skills with respect to resilience and preparedness," NFF CEO Tony Mahar said.

Geoff Helisma. NSW Teachers Federation members stopped work at several schools across the state last week, including two in the Clarence Valley, in protest over staff shortages, and to express their concerns of being unable to find replacement teachers to fill casual and temporary positions. In two separate media releases, NSW Teachers Federation Deputy President Henry Rajendra said teachers are angry the NSW Government has failed to properly staff local education centers. He said the impact at Grafton High School has resulted in a large number of classes being left without a teacher for many months this year, and during the past six weeks, 160 teaching periods have been left uncovered at the school.

Five optometrists from Queensland University of Technology recently visited the Northern Peninsula Area and provided free eye tests for children. “The aim was to provide a service to the kids to do comprehensive vision testing and to understand the extent of any uncorrected vision problems that may be in the community,” said Dr Scott Read, Associate Professor at QUT’s School of Optometry and Vision Science.

Designed to support local councils and their communities in delivering live music micro-festivals, the Live and Local Strategic Initiative will bring together musicians from across the Toowoomba Region for a series of workshops and performances from May until the end of 2021.

Pam Dillon. Canteen Creek School conducted a community kayak come and try day over the May Day long weekend. Local community members, children and staff travelled 50km Canteen Creek to Policeman’s Waterhole in Iytwelepenty National Park/Davenport Ranges for a fun-filled day on the water.

As part of the ongoing partnership between Audi Foundation and Country Education Foundation of Australia (CEF), 14 regional students will receive much needed financial support to undertake STEM related study in 2021. Each scholarship is worth $5,000.

Four Barkly youth have shone in the 2021 Northern Territory Young Achiever Awards. Hugh Dawson (22) from Elliott won the Colemans Contracting and Earthmoving Agriculture Award, and was selected as the overall winner from all 12 categories of this year’s awards. He was nominated for his ability to recognise the opportunities of the cattle industry for young people.

Researchers at UniSA have developed a cost-effective technique that could deliver safe drinking water to millions of vulnerable people using cheap, sustainable materials and sunlight ... A team led by Associate Professor Haolan Xu has refined a technique to derive freshwater from seawater, brackish water, or contaminated water, through highly efficient solar evaporation, delivering enough daily fresh drinking water for a family of four from just one square metre of source water.

As a part of the School Holiday Program, local band The Last Resort has been performing series of gigs at different Town Camps each evening. Intended to help keep the kids off the streets, the gigs have been well attended by families and supported by Elders and community organisations.

Indian-born Abir moved to the Northern Territory with his family at the age of two. His parents have always supported his education but moving to Victoria to further his studies was an expensive dream not readily available. Abir was successful in his application for financial support and received the generous Mary Vernon – Country Education Foundation (CEF) Scholarship of $21,000 over three years ... Abir says, “The people you surround yourself with is your community. It can be your friendship group, your school peers and teachers or your neighbours. And when good things happen to people in your community, it rubs off on everyone.”

Kirstin Nicholson. A turtle nest – a wonderful construction, dug by the female to lay her eggs in and filled back up to keep the eggs safe from the world until they hatch up to a year later ... Despite being backfilled, the eggs are still in danger from predators like foxes and water rats. While we may not be able to easily identify a turtle nest, unfortunately a fox can ... Graham Stockfeld from Turtles Australia has been visiting the Gunbower and Cohuna area several times a year to protect the nests and collect data.

Catherine Grimley. You may see a few teal ribbons being worn during April, and the reason for that is Sexual Assault Awareness month, now in its 20th year, and just as topical as it has ever been. Tennant Creek Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) kicked the month off at the Hospital with a BBQ, cake and conversations that will hopefully carry on beyond this month.