“There’s nothing like school holidays to make you really, really appreciate school!” I wrote to a friend via email recently. As I hit the send button, my inner child (admittedly somewhat muffl ed within this busy, tired parent’s body) called out ‘No, don’t sell out! School holidays are the best!” And this started me thinking about my own childhood holidays, comparing that to my children’s experiences, and this led me once again to thinking about the presentation in September by Dr Paul Tranter of UNSW entitled “Creating Child-friendly Cities”.

This fascinating presentation set out how and why Australian cities and their suburbs of today have become anything but ‘child-friendly’ (including startling comparisons to some European countries). Many schools are compounding the problem and we, as parents, are often unwittingly exacerbating the situation.

This was by no means a ‘doom & gloom’ talk, nor was it one of blame. Rather it clearly identifi ed the symptoms, traced the causes and then gave some sensible solutions, many of which we could all start implementing right now.

I am very pleased to announce that Dr Tranter will be the Special Guest Speaker at the fi rst Blue Gum Community Group meeting for the year, on Wednesday 15 February, 7.30pm at the Ainslie Football Club. As with all BGCG meetings, everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend this inspiring presentation.

You will fi nd further details about Dr Tranter and his work inside this issue along with a thought-provoking article by Jane Cadzow for the Sydney

Morning Herald about Paul Tranter’s investigations into what is now being tagged the ‘Bubble-wrap Generation’.

Also in this issue there are many fi rst-hand accounts of excursions, events and activities that took place in and around Blue Gum in the last half of 2005. If you’re starting to get enthused by all this fun and interaction, never fear because you can join in too. The BGCG will again arrange a ‘parent’s night out’ dinner this term and the Friends of Blue Gum will host the fi rst Seasoned Slow Sunday – Summer Games on February 26 at Hackett which promises to be a wonderful afternoon of ‘low-tech’, hands-on fun.

2006 is indeed a milestone for Blue Gum Community School which now welcomes students from Preschool through to Grade 6. We would encourage new families to immerse themselves in the social events held within this ever-expanding Blue Gum Community.

Thank you to the many families that have taken the time during the holiday season to contribute to this issue. We trust you will enjoy it and would love your contributions and feedback for inclusion in the next issue due out in Term 2.

- Corri

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End-of-Year Celebration Concert

Guest book comments:

Wonderful, inspiring and surprising

What fabulous talent!

Great eff ort; well done!

Well done Blue Gum; a fantastic fun fi lled extra special extravaganza

Fantastic eff ort from all

Thoroughly entertaining – the dancing, the singing & the light show

What a spectacular performance ! – such talent, the pride of every student (& teacher) shone through in an outstanding performance.

Fantastic! & amazing!

Thank you to all the BG family for a putting on such a wonderful show

Inspiring & Brilliant, Magnifi cent!

The day started out calm enough, but the sky began to darken, the wind began

to howl and the rain fell hard by late afternoon…. The fi rst attempt at December 2005 ‘Blue Gum Cabaret Show’ could not go ahead because of a fallen tree and power cable.

As ‘take two’ approached there was a hint of anticlimax. However as soon as we arrived at the carpark there was electricity in the air – and it wasn’t a broken power cable this time!

After dropping the kids off at the meeting places, we entered the Hall and were handed the delectable Degustation menu prepared by the everlasting Corri. Our taste buds were now beginning to tingle as the hubbub of the full house fl ooded over us. Maureen introduced the night, and paid a teary, heartfelt tribute to a special person – Sooz. Maureen must be proud and inspired as she outlined a future for the amazing school.

With a blaze of razzle and heaps of dazzle the show began with the dashing Bec introducing acts. The K/1 class started with a blaze of colour and stunning sea creature costumes, swimming to the rhythm of an underwater ditty. From the spirit of the sea to the ancient spirits of Australia’s land – Aboriginal dreaming - the El Castillo class gave a haunting and uplifting dreamtime of Australian bush animals.

We then feasted on a humorous version of the Iron Chef from the 3/4/5 class. It was Blue Gum versus the Iron Chef and of course Blue Gum won the day. There was even a be-heading of a live (K/1) fi sh.

The engaging acts continued to fl ow in glutinous syrup. Preschool showed us their chicken act in honour of their new chicken coop. The 1/2/3 class gave us a lesson in bridge building by fl uorescent light sticks and a mechanical beat. They then followed with a drumming and dance extravaganza. The 3/4/5 class also showed us the illusions and tricks of fl uorescent movement in the dark. The years 3, 4 and 5 students and teachers gave us an entrancing and professional Indian inspired dance which I’m sure made many a proud parent think that their babies were growing up so quickly. The fi nishing act was about the wind and its rhythmical and peaceful billowing around Mt Ainslie.

The grand fi nale involved all - culminating in the “fat lady singing”. (We hope that 2006 brings much song (and not so much crying) for Sooz).

It was truly an outstanding show which highlighted the quality of the school. Those in the audience who did not know about the school would judge it as a sophisticated, entertaining and funny performance. For those parents who do know the Blue Gum way it had a deeper entertainment value. It was entertainment of the heart that came from an understanding that the children actually directed and inspired much of the performances and were highly motivated and self-organised in their delivery. It was also a tribute to the staff of Blue Gum. For all those that were there I am sure that, like me, you had misty eyes. It was a very special night.

-Jamie Allnutt (Jaslyn)

End-of-Year Celebration Concert End of Year @ Bungendore PoolThe 2005 end of year Whole School excursion to Bungendore Pool was eagerly anticipated. With perfect

pool weather, teachers in togs and two dazzling dads, it was a great way to wind down at the end of a busy term and year.

The water was cold, but the simple excitement of being there was enough to tempt many a student to jump in with yelps of delight. The diving blocks were a big attraction, while other students enjoyed the water, taking

turns showing each other their repertoire of pool tricks.

Meanwhile the BBQ was fi red up and, after their swim, everyone was warmed by the 30ish-degree rays and a sausage (or four) in bread.

The Bungendore Pool is a perfect choice for such an excursion. As a small pool it has a cosy feel about it, which gives the feel of playing in a backyard rather than a large suburban pool. This end

of year treat is becoming a great Blue Gum tradition; one looked forward to by staff and students alike.

Preaching pool rules can seem fastidious – until you consider

that drowning is that greatest cause of accidental death in Australia for children aged under fi ve.

Australian swimming coach Lawrie Lawrence developed a water safety program in 1988 called Kids Alive – Do the Five!

Its main tenets, outlined below, are still just a relevant.

1 Fence the pool - A pool that is fenced will help deter

inquisitive children. It is crucial to maintain your fence and ensure that it complies with current legislation.

Fencing around new pools must

prevent access from outside the property, as well as from the house to the pool. Owners of new and established pools should consult the website at www.actpla.act.gov.au

2 Shut the Gate - Be sure to always shut the gate; ensure

that latches and self-closing devices work; and secure back doors or pet doors.

3 Learn to swim - Laurie Lawrence says even babies can

learn respect, water confi dence and skills that one day may save their lives. There are a score of local swim schools to choose from; to fi nd one that has been certifi ed by Swim Australia and meets national teaching guidelines, log on towww.swimaustralia.org.au

4 Supervise - Ensure that at least one adult is watching children

when they are in or around the pool, or even playing in a backyard with a pool. This responsibility extends to everyone – including pool owners and parents. Older children should not be left to look after younger ones.

5 Learn how to resuscitate - Knowing what to do in an

emergency can save lives. Do a fi rst aid course with St John’s Ambulance (6282 2399) or Red Cross (6206 6099).

(Ed: In the past a group First Aid course has been organised by & for Blue Gum parents. Would someone like to organise another one this term?) Reprinted with permission

Five pool pointers for safe summersCanberra Times - 13 November 2005

Your body doesn’t have to be a temple. But you could

probably look after if a bit better. Peta Bee off ers some tips for healthy living.

First, the good news: the best way to start working on a healthy new you is to potter about in the garden. Pruning, weeding and tending to your fl ower beds can help to rid the body of tension in the same way as yoga.

In a three-year study conducted with the therapeutic horticultural society, Thrive, researchers at Britain’s Loughborough University found that gardening had a positive eff ect on the emotional health of people with stress, depression or other mental health problems.

Dr Jo Aldridge, who led the research, found that gardeners had more time for self-refl ection and relaxation, boosting their mood.

Speaking of mood enhancers, the even better news is that coff ee addicts can be healthy, too. Or healthier, at least. Weaning yourself off a java habit is easier said than done and can be a source of stress if you are a caff eine junkie.

But you can at least do your waistline a favour by switching to calorie-friendly versions at Starbucks. That grande mocha Frappuccino contains at least 290 calories, whereas an americano with milk will set you back 15.

Getting outside is another easy way to a virtuous 2006. Warnings about the risks of too much sunlight, along with lifestyles that see us spending more time inside than out, have led to some of us not getting enough vitamin D. Long known to be important for calcium absorption and healthy teeth and bones, vitamin D’s main source is the sun.

Do not skip abut in the sunshine however: the latest advice is to reduce your workout. According to the American Council on Exercise,

“abbreviated fi tness programs” are the way forward for the time-starved, they believe more eff ort in less time can have pleasing results on the waistline.

Research by the American College of Sports Medicine has shown that 30 minutes of high-intensity exercise at 80 per cent of your maximum aerobic capacity is as good as an hour at a workload of 60 per cent.

Sceptical? Don’t be. Being more optimistic and looking on the bright side can extend your life by up to 12 years, according to a study of 1000 men and women by Dr Eric Giltay of the Psychiatric Centre Delfl and, in the Netherlands. He found that those who were positive about the future and about relationships had a 55 per cent lower death rate from all causes. The Mayo Clinic in the US found that optimists outlived pessimists by, on average, 12 years.

You also have to eat less. Emerging studies into the benefi ts of calorie restriction suggest that consuming a third fewer calories could enable humans to extend their lives by a third. At America’s National Institute of Ageing in Baltimore, Dr Mark Mattson found that mice fed every other day lived longer than those allowed to eat at will.

Yo-yo exercising should go the same way. Not only does it fail to get you fully fi t, but it also cramps your mood. Forty regular exercisers underwent mood and fi tness tests before half of the

subjects were forbidden from working out for two weeks, while the other half stuck to their normal gym regime. Assessments at the US Uniformed Services University were repeated after one and two weeks, with the results showing that the “exercise holiday” left the subjects feeling worse than if they had completed a week of intense,

exhaustive exercise.

According to NHS statistics, people over 50 are prescribed three times as

much medication as the rest of the population, yet 55 per cent of them fail to take their pills regularly. Such non-compliance is a problem that accounts for 40 per cent of all hospital admissions and indirectly contributes to 125,000 deaths a year. If you are forgetful, use Post-it notes.

Having more house plants in your offi ce or at home is another positive health move, say scientists at Washington State University. They found that workers who have a plant on their desk experience less fatigue and stress.

Researchers at Oslo University found that more plants led to an improvement of concentration levels of one-third and a 45 per cent reduction in headaches.

Most importantly of all, be good to yourself. Research shows that people

with high levels of guilt abut their lifestyle are more likely to go to the doctor or suff er from colds or fl u. A study by Hull University found that guilt over enjoying things like eating sweets lowered levels of immunoglobulin A, associated with a strong immune system. So stop beating yourself up if you indulge occasionally. Life is way too short.

Peta Bee’s books include Living with Asthma and The Body Bible.

Reprinted with permission

Now… breathe in deeplyCanberra Times - 15/1/05

... workers who have a plant on their desk experience less fatigue and stress.

Being more optimistic and looking on the bright side can extend your life by up to 12 years ...

When we received notice that the K/1 class was going to

travel to Legoland for one of their Term 4 excursions, we were a bit bewildered.

We imagined what Legoland could actually be like. Esperance thought it was going to be heaps of rocks on top of each other that were on either side of a walking track. A leisurely walk looking at rocks perhaps?

In reality it was a very physical excursion. The students were informed of the challenges they were to face and how important it was that they were able to make

We kind of fell into the Blue Gum pre-school, mainly

because we live around the corner. But we began looking into the campus after hearing many positive things from friends who already had children there.

Our eldest son, Jack, began in El Castillo when he turned three and our second son, Charlie, started last year. Their younger brother, Hugo, is now on the waiting list! In the three years since Jack entered the Blue Gum atmosphere he has

sensible decisions whilst climbing the rocks.

Esperance reported how this excursion taught the students the basics of rock climbing: “Take it in turns; put feet on fi rmly and try not to slip off ; and hold with your hands on the bumpy parts of the rocks. If the rocks are really steep, then do a stomach sliding action.”

Once they reached the top they were greeted with a beautiful view. They knew it was extremely high – giving the students a fi rst-hand insight into the perspective of height and depth - it was “a place where we needed to be careful

K/1 Class day @ LEGOLAND

Our experience @ Blue Gum pre-schoolchanged from a shy boy into one now growing in confi dence and always eager to learn.

Some of the things we love about Blue Gum are the focus on science and the environment, and the way in which a child’s interest in a subject can quickly turn into a learning journey for all. We are constantly amazed at the questions Jack asks and the way in which he tackles a problem. The dedication of the staff is something we acknowledge and

deeply appreciate because we know that without them there would be no Blue Gum.

Initially we had no plans to send Jack on to the primary school. However pre-school has been such a positive experience for us all that we have decided to send him and now look forward to watching his development continue. He can’t wait to start so that he can go to Blue Gum fi ve days a week instead of three!

Michelle and Ben Curry

because it was such a long drop” she said.

On the way back from their climb, a snake and a blue tongue lizard were spotted under rocks, a safe distance away.

It’s clear that this Legoland excursion promoted the students’ self-confi dence in tackling challenging physical situations. When I asked Esperance if the school should take other K/1 classes there for an excursion, her reply was “YES! YES! YES! because it was FUN!”

Carolyn and Esperance

Walking the dog leads to talking, study fi ndsCanberra Times - 24/10/05 - Reprinted with permission

Don’t know how to meet people? Then try carrying a leash.

A Melbourne study has found people walking their dogs were more likely to start a conversation with strangers.

A study by urban policy analyst and town planner Virginia Jackson found 70 per cent of dog owners at parks usually talked to other dog owners.

Also, 96 per cent of respondents said they would say hello to someone Also, 96 per cent of respondents said they would say hello to someone they talked to at the park if they saw them at the shopping centre.

Not surprisingly, dogs were the most popular topic of conversation between owners.

Ms Jackson’s thesis was based on the premise that dogs promoted positive social contact between people.

On the 20th of October 2005 the 1/2/3 Class set off to Wee

Jasper for an overnight trip with Barry (our outdoor specialist) and Jed (Barry’s Son).

First we packed the trailer and put the sleeping gear in. Once we packed everything, we said bye to our parents and the rest of the school and hopped on the bus. We stopped at Yass to have morning tea. Once we had morning tea and a play in the park we got back on the bus.

As soon as we arrived at Wee Jasper we unpacked the trailer. We had a meeting with Barry about Wee Jasper and what we were going to do then we had lunch. After we had lunch we explored the surroundings and made maps of where we were staying. Then we passed our maps onto someone else to look at to see if they could read it. Most of them we could read!

We had a look in the shearer’s shed. There was a note we had to fi nd. At fi rst we could not see it. Then we saw there was a platform where the sheep slept. It was very muddy. There was a gate and on the other side there were places were the note could be! So we opened the gate and looked around… we saw some wooden poles and we looked behind them where we found the note!! We went back to the shearer’s quarters where we were staying to read it. Barry read it out aloud. It was all about the cave where we were going to that night!! It said there was treasure in the caves!! There was a map with clues to fi nd the treasure!! Each of our groups was given a map.

We got into groups to do some activities. We played a game where someone was blindfolded and everyone else made noises so the person that had the blindfold on would know where to go. We led the person with the blindfold on round the big tree and back.

We also went on a mushroom hunt. Kristen knew which ones we could eat and which we could not eat. We collected the mushrooms to eat later!

Next we prepared dinner for everyone. We had pasta.

After dinner we went caving! It was dark! We brought the note we found and climbed down the stairs to the cave. Suddenly a man jumped out and said “How dare you enter my cave!!!” Some people

thought he was scary. He said, “Why have you come?” We explained why we came and the note we found. He

then let us into the cave.

Every group got their maps out and were given a compass, which they

could use. Once the groups lined their compass up they looked for the clues.

There were messenger bats with the clues inside them. We picked them up

and kept on going. We met together to get the last clue. One group had it. We

then went looking for the treasure. We met a Speleologist. He said he had been

looking for the treasure too. He said he had been looking for the treasure for about 100

years!! The Speleologist helped us fi nd the treasure. We found the treasure, it was crystals!! The lights had been out so the Speleologist said we could use the crystals to bring back the light!! So we brought back the light. We got to keep the crystals!!

The Next Day…

We got up and had breakfast. After breakfast we split into two groups. We took turns to go to the wild cave while the other group prepared lunch. When we went to the wild cave we went over a creek and up a hill. We needed a rope to climb down into the caves. It was very slippery and muddy. When we got into the caves there was a ditch so we had to squeeze past it by pressing against a wall of the cave. We saw diff erent rock formations and dead animals. Once both groups had been to the wild cave we had lunch.

We then packed up and hopped on the bus to return to school.

We all had a fantastic time!

Keane Marsh (Year 3 in ’05)

1/2/3 Class Caving trip to Wee Jasper

During the second week of term four, the 1/2/3 class embarked on a caving adventure to Wee Jasper with Barry and Jed Cooper.

Arriving at the shearer’s quarters of the Cooradigbee rural retreat the troopy was quickly unpacked in the light rain, and everybody hurriedly gulped down lunch so they could explore the huge grounds and creek bed surrounding the shearer’s quarters.

This was a big trip for the year one people as it was their fi rst overnight trip with the class. The veteran overnighters (year 2 and 3 class members) helped show the newbies how to set up their bunks after all choosing their rooms (with four to a room the norm) Many could not believe that Jed was choosing to sleep in the trailer of the ‘Troopy’ instead of inside the shearer’s quarters although nobody was off ering to swap bunks with him. Maybe from his experience, the trailer is a quieter option.

The preparation for the night caving trip involved a challenging group puzzle to fi nd a secret treasure map hidden in a scroll. Barry used the shearing shed for the scroll’s hiding place. Only a few of the class were initially put off by the smell and feel of being ankle deep in the sheep poo (even fewer chuckled at the ee-ewe jokes) that carpeted the ground in the holding pens. The scent and thrill of being so close to solving the mystery meant the group quickly ignored the other sights and smells. It was amazing to watch the team’s focus and concentration on the task.

The night caving trip into Carey’s Cave was a highlight of the trip. The Cave Guardian mysteriously appeared from the darkness (a few people nearly jumped out of their skin) explaining the rules to abide by and how he keeps the cave in untouched condition. He got the class involved as teams to solve the puzzle of Carey’s Cave, with each team member having an important responsibility in solving the puzzle. Armed with only a few candles to light their way, these capable young spelunkers worked together as a team and waited dutifully for the team member to complete their task. The others would sometimes off er advice but not try to take over the task. It was wonderful to observe this interaction. Considering it was at the end of a long and tiring day, this activity was attacked with relish and enthusiasm.

The last task required the class to re-form into a single group, to decode the fi nal message altogether. When the teams had all fi nally decoded the messages to reveal the location of the ‘treasure’, a lost caving explorer, this marked the transition from ancient discovery to

1/2/3 Class Wee Jasper Caving Tripcurrent scientifi c exploration. He lit up the cave with the electric lighting, revealing the full colour spectacle of the crystal formations, which was only hinted at using the candles. The class immediately jumped in, naming the diff erent formations as stalactites and stalagmites, helictites and columns.

From what I observed, one of the greatest values of the caving trip was that it gave the class members the opportunity for new social interactions with each other while being in a fresh neutral location to stimulate exploring these social dynamics (not just ‘playing’ with the same friends all the time). The setting and the activities encouraged the students to take on new roles and responsibilities as part of their journey of being capable, competent, independent people. Being an overnight trip meant these new experiences and feelings of independence would sink in a bit deeper, and would be carried through after the group returned from the trip. I had to laugh when on the last day, I was asking a couple of them about their impression of the cave trip, when I was promptly told “You’re a real chatterbox for a dad - but you’re OK”. Straight talking is another Blue Gum virtue!

-David (Nyssa & Kiera)

WEIRD INVENTIONS to get you thinking ...

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Belt up and listen ... t o e x p e r t s o n c h i l d r e s t r a i n tCanberra Times - 31/12/04

Research by Holden and Victoria’s Monash University

Accident Research Centre has confirmed the importance of restraining small children in belt-positioning booster seats until they are big enough for an adult seat belt.

The findings flag a timely warning, with the holiday season upon us and families out on the roads.

The project focused on 5-10-year-olds because the vehicle-occupant death and injury rates for these children are higher than for younger children.

Between 1998 and 2002, an average of 148 children aged 10 and younger were killed or seriously injured each year in car crashes on Victorian roads.

Of these, 62 per cent were aged 5 to 10 years; 32 per cent were aged 1 to 4; and 6 per cent were under 12 months.

The Holden/Monash research findings followed a series of crash tests conducted at Holden’s proving ground using a dummy to simulate a 6-year-old child.

The test showed how dangerous forward movement can be during a crash when a child is wearing the car’s adult-sized seat belt, rather then being properly restrained in a booster seat.

Holden innovation chief engineer, Dr Laurie Sparke, said the research was further confirmation that using booster seats can help to prevent or lessen serious injury to children in a crash.

He said that while most parents now used a baby capsule and a forward-facing child seat for younger children, many might not realise that restraining their 5-10-year-olds with seat belts alone could be unsafe.

“The car’s seat belts are designed to protect adults, not children,” he said.

In preparation for the tests, Holden engineers positioned the dummy on the rear seat to imitate the way that children sit when restrained by adult seat belts alone.

In frontal crash testing, the dummy’s hips slid forward on the seat so that the lap belt rode high on the abdomen, rather than on the lower hips and upper thighs, where it should have been. The dummy also lurched forward, confirming the risk of injury to a small child improperly retrained without a booster seat.

The Monash centre recommends that children over 100cm tall and weighing more than 18kg should be correctly secured in belt-positioning booster seats.

They should continue this until adult lap and shoulder belts fit them properly – usually when they’re between 8 and 10 years old.

The Monash team says a child should use an adult seatbelt only when he or she can sit against the back of the rear seat with the knees bent comfortably at the edge of the seat.

The lap belt should rest low and snug across the hips and not across the stomach and the shoulder belt should be centred on the shoulder and chest.

Booster seats help younger children who have outgrown child seats to sit high enough to enable them to sit well back against the seat, without having to slouch with their knees bent over the edge of the seat.

Reprinted with permission

Head LiceAdvice…

A tricky issue that we all have to deal with at some time during our children’s school years is head lice. (The good news is, the incidence of infestations seem to lessen in the upper primary years. Yay!) While it seems that there are as many ways of dealing with the little pests as there are hairs on the average child’s head, it’d be good to know what works, or doesn’t, in your household. Send us your suggestions and we’ll put them in the next issue and (hopefully) share your success! Here are a couple to get you started:

• I have found this great comb, which I have had great results with and would highly recommend. There is a web site with this brochure which has some educational info regarding lice: www.nitpickers.com.au also www.licefreenaturally.com.au

• I usually spray the kids’ hair with a mix of rosemary, tea tree and bergamot spray. Per 250ml: 8 drops of Rosemary, Bergamot and Tea tree oil. Shake and spray. I have also seen scrunchies with lavender, rosemary or tea tree leaves in the material.

• “A review of the regulation of head lice treatments in Australia” by the Department of Health and Ageing, Therapeutic Goods Administration, can be found here: www.tga.gov.au/docs/pdf/headlice.pdf

Kindness: a languagethe deaf can hear,

the blind can see, and the mute can speak

One winter Sunday, we organised a board games afternoon in the

hall at Corroboree Park in Ainslie. Blue Gum families were invited to come along and bring their board games and have fun playing games with their friends and family. We played games such as Trouble, Cluedo, Sea Battle and Monopoly! We all brought a plate of food or drink to share for afternoon tea which everyone enjoyed very much. Those that came had lots of fun and hope to do this again next year…

By Keane (1/2/3 Class)

Blue Gum Community GroupThe Blue Gum Community Group (BGCG) is a group established by

and for Blue Gum parents/guardians. The Group aims to support the school whilst building a sense of community among the Pre and Primary School’s parents. The focus for last year was to organise more social activities – a theme we intend to continue and expand on in 2006 with events such as a social dinner for parents each term (venue suggestions welcome!).

The BGCG also seeks to have guest speakers at our meetings, both from within and outside the school, to talk about topics of interest. If you have suggestions for speakers or topics that you would be interested in hearing, please contact me to discuss.

The BGCG will also organise fund raising events periodically and usually with a specific purpose in mind. For example, our last garage sale held at the Dickson Shops raised nearly $1,000 and these funds were evenly distributed between both campuses. The Preschool bought digital cameras and the Primary school put their money towards building the tree house.

The BGCG is a good source of information on what’s going on in and around the school and the minutes are distributed after each meeting. The Group is a great help to the school as it provides a focus for parents and families to be able to directly support and promote the school. One way this can be done is by joining an Interest Group which looks at a particular issue and then reports back its activities to the whole group.

The BGCG aims to provide activities that will be enjoyed by everyone which is why it’s important to have a wide representation of parents at the Group’s meetings. These meetings are held twice each term in weeks 2 & 8, currently on Wednesday evenings starting at 7.30pm and finishing around 9.30pm. The meetings are not formal and we are very fortunate that the Ainslie Football Club allows us the use of meeting space free of charge. Look for notice of upcoming meetings via a flyer on the gate at each campus. Everyone is welcome, please feel free to come along and be part of the group.

Further information relating to the activities of the BGCG (and other school related groups) can also be found in your 2006 enrolment pack.

Simon Marsh (Keane), Chair hers@netspeed.com.au or 6292 3478 (h)

Rock Salt Dinner

Throughout 2005, the Blue Gum Community Group

organised a dinner at a different restaurant each term inviting all parents and staff. These dinners gave the adults of our Blue Gum community a chance to get together and relate to each other in a relaxed and enjoyable setting, as opposed to the usual whirlwind child-centric atmosphere of pickups and drop offs.

I was lucky enough to escape for an evening and attend the final dinner for the year at Rock Salt in Hawker. It was everything I had hoped for in an evening off: entertaining conversation, fine wine, both delicious and interesting food, all of which created a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

The highlight of the evening - at our end of the table at least - was when we were presented with the dessert menu. Among all the highly exotic offerings was a dish served with fairy floss! Smiles abounded and eyes lit up as we all had speedy trips down memory lane guided by visions of fluffy, pink confectionary. This was however, no ordinary floss, it was imported from Turkey, rose flavoured no less, and, if I recall correctly, priced at about $30 a bag - worth its weight in gold I dare say!

Thanks must go to the organisers of these dinners and my great hope is that this fine fledgling tradition continues to grow on into 2006.

Katrina (Ehlana).

(Ed: Yes, indeed these dinners will be a part of the BGCG 2006 Calendar. Both couples and singles are very welcome, so if babysitting is an issue, why not take turns (scissor/paper/rock or arm-wresting could also work) & come & enjoy an evening strictly for the adults!)

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Protecting and over-protecting our childrenOn their screens, they can

vanquish invading hordes, but in the real world, today’s kids can’t even walk to school without Mum. Have we taken the idea of protecting our children too far? Jane Cadzow reports.

When Paul Tranter was a boy, he and his friends would disappear for hours at a time into the bushland abutting their homes on the western outskirts of Newcastle. “There were old mine shafts, blackberry bushes, swamps:’ he says, smiling at the memory. “It was just a fantastic place to be as a child.” Now 48, Tranter is a Canberra-based geographer investigating a dramatic but largely undiscussed change in Western society - the clampdown on children’s freedom of movement. His research supports overseas fi ndings that adult control and supervision of children’s lives has increased signifi cantly in just one or two generations. What’s more, Tranter has discovered that Australian children are more closely guarded than their counterparts in some comparable countries.

Swamps? Mine shafts? Don’t even think about it, kids. Australian parents have become so safety-conscious that we worry about the gradient of the slippery-slide at the local park. So reluctant are we to let our off spring out of our sight that we drive them to the playground and everywhere else rather than allow them to walk or ride their bikes. Strapped into the back seat of the family sedan, chauff eured to and from school, soccer practice and piano lessons, middle-class Australian boys and girls are like pampered prisoners - cosseted, constrained and constantly nagged.

Be careful on the swing. Don’t go on the road. Never talk to strangers. Put on more sunscreen... We don’t just cushion them against life’s blows

- we bubble-wrap them! “We’re very concerned, rightly so, with protecting children from dangers:’ says Tranter.

“But you’ve got to start to wonder, have we gone too far?”

A friend of mine lets her 10-year-old son cycle to and from school- but she creeps along behind him in the car.

Another friend allows her two primary-school-age daughters to cycle up and down their suburban street - but she follows them on foot. “And what do I do?” she asks ruefully. “I call

out as they go past each driveway, ‘Watch out for the driveway! Slow down!’”

The same woman and her partner have only recently permitted their girls, 10 and 8, to go into the front garden on their own. “Even when it came to collecting newspapers that were thrown onto our lawn, they couldn’t go out the front without one of us being there:’ she says.

“They worked out pretty quickly that there must be something wrong with being outside without a parent watching you - and that you didn’t stay out there for long. So they would dash out and dash in.”

Paul Tranter attributes hothouse parenting at least partly to the dwindling size of families. The smaller your brood, the more tempting it is to treat each child like a rare and fragile fl ower. And if you have just one or two children, it’s physically possible to escort them wherever they go. “Our children are precious:’ says one Sydney mother of two. “I’m

sure our parents thought we were precious, too - it’s just that they didn’t seem to watch our every move. That is the biggest diff erence. I’m so watchful.” Behavioural scientists tell us it’s good for kids to escape from grown-ups now and then. By middle childhood (from about 7 to 12 years), both boys and girls occasionally crave solitude and time for refl ection. Urban planner Chris Cunningham says his research with Australian city children shows they yearn for “somewhere to get away from others and create their own world”. But parents on the whole seem unconvinced by the argument that leaving children to their own devices is important to their emotional and intellectual development. “We’re distrustful of the role of free and independent play in children’s lives,’ says Cunningham. “We feel that unless they’re at violin lessons or soccer or whatever it might be, they’re being idle. So we’re not giving them the opportunity to explore the world for themselves:’

Perhaps we are killing our kids with kindness.

“Australia now has the dubious distinction of having the world’s fattest children;’ says Cunningham,

linking the rising incidence of obesity to afternoons spent in front of television or computer screens rather than exploring the neighbourhood. He argues that the confi nement of kids not only creates junior couch potatoes but robs them of their right to “indulge in the caprices of being a child”.

After all, walking to school or the local shops isn’t just a matter of getting from A to B: it’s a chance to kick stones, pat dogs, dawdle with friends and swap notes on the old lady (possibly a witch) who lives in the spooky house on the corner. As

B y J a n e C a d z o wSydney Morning Herald1 7 J a n u a r y 2 0 0 4

... leaving children to their own devices

is important to their emotional and intellectual

development.

... Australian children are more

closely guarded than their counterparts

in some comparable countries.

Melbourne mother Jill Anderson says, “They need that time to snicker and laugh and carry on together, without having you there going, ‘What did you say?’”

Anderson’s younger son, aged 10, walks home in the afternoons. Her older son, who attends a more distant school, has used public transport since he was nearly 12: she remembers her surprise and slight consternation when she realised that most of the other students in his year were driven door-to-door: “I thought, ‘Wow. Am I being reckless in allowing my child to get on a train?’”

When they play computer games, children can marshal armies, lay siege to castles and blow up enemy battleships, but in real life many of them can’t cross the road without Mum. As Melbourne clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller puts it, “’I can win a war but I can’t ride my bike-to the-shops; No wonder they feel a bit out of kilter.”

Kids who spend all their time with adults have little scope to climb trees, dig holes, build cubbies or form secret clubs. The author of Raising Real People, Fuller believes many would benefi t from a little more adventure in their lives. If their parents handle them like eggs, shielding them from even the smallest knocks, they don’t have the opportunity to build up resilience, he says. “Then when bad things do happen, they’re just thrown for six. They end up in my bloody therapy room, and I’m sick of it.” Coddled kid syndrome, you might call it. Though the prevalence of the condition is only now being recognised, alarm bells began ringing back in 1990, when British social scientist Mayer Hillman established that the freedom of English children aged 7 to 11 had shrunk markedly over two decades. Hillman’s study of boys and girls at fi ve English primary schools found they were much less likely than students surveyed at the same schools in 1971 to have permission to cycle on roads, for instance, or travel unaccompanied to school. Half the children in the original survey were allowed to catch buses alone; by 1990, just one in seven could do so. In a 1999 paper, Hillman went so far as to conclude that we are

producing the human equivalent of battery- reared chickens. Our plump 10-year-olds, forbidden to follow their instinct to roam, may lack the initiative and resourcefulness of the free-range kids of the past: he points to experiments that show primates deprived of rough and tumble in their youth tend to grow into incompetent adults. “Survival rises with the extent of experience of risk-taking:’ he writes.

When Tranter replicated Hillman’s study at 21 schools in Sydney, Canberra and Christchurch, he found that Australian and New Zealand children were more closely chaperoned than either English or German kids. Nearly half our nine-year-olds were driven to school, compared to a third of the English children and only an eighth of German students. Whereas 80 per cent of German 11-year-olds were trusted to use buses, as were 40 per cent of English children of the same age, only a quarter of the Australians and New Zealanders had the same licence.

Why do we keep our kids on such a tight rein? Tranter found that, in Australia, daughters are more restricted than sons - and the parents of girls say their main fear is assault or molestation. Parents of boys see traffi c injury as the biggest threat but cite so-called “stranger-danger” as another compelling reason for keeping their sons off the streets. Yet as Brisbane social planner Wendy Sarkissian says, “When you really look at it, the dangerous ones are the ones you know.” The depressing truth is that more than 90 per cent of Australian child homicide victims are killed by their parents. The number of children aged under 15 murdered by strangers, as opposed to relatives or acquaintances, has averaged just one a year since 1999. That puts the odds at about one in four million

- even lower than in the previous

decade, when the average was two children a year. Statistically, they are at much greater risk of 1 being killed in a traffi c accident, but the murder of children makes banner headlines, which may account for the perception that it happens frequently. “When the death of a child does occur, there’s just so much media coverage that it gets ingrained in our memory:’ says Australian Institute of Criminology researcher Jenny Mouzos. The three Beaumont children, who disappeared from an Adelaide beach in 1966; the two Mackay sisters, murdered on their way to school in Townsville in 1970... Decades later, we eff ortlessly recall their names and can almost see the faces that appeared in endlessly reproduced snapshots. In his book The Country of Lost Children: An Australian Anxiety, Peter Pierce contends that our preoccupation with vanishing youngsters dates from colonial times, when frontier families were haunted by tales of girls and boys who strayed into the bush and never returned. In the early years of white settlement, lost children were the subject of paintings, ballads and pantomimes. Pierce says parents in those days were less afraid of predators - human or otherwise - than of the strange, silent Australian landscape itself. Their nervousness about their off spring refl ected their own unease at fi nding themselves stranded in an alien environment: “The lost children are in a sense the surrogates for the adults who don’t belong:’ The idea that the wilderness can swallow up kids retains a strong grip on the Australian imagination. Think of the schoolgirls in Picnic at Hanging Rock. Remember Azaria Chamberlain. But as Pierce says, the focus of our fear has shifted since the 19th century. The possibility that a child might wander away is no longer our prime concern. “The modern dread is, he didn’t wander off . He got taken.”

The turning point, he believes, was the 1960 abduction and murder of eight-year-old Sydney boy Graeme Thorne. Kidnapped for ransom, Thorne was targeted because his parents had just won the lottery; it was anything but an act of random violence. But the hugely publicised case planted the thought that kids could be stolen anywhere, any time.

Kids who spend all their time with adults

have little scope to climb trees, dig holes, build cubbies or form

secret clubs.

Thorne had been plucked from a Bondi street corner in broad daylight, while he was waiting to catch a bus to school. Since then, says Pierce, we have come to regard child-snatching as one of the perils of urban life

- “an arbitrary terror that might be visited upon any dweller in a modern Australian city”. As many parents see it, the only defence is eternal vigilance. Better safe than sorry, we tell ourselves as we ignore our kids’ pleas to leave the house on their own. When I mention to the friend who drives behind her son’s bike that only one child a year is murdered by a stranger, she shrugs and says, “I don’t want it to be mine:’

In 1952, when Chris Cunningham was 10, he and his nine-year-old brother caught a train from their home in the Blue Mountains to Sydney, where they spent the day exploring the metropolis by rail and tram. “That’s probably where I got my passion for cities and city planning

- from being able to experience a city independently as a child;’ says Cunningham, whose research confi rms that much tighter boundaries are placed on kids today. Studying after-school play patterns in fi ve Australian towns (Sydney, Adelaide, Ipswich, Armidale and Lismore), he and colleague Margaret Jones found that on nominated fi ne days in early summer, only 50 per cent of boys and 30 per cent of girls ventured out of their own yards. Of those who did go walking or cycling, the median range for boys was 500 metres, for girls just 200 metres. Yet, asked where they liked to go, the children were less likely to name playgrounds and football fi elds than bushland areas.

Kids of both sexes seem innately attracted to wild spaces, says Cunningham. In his study, more boys than girls ventured off the beaten track but “if anything, girls who used natural places focused more intently on the inherent qualities of those places than [did the] boys, for whom the landscape was a stage for adventure games’:

Creeks and caves scare the hell out of parents, who seem to Cunningham to underrate kids’ bushcraft.

“Children’s environmental skills are well developed by the time they want to go and play in these places;’ he says.”Some environmental savvy may be instinctive.” In 1960, in a case so celebrated it became the subject of a popular song, four-year-old Steven Walls survived four days in rugged country near Guyra, on the New England tableland of NSW. According to Cunningham, the boy spent most of that time hiding from the thousands of adults who were searching for him: “He was frightened of the people, not frightened of the bush.”

It’s in traffi c that kids are most vulnerable, partly because their peripheral vision isn’t as good as adults’. That the number killed or injured on Australian roads is falling is probably due to the increasing trend to keep kids off the streets, says Paul Tranter. As traffi c volume and speed have risen in recent decades, the number of children walking and riding bikes has fallen. In 2001, about half of Sydney children were driven to school - up from 37 per cent in 1991. The number who caught buses or walked had dropped during the decade, while the proportion who cycled had halved - from 1.8 per cent to just 0.9 per cent.

Tranter says it’s a self-perpetuating phenomenon. The more parents drive their children, the more traffi c builds up outside schools, “and the more the other parents think, ‘Well, it’s too dangerous to let my child walk: So they start driving as well.”

The number of child fatalities from all causes in Australia has dropped sharply in the past three decades. This is partly because improved

medicine saves more from illness and injury, but presumably parental determination to keep kids out of harm’s way is having an eff ect, too. The price we have paid is to change the way we live.

In We Told You So, published in 1968, Australian poet Nancy Keesing wrote:

Suburbs are known only to dogs and children. They sniff , circle, explore, trespass, uncoverUnguessed, circuitous byways and acquireBizarre acquaintances. Children and dogs discoverAll of a suburb.

Not any more, they don’t. The dogs are on leashes. The kids are inside. When Keiren McLeonard heard the tinkling music of an ice-cream van in her quiet Canberra neighbourhood, she decided to give her then six-year-old daughter a treat. “We went down the road

and there were all these children;’ says McLeonard, who had lived in her street for more than a decade without realising it was home to any kids besides her own. “You don’t see evidence of children in any of the streets around here;’ she says. Tranter points out that in many residential areas, it’s not only children who have made themselves scarce. Adults, too, are rarely seen outdoors: thanks to sprinkler systems, it isn’t even necessary to stand in the yard with a hose. Adults, like children, are doing less walking. “The percentage of trips as pedestrians is falling as the percentage of car trips is rising;’ says Tranter. “They drive home, they press a button, the roller-door goes up, the car goes in; that’s it. You don’t see them until it comes up again the next morning and they drive out... As a consequence, the streets are perceived as being lonely, dangerous places:’

Tranter credits the independence of the German students in Mayer Hillman’s survey to the European tradition of strolling and meeting in public spaces. In German cities,

When Keiren McLeonard heard the tinkling music of an ice-cream van in

her quiet Canberra neighbourhood, she decided to give her then six-year-old

daughter a treat. “We went down the road and there were all these children;’ says

McLeonard, who had lived in her street for more than a decade without realising it was home to any kids besides her own.

the presence in the streets of lots of children - and adults gives other parents confidence to allow their kids to join them, he says. Similarly, the excellent public transport system’s heavy usage by people of all ages means parents have few qualms about letting their children climb aboard, too. “Adults in Germany think they have a greater collective responsibility for other people’s children;’ says Tranter. On buses and trams - anywhere, really - kids who behave badly are watched and corrected, adding to the general feeling of security. Hillman has noted that in England, where stranger-danger is as much an obsession as it is in Australia, “we, the strangers, are less inclined to engage in conversation with children we do not know - a perfectly healthy instinct

- lest our motives be misconstrued. It has the insidious effect of relieving us of our societal responsibilities for keeping an eye on other people’s children and intervening when we judge it necessary:’

At the same time, our children grow up thinking the world is a perilous place in which anyone who smiles and says hello might be a prowling pedophile. Paranoid parents produce edgy kids. “We live in a society that seems to have an epidemic of depression in children;’ says psychologist Andrew Fuller. “There’s no doubt that kids these days are much more depressed than they were:’

Social planner Wendy Sarkissian believes the bubble-wrapping of children is partly symptomatic of

“a generalised despair about the state of the world. There’s a strong cocooning desire because it’s too scary out there:’ She thinks it would help if parents got out more: “They drive to and from work, to and from the supermarket - they actually don’t know what’s out there. They haven’t directly experienced a lot of those areas that they’re advising

Sarkissian grew up in Vancouver, where she lived beside an Indian reservation. “It was completely forbidden and we were there every day;’ she says. “It was rainforest. We were sitting in hollow logs and swinging like Tarzan. It was magical.” From her observations in

Australia, girls and boys outside the cities remain relatively free spirits - little affected, so far, by the lock-up-your-children movement. “This really is an urban phenomenon;’ she says. “Country kids are still swimming in the creek.” Sarkissian suggests we need to stop thinking of child-rearing as an exercise in risk minimisation. Rather than calling kids down from the tops of trees, we should be encouraging them to go out on a limb now and then. “It’s quite an interesting paradox;’ she says. “You have to care enough to let them go:’ Of course, over-protection isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a child. In many ways, our kids are extraordinarily lucky to have us at their beck and call, ferrying them to weekend sporting fixtures and cheering loyally from the sidelines. “But I’m wondering;’ says Tranter, “are our children any better off than when they went and played in the wild spaces and had their own informal cricket games with groups of friends?” He pauses. “I’m not sure that they are.”

Reprinted with permission from John Mark Ministries website: http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/14000.htm

More discussion on this issue can be found at: Where do the children play? ABC Health Matters - The Pulse www.abc.net.au/health/thepulse/s1365080.htm

Dr Paul Tranter will be speaking at the first BGCG Meeting, details Page 18

Class Rep. / Parent LiaisonThe name ‘Class Representative’ could be a daunting one perhaps

at first. Katrina and I wondered what would be expected of us. With a toddler at home and Katrina’s new baby Rhiannon on the way, time could have been an issue for us. Would our performance be judged??

Well, as it turned out, not at all, because as 2005 K/1 Class Representatives we basically had fun. Katrina knew some parents already as her daughter Ehlana was in Grade 1, while I knew not a soul with my daughter Esperance just beginning Kindergarten.

After gathering, collating and distributing contact details from all parents interested in participating in social activities or simply willing to be part of the K/1 community of parents to call or chat to, we received a fantastic suggestion from Linda (Andrew’s mum) to organise morning teas whereby any free parents and younger siblings could catch up.

We decided to hold an “After Drop-Off Morning Tea” once a term - one of which didn’t quite work out - but the other three provided a morning of chatting, playing, eating, and even a sip or two of champagne. We met at the Botanical Gardens, National Museum of Australia and lastly, gloriously, at Tracey’s (Madeleine’s mum) house, on the deck on a beautifully sunny day.

The other purpose for our role was so that the class’s teachers could let the parents know if there were tasks that needed doing within the classroom (e.g. fixing books), rather than them having to ask each parent individually if they could help, and I think the teachers appreciated being able to do this.

It’s been suggested that the name of this position be changed to ‘Parent Liaison’ which we would support, given our initial questions about ‘representing’ all the class’s parents. However, we would not hesitate to be the Parent Liaison for our child’s class again. It was a fantastic way to meet other parents and family members, including the opportunity to have a morning to reflect, unwind, try to remember names, laugh, compare experiences and views, and immerse ourselves in the Blue Gum Community which is US.

- Carolyn (Esperance) and Katrina (Ehlana)

Primary School Community

Shared LunchOn Friday 2 September 2005

Blue Gum Community School hosted a Community Shared Lunch, inviting friends and families of the Primary School to the Hackett campus to help celebrate Literacy and Numeracy Week.

Although it seems like long ago (Term 3 2005!!!!) I remember being warmly welcomed to the lunch by the friendly efficient waiters from the 1/2/3 Class. I then had

my portrait drawn by a couple of the creative artists from the K/1 Class, whilst everyone was entertained

by the ‘street’ performances of the 3/4/5 Class which included juggling acts, human statues and African drumming.

We were then invited to sit at one of the delightfully decorated tables in the courtyard where we were served beautiful food that had been prepared by the students: hot Asian-inspired dishes from the 3/4/5 Class (the spring rolls were my favourite!); yummy cakes and desserts from the K/1 Class; and wonderful freshly squeezed juices prepared by the 1/2/3 Class.

After eating we wandered around to enjoy the entertainment, where, in true busking style, we were encouraged to show our appreciation by making a contribution towards the fund for the School’s new ‘Kitchen Project’.

I thoroughly enjoyed the event and it was great to be a part of what the students do every Friday for their shared lunches. It was also a good opportunity to catch up with other families and meet new friends.

- Tracey (Maddie)

Term 3, 2005 3/4/5 ::

A T H A N K Y O U L E T T E R F R O M A P A R E N T W H O A T T E N D E D

Hi Swift Parrots,I just wanted to say thank you all so much for my beautiful present. The photo brought back many special memories of the snow trip for me.I must admit, at first I was a little worried at the thought of being an adult amongst 22 ‘kiddies’ in a snow shack! I thought “ohmogosh it’s hard enough to be a mother of two kids let alone 22”, but as the trip progressed and I got to know each of you I realised that each and every one of you actually didn’t need mothering. I began to feel like one of the team and not just a ‘grown-up’.You all amazed me with your skills and how you did everything for yourselves. I also really like the way that you spoke to and acted towards each other, I don’t think I heard a nasty word from one of you about anyone or anything!I actually learned that I could survive without a few of the comforts of home; dishwasher, running water, flushing toilet, makeup.I also discovered that it is much easier to fall over skiing than it is to try to get up again with skis stuck to your boots!I also want to tell you about how fantastic Veronica and Rosie are (like you didn’t already know). They really care about each one of you and are really gifted teachers.And as for Barry – well! I nearly split my sides laughing about his dinosaur story.So Swift Parrots, YOU have actually given me lots of gifts!Cheers,Leona (Joe)

SKI EXCURSION

2005 of Launch- Slow Festival- Slow Festival

TTo say thank you to all those involved in the 2005 Slow

Festival, participants and supporters were invited to an early evening get together in the foyer of the Canberra Museum and Gallery on Saturday 22October.

Thanks to the wonderful eff orts Thanks to the wonderful eff orts of the Festival’s Director, Jodi Hughes, Director of public relations company Adaptions Pty Ltd, this occasion was both relaxing and lots of fun! Lorenzo’s Café Café Caf (Nibblez Catering) supplied us with trays of delicious hors d’oevres to nibble on while Julie Star from Mount Majura Winery invited us to sample some of their vineyard’s lovely wines. We participated in a Laughter Yoga session (using laughter as a form of stress release and relaxation) as well as a ‘Slow’ sharing session where those who volunteered their ideas on slowing down were rewarded with mini Mars bars (to help them ‘work, rest and play’)!!

A very memorable evening was A very memorable evening was had by all and it provided a fantastic opportunity to meet and chat with like-minded people. Some of us even had our happy, smiling pictures displayed in the ‘About Town’ section of The Canberra Times the following Sunday!

- Cathy (Keane)

On Sunday 30th October the Friends of Blue Gum hosted

the Slow Sunday Community Picnic held at Coroborree Park, Ainslie, to celebrate the end of the 2005 Slow Festival week. Undeterred by the morning’s overcast skies and drizzle, we set up our bbq and food stands under cover and inside the main hall. As Murphy’s Law would have it, the weather quickly fi ned up and soon many picnickers could be seen outside happily playing games in the park with family and friends or sitting on picnic rugs chatting away.

A wonderfully relaxing ambience was created by Benno and Ado from Trouble in the Kitchen who played their beautiful acoustic Irish tunes, while Anton from Café 2 U supplied us with excellent hot and cold drinks from his mobile van. Our BBQ of organic sausages and chicken kebabs was very popular as were the great variety of homemade cakes and goodies and plates of fresh fruit, all adding up to plenty of yummy food to enjoy!

Our sincere thanks go to Healthpact for their grant which enabled us to hold this community event. Thank you

also to Brumby’s Bakery, Ainslie IGA, Eco Meats and Ziggys Fruit and Vegetable Market (both of Belconnen Markets) for their discounted/donated goods. Although not primarily a fund raising event, over $700 was raised - this included a generous donation from Anton (Café 2 U) and money raised from our Slow Festival Raffl e which was drawn at the end of the day. These funds will be used by the Friends’ for the continued promotion and support of the community focus of Blue Gum Community School.

Lastly, our heartfelt thanks also go to all those families who showed their support by donating gorgeous home-baked goods; volunteering their time to help out on the day; and by coming along to enjoy what was a lovely, relaxing, family event that made many of us ask ‘Why don’t we do this more often?!’ And my personal thanks go to my fellow Friends’ colleagues whose tireless eff orts led to the success of this Blue Gum community event!

- Corri (Nyssa & Kiera)President

Slow Sunday Community Picnic

Fr iends of Blue Gum NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWS

Did you know? Canberra Times - 8 November 2005

Household use of anti-bacterial soap and washes in favour of plain soap and water has increased in recent years. One of the reasons is thought

to be because of beliefs that killed germs are better than those just washed off . A discussion panel met recently to advise the United States Food and Drug Administration on the appropriate use and necessity of anti-bacterial washes in the average home. Findings in controlled studies confi rmed there was no signifi cant diff erence in infections in households between those who use soap and water and anti-bacterial washes. Reprinted with permission

These are just some of the appreciative comments written in the Guest Book at Blue Gum’s Student Art and Sculpture Exhibition held at the Hackett Community Centre as part of the 2005 Slow Festival. Each class from both campuses exhibited beautifully framed and mounted pieces of students’ artwork from throughout the year, with each display accompanied by an informative explanation of the processes and inspiration behind the pieces. As visitors to the exhibition’s opening entered, they were off ered a single fresh fl ower, whereupon they were treated to a personal guided tour by proud students. There was even an interactive element, as everyone was invited to add their own artfully bent or sculpted piece of cutlery or kitchen ‘gadget’ to a large hanging artwork, which will eventually fi nd its home in the school’s newly decked-out kitchen. In all it was a very professional display and one that spoke of respect and admiration for these fi ne artworks and for the artists who have created them.

Student Art and Sculpture Exhibition

“Love the work. Beautiful. Diff erent.”

“Fantastic array of beautiful artworks, great to see the preschool’s creativity too”

“Fantastic – wish it was permanent (CCHYP)”

“Such a creative and inspiring exhibition of this year’s artwork!”“How can you all create such beauty!!!”

“Thanks – So much talent in one school!!”

“What fun you all had creating these masterpieces – lovely”

“Great beauty and diversity!”

“Absolutely gorgeous – stunning artworks, beautifully presented. Fantastic variety of artforms, I really enjoyed the exhibition!”

“Fantastic! Amazing!”

“Nobody has given me such lovely fl owers in a long time. The art is beautiful!”

“Matisse, Picasso and Rembrandt lookout! Blue Gummers are on the way to becoming famous artists too!”

“Inspiring! Brilliant!”

“Thank you to the Blue Gum family for a wonderful

exhibition.”

“We loved the beautiful artwork – especially the charcoal portraits. Well done everyone!”

Canberra Times - 4/10/05 London

Watching TV could damage children’s brain

development, leading to increased anti-social behaviour, new research has claimed.

There was also a correlation between the amount of TV children watch and the degree of educational damage they suffered, according to the report by Aric Sigman, an associate fellow of the British Psychological Society.

And significant long-term damage occurred event at so-called modest levels of viewing – between one and two hours a day

– the report, Remotely Controlled, said.

Children now spent more time watching a TV screen than they spent in school, but viewing even a moderate amount could dramatically increase their risk of myopia, slow down their metabolic rate and could trigger premature puberty, according to Dr Sigman. It was also found to lead to a “significantly elevated risk” of sleep problems in

adulthood, causing hormone changes, which in turn directly increased appetite and body fat production and damage to the immune system, leading to a greater vulnerability to cancer.

While the average Briton watched four hours of TV a day, children aged 11-15 spent 7½ hours a day watching TV and computers

– an increase of 40 per cent in a decade – the scientist said.

More than half of three-year-olds had a TV set in their bedrooms and the average six-year-old would have already watched for nearly one full year of their lives.

Switching off the TV will lead to more switched-on children, says study

Dr Sigman said, “A ‘dose-response relationship’ between the amount of television children watch and the degree of educational damage they suffer is now emerging that has ‘biological plausibility’. Television viewing is also now linked with stunting brain development in the child’s frontal lobes, leading to reduced impulse control and increased anti-social behaviour.

“Teachers are under pressure to vie for the child’s attentional resources, which have been damaged by exposure to fast-changing screen images. This leaves teachers facing a generation of children who find it more difficult to pay attention and thereby learn, but also exhibit poor self-restraint and anti-social behaviour.”

Dr Sigman suggested children under three should see no screen entertainment, those over three should be limited to watching one hour a day, teenagers should be limited to 1½ hours and adults up to two hours.

Reprinted with permission

HOW TO HAVE A GOOD START TO YOUR DAY…

1. Open a new file in your PC.2. Name it “Housework”.3. Send it to the RECYCLE BIN. 4. Empty the RECYCLE BIN.5. Your PC will ask you, “Are you sure you want to delete Housework permanently?” 6. Calmly answer, “Yes”, and press the mouse button firmly. 7. There, that’s better!

Public Meeting regarding the Draft Hackett Urban Design Guidelines (i.e. the Hackett Shops and Former Primary School site)

DIARY NOTE

When : Tuesday 14 February Where : St Margaret’s Church Hall Time : to be advised

It would be great to have a good show of Blue Gum families attend.

First Blue Gum Community Group meeting for 20067:30pm :: Wednesday 15 February :: Ainslie Football Club

Special Guest Speaker Dr Paul Tranterwill share his presentation Creating Child-Friendly Cities

Dr Paul TranterSenior Lecturer/Discipline Coordinator for Geography School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical SciencesUNSW @ ADFA :: www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/pems/research/tranter

BiographyPaul Tranter is a Senior Lecturer in geography with teaching and research interests in the areas of social and transport geography. His doctoral thesis from the University of Newcastle (1982) examined pathological events (e.g. accidents) in a time geographic framework. His current research interests include the themes of child-friendly environments and sustainable cities. He has been with the University of New South Wales since 1980, and has had several Special Studies Programs visiting universities in Australia, Britain and New Zealand.

ResearchMany of Paul’s research interests have had an important element of social relevance. He has applied geographical concepts and methodologies to the study of such topics as: pathological events (e.g. accidents, depression); residential privacy; tenant participation in public housing; transport provision in disadvantaged areas; children’s road safety and independent mobility; local authority attitudes and policies towards sustainable transport; the health implications and messages associated with motorsport; possible links between motorsport and illegal street racing; and children’s use of school grounds for environmental learning.

Paul’s current research interests concern ‘child-friendly cities’ and the geography of motorsport in Australia. The common theme between these two research areas is the relevance of both to our understanding of ‘sustainable cities’ and ‘healthy cities’. Paul has examined children’s ‘independent mobility’ (their freedom to explore their own neighbourhood or city without and adult) in Australia and New Zealand. More recently, working with Associate Professor Karen Malone (RMIT) his research has focused on how children experience and learn about their environments in their own school grounds. Children’s ability to explore and play in their own environment is widely recognised as a key component of a child-friendly city. Understanding more about child-friendly environments also provides insights for the creation of more sustainable cities.

Noticeboard

our understanding of ‘sustainable cities’ and ‘healthy cities’. Paul has examined children’s ‘independent mobility’ (their freedom to explore their own neighbourhood or city without and adult) in Australia and New Zealand. More recently, working with Associate Professor Karen Malone (RMIT) his research has focused on how children experience and learn about their environments in their experience and learn about their environments in their own school grounds. Children’s ability to explore and own school grounds. Children’s ability to explore and play in their own environment is widely recognised play in their own environment is widely recognised as a key component of a child-friendly city. as a key component of a child-friendly city. Understanding more about child-friendly Understanding more about child-friendly environments also provides insights for the environments also provides insights for the creation of more sustainable cities.creation of more sustainable cities.

Inte

rnet s

ites fo

r and about com

munity organisationsHealth First :: www.healthfi rst.net.au

BusinessACT :: www.business.act.gov.au Youth InterACT :: www.youth.act.gov.au

Sport and Recreation ACT :: www.sport.act.gov.au CommunityGuide :: www.communityguide.com.au

Older Persons Portal :: www.olderperson.act.gov.au Citizens Advice Bureau :: www.citizensadvice.org.au

Canberra Arts Marketing :: www.canberraarts.com.au Free ACT Region Community Noticeboard :: www.actco.org.au

Free Community Publicity for Canberra :: www.pcug.org.au/~prellis Australian Capital Tourism Corporation :: www.visitcanberra.com.au

Canberra Raiders Community Noticeboard :: www.raidersclub.com.au National Capital Authority - Events :: www.nationalcapital.gov.au/events

Canberra City Life :: www.bcl.com.au/canberra/intgroup/community.htm Our Community Centres of Excellence Portal :: www.ourcommunity.com.au

Free Canberra classifieds :: www.canberraexchange.com.au/pages/4001.html Canberra Community Help : : www.doctors-4u.com/Canberra/community.htm

Dataflex ACT Community Noticeboard :: www.dataflex.com.au/about/community.jsp Australia’s Largest Free Classifieds :: www.cracker.com.au/canberra/community/sitemap.aspx

Volunteering ACT Community Notices :: www.volunteeract.com.au/network/community.htm ACT Government Major Events :: www.canberraconnect.act.gov.au/comfamily/comonline.html

Free weekly email listing ACT professional development activities :: www.professionalway.com.au Canberra Times Community Noticeboard :: www.canberra.yourguide.com.au/links.asp?class=Community

NoticeboardParent Eff ectiveness

Training (PET)For Peaceful Parenting and

Resilient Children

Supported by ParentLine, PET:

• Helps you yell less – stop those arguments before they start

• Helps you have the best relationship possible with your children, so you and your children enjoy being with each other

• Helps you raise confi dent, considerate children in an atmosphere of mutual respect

• Off ers you the ‘how to’ to help your child become emotionally intelligent

• Off ers you an alternative to reward and punishment – to help your child develop inner discipline

• Is evidence based and extensively researched

The course consists of three-hour sessions, one per week, for eight weeks. Booking is essential.

Date: February 2006 7pm to 10.15pm Hughes, ACT

Cost: $240 per person. Includes textbook and workbook.

For more information, phone accredited PET instructor:

Larissa on 0413 451 607

FBG - Grant Success!We are very pleased to announce that the Friends’ of Blue Gum (FBG) have been successful in gaining two grants to stage community activities in 2006:

• ACT Multicultural Grants Program 2005-06 - To assist with the cost of organising a demonstration of traditional children's games ($500)

• Canberra Community Grants Program 2005-06 – “Seasoned Slow Sundays”: Building on the community interest generated by our Slow Sunday Community Picnic Day as part of the 2004 & 2005 Slow Festivals, this series of four events will each include demonstrations, come and try options and communal participation experiences, held at the Hackett Community Hall and surrounds. Each season will off er a diff erent focus e.g.: Summer – Games; Autumn – Music; Winter – Slow Food; Spring – Renew, Regrow & Reuse. ($5,000)

DIARY NOTE: First Seasoned Slow Sunday 26 FebThis is our vision for Summer - Rediscovering Games of Old. Diff erent cultural groups sharing their traditional ‘low-tech’ games for children & families. E.g. string games, skipping rhymes, hand clapping chants, cards, board games, stone/marble games etc. Outdoor activities, such as kite fl ying, badminton, bocce, hopscotch, rounders, group skipping, ball games. A time to put aside individual high-tech pursuits, to re-discover the joy and companionship low-tech games off er.

All your ideas, suggestions and off ers are very welcome and will help to make this a truly relaxing, enriching, fun, community and family focused afternoon.

Please contact Corri on corri@pobox.com or 6288 9891.

The course consists of three-hour sessions, one per week, for eight weeks. Booking is essential.

Date 7pm to 10.15pm Hughes, ACT

Costtextbook and workbook.

For more information, phone accredited PET instructor:

Larissa on 0413 451 607

Wishing Sooz & Graham the best of luck in their new adventure and look forward to seeing our fi rst home-grown Blue Gummer!

PS. It’s not Sooz’stummy, but it’s pretty cool, hey?In

tern

et sit

es for and about c

ommunity organisations

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM Please send all membership applications to:

The Membership Secretary

Friends of Blue Gum

PO Box 5083 Braddon ACT 2612

or Fax to: 02 6288 9790

Corporate $80 �

Family/Household $44 �

Individual $22 �

Concession $11 �

� Dr � Mr � Mrs � Miss � Ms Other : ..... Surname : .…...............................................………….

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Payment Options:

� Cash � Cheque � Money Order

Amount enclosed $ ..........................

Cheques or Money Orders should be payable to -

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Electronic Funds Transfer �

To transfer payment directly into our bank account via the Internet, use the following details :

Bank: NAB, Dickson BSB: 082 967 Account No.: 577 408 262 Name of Account: Friends of Blue Gum Incorporated

Please make sure the payee’s name and a contact phone number are included

as part of the transfer details.

GIFT SUBSCRIPTION

Surprise a friend or relative with a gift subscription!

Please supply the following information with your payment and the Friends will provide

a Gift Subscription Certificate for the recipient.

� Dr � Mr � Mrs � Miss � Ms Other : .....

Surname : ..... ..............................................………….

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................................................. Post Code : ............

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Message for Recipient: ...............................................

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From :

� Dr � Mr � Mrs � Miss � Ms Other : ..... Surname : ..... ..............................................………….

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An electronic version of this form is available via email: fbg@pobox.com

Membership is for 12 months from 1 November. New memberships after 1 August are valid until November the following year.

Children’s T-shirts, sizes 4, 6, 10, 12 and 14 are available for $15 each.

Size 8’s and new colours arriving soon.

Children’s Long Sleeve Tops, sizes 4, 6 and 8 are available for $20 each.

Adult’s T-shirt’s are available in both women’s cut (red or black) and standard T-shirt style (black, navy or grey). There are a range of sizes for $20 each.

Please contact Carolyn to place your orders.

Size 8’s and new colours arriving soon.

women’s cut (red or black) and standard T-shirt style (black, navy or grey). There

to place your

women’s cut (red or black) and standard

to place your

BlueGumCommunitySchoolShort & Long Sleeve T-shirts

Telephone: 6241 0573Email: carolynquon@homemail.com.au

All proceeds to Blue Gum Community School.

Blue Gum T-shirts at a Hakaraia HuiTe Rawhiti Marae, Rawhiti

Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Blue Gum

It’s amazing where and when Blue Gum turns up. Keep your eyes and cameras peeled and send us your spottings for the next issue…

Sightings

Blue Gum families on holiday at the Island View Beach Resort, Narooma NSW fi nd a familiar look-ing street name.

Blue Gum families on