MAG - Casey Cardinia Kids - 12th June 2024 - Winter 2024

Preparing parents with GOGGLEBOX’S ADAMDENSTEN

Clyde North Park training

NEWNINJA WARRIORS

Soak up the gentle winter sun AboutUs

WINTER is synonymous with indoor activities, especially when kids are in the mix.

We’re drawn to play centres, museums, shopping centres, cafes, and our own living rooms.

The cooler, often-wet weather has us reaching for puzzles and crafts, grabbing popcorn and snuggling under a blanket to watch a family movie, or venturing into the kitchen alongside our littles to warm up inside and out.

Maybe you and the kids spend a day in your pyjamas and dressing gowns, build a blanket fort, or set up an indoor picnic. These are all great options but don’t disregard the outdoors just because of the weather.

Stepping out the front door and feeling the chill on your cheeks can be invigorating for kids and grownups alike.

CONTENTS

IT’S YOUR LIFE

Put your ninja skills to the test in Clyde North

PAGES 4-5

Steve Biddulph: How we give children calm, happy minds

PAGE 6

Myuna Farm: Accessibility boost for key pavilion

PAGE 7

Another new park for booming Clyde North

PAGE 7

Kids in the Kitchen: Macadamia and coconut fruit crumble

PAGE 8

Narre Warren mum’s big win for disability inclusion

PAGE 9

Partner with Berry Street and support a local child

PAGE 10

Gogglebox couch potato Adam Densten talks podcasts and parenting

PAGE 11

Celebrating 15 years of learner driver program

PAGE 12

Survivor gives hope to kids stuck in family violence shadow

PAGE 13

Alleviating nappy stress in cost of living crunch

PAGE 14

Couple turns child loss pain into a unique space to grieve

PAGE 15

Your chance to WIN with VTech and LeapFrog

PAGE 15

Take a deep breath of that fresh air and soak up the silence at your favourite playground, or take a drive to explore a new play spot.

Teaming with kids and the accompanying squeals and shouts during the warmer months, parks and playgrounds are near-deserted on many winter days.

Throw an old towel in the car to wipe any morning dew or rain drops from the equipment, rug up, pack a thermos, and let the kids expend some of their boundless energy.

Puddles are like magnets for littles, so invest in those waterproof pants, grab the gumboots and let them splash to their heart’s content. The joy on their faces and excited giggles will be worth risking an extra load of washing - we promise!

For older kids, grab a magnifying glass or mini microscope and encourage them to take a look at the raindrops - or snowflakes, if you venture to higher ground - up close.

You could even challenge creative kids to photograph these natural wonders or recreate them with their favourite art medium once you’ve returned indoors to warm up.

So don’t hide indoors - swap your sun hat for a beanie, grab a coat, and soak up the gentle winter sun!

Let us know your favourite winter spots on our Instagram and Facebook pages, and reach out on socials or email if you have a story to share.

HEALTH

Extra newborn screening tests to save lives

PAGE 16

Cardinia Paediatric Specialists: ADHD can be an asset

PAGE 16

Mum on Oprah’s mind shares journey from PND to worldwide success

PAGE 17

Low milk supply linked to breast growth in pregnancy

PAGE 17

DENTAL

Hospital dental delay leaves kids in pain

PAGE 18

ACTIVE KIDS

Cardinia Leisure: Fitness opportunities for all

PAGE 19

Jump! Swim Schools Pakenham: Jump! into the pool this winter PAGE 20

Oakgrove Community Centre: Helping mums and bubs connect with the community

PAGE 20

Author’s son inspires book tackling bedtime battles

PAGE 21

Clip ‘n Climb Berwick: Climbing therapy this school holidays

PAGE 21

EDUCATION

Indian language boost in schools

PAGE 22

Melbourne Youth Choral: Making music accessible for all

PAGE 22

Mum, teacher and author on helping students find their career path

PAGE 23

St Therese’s School: Learning with love PAGE 24

Discover excellence at St Agatha’s Catholic Primary School

PAGE 24

Abacus Learning Centre: The power of ABA therapy PAGE 25

Exploring KU Kooweerup Kindergarten PAGE 27

ENTERTAINMENT

Dinosaurs roar to life at Victorian zoos PAGE 28

Bunjil Place: Ignite your senses at Winter Arts Festival PAGE 28

BORN TO PERFORM

Dance Legacy: Dance drives dedication PAGE 29

JP Music Academy: A musician training the next generation

PAGE 29

REALITY BITES

Dads in the kitchen take the cake

PAGE 30

Mum shares her traumatic toilet birth

PAGE 31

Mum’s roadside birth emergency an ‘empowering’ experience PAGES 32-33

Casey Cardinia Kids magazine is a Star News Group publication. Casey Cardinia Kids will be published quarterly prior to each of the school holidays.

Casey Cardinia Kids Cnr Princes Hwy and Army Road, Pakenham, 3810 PO Box 9, Pakenham, Victoria 3810 Phone: 5945 0666 Fax: 5945 0777

Editorial Melissa Meehan melissa.meehan @starnewsgroup.com.au

Casey Neill casey.neill@starnewsgroup.com.au

Photography

Group Advertising Sales Manager Mandy Clark mandy.clark@starnewsgroup.com.au Phone: 5945 0608

Woon Ooi is not your everyday dad… PAGES 34-35

FASHION

Bill Lidz: Local fashion finds for children this winter PAGES 36-27

BOOKS

Author shares anxiety battle to build understanding PAGE 38

Discover new book releases for all ages PAGE 38

Tahlia enjoys the fresh winter air, rugged up

Put your ninja skills to the test

A ninja warrior course is the clear highlight of the new Meridian Central Stage 25 Park in Clyde North.

“Every tree, every play space, and every pathway has been meticulously planned to create an engaging space that fosters connections and welcomes all,” the developer said.

The main playground features a tall tower with a huge twisting tunnel slide plus a smaller tunnel slide, both reached by a combination of steps and inclined walkways.

There’s a play area for younger kids, with a soft mound with ledges to climb to a rope bridge with access to a platform and slide, climbing wall, and rope ladder.

The area also has steppers, and percussion pipes to hit to make sounds.

There are swings, of course, plus a rock climbing wall to challenge all ages.

The ninja warrior course features many challenges familiar to those who’ve watched the TV show, and a QR code allows you to log your course time.

Kids and grownups can put a big grassy area, outdoor gym, tennis court, and basketball court through their paces, and there are shelters, tables, barbecues, water taps, and toilets.

The park is at 38 Portobello Boulevard, Clyde North.

Isla, Ruby, Elliot, and Molly put the playground through its paces.

Pictures: Rob Carew

It’sYourLife

Fostering calm, happy minds

We think we are just playing, but love is the ingredient of healthy brain for life, writes

STEVE BIDDULPH

A tiny baby lies sleeping in their cot, alongside their parents’ bed.

We don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, but it is just one of around 820 babies born every day in Australia, and 385,000 born somewhere in the world.

When we see a new baby, we can’t help but send off a little prayer that it will have a safe and happy life.

The sheer vulnerability of a newborn stirs our hearts, as it should.

Psychologists are finding out some incredible things about small babies and their journey to adulthood, and especially about what happens between bubs and their mums, dads, or grandparents, depending on who does the raising.

It used to be that people thought very little about babies other than to feed them, keep them warm, and stop them from crying.

But today we are very worried about the infant’s first year because it looks like these are the weeks and months when some big things are decided that will affect them for life.

Whether they will grow up to be kind and able to make good relationships; be able to stay calm and manage stress; and especially that they won’t have some terrible outcome, such as being suicidal or someone who is violent and hurts their partners, or even kills them.

The neuroscience world is discovering, through the magic of brain scanning technology, that in the second six months of a baby’s life, their ‘right cerebral cortex’ - or the right

brain, to put it more simply - does not just grow like some little cauliflower in the veggie patch, even though it does rather resemble that vegetable.

It grows, not just from food and the passage of time, but from interacting with the right brain of (usually) Mum!

Our right brains are the playful, affectionate, and loving sides of us, and they especially show up in our facial expressions, the little noises we make around babies, and the teasing or soothing we do to make them alternatively giggle or fall asleep.

The process of growing your baby’s right hemisphere is completely unconscious; it simply happens when you play with them, gaze at them, soothe them, and - hopefully - have a few family or friends around to share this kind of fun and give you a few hours’ break.

If you travel with a baby you will find, especially in countries where

KIDS FOOTY HANDBALL

Tue. 2/7, Wed. 3/7 & Thu. 4/7

If you are lonely, had a traumatic birth experience, or have a rather uptight nature, then the messiness of babies can bring you unstuck.

No society in the world except our own messed up modern one leaves young parents so alone, and in need of other people to care for us when we find it hard to relax into new parenthood.

When the conditions are rightbecause someone is making good eye contact and is responsive in their movements and sounds - a baby begins to experience “I am here!” and “I am noticed” so they develop a sense of self.

A sense of self, of being stable and worthwhile, actually grows in the wiring of the right brain.

They experience that when upsetthere is a pathway back to feeling OK.

Babies get upset by almost everything - hunger hurts in their tummies, loneliness frightens them, loud sounds or strange voices.

people have not felt the chill of consumer capitalism too much, that folks (especially old folks) love to peer into your baby’s eyes, make cooing sounds, and say things like “who is a lovely boy?”.

Researchers find the same things all over the world. We talk to babies in high pitch (which they hear best with their undeveloped hearing), we swing or sway with them in our arms, which signals to them that they are in human arms and safe, and we hold them close to our hearts, where they can hear the heartbeat they knew in the womb. We gaze into their eyes, which are focused at just the right distance to do this (most of the more distant world is a blur for a small baby).

If you are reasonably safe and able to focus on your baby - and especially if you have seen people doing parenting with enjoyment and playfulness - then it is not too hard to enjoy and interact with your little one.

Our soothing of these things builds neural pathways so that in a year or two they know “I can calm down, I don’t have to panic”.

Adults who do terrible things are often in a state of acute panic and disintegration, whereas the people who come to help - the ambulance and medical and hopefully police and counsellors who help to heal - bring an internal sense of calm and love.

They can do this because their mums, dads, or grandparents showed them love and playful affection back when they were tiny.

Parenthood is the most important thing humans do.

We don’t protect young parents or give them enough time or care.

But if you at least know what you are doing is of immense value, you can stick up for your right to do it and give it your whole heart.

Steve’s new book Wild Creature Mind will be out in August from Pan Macmillan.

11am to 2pm daily Wed. 10/7 Thu. 11/7 11am to 2pm

It’sYourLife Farm’s accessibility boost

By Casey Neill

VISITOR numbers are booming at Myuna Farm, and it’s now even more accessible.

The upgraded Pavilion has ramp access, a Changing Places all-abilities toilet, a new viewing platform, and fresh kitchen facilities.

Dandenong MP Gabrielle Williams joined City of Casey Chair of Administrators Noelene Duff, Riding Develops Abilities (RDA) Victoria president Tanya Twaits, and other guests to officially open the Myuna Farm Pavilion Improvements Project in May.

The Doveton community farm offers events, workshops, school excursions and interactive animal experiences, and is home to several programs including RDA.

Attendance at the attraction is up 30 per cent this year, with about 220,000 people to pass through the gates by the financial year’s end.

The council worked alongside RDA volunteers to identify opportunities to enhance The Pavilion’s functionality and improve the farm experience for all.RDA provides equine assisted activities for people with disabilities at

Myuna with a team of seven horses and countless volunteers.

The State Government’s Growing Suburbs Fund contributed $351,105 to upgrade its base, The Pavilion, and Casey $30,895.

Ms Williams said the project would have an enormous impact for such a relatively small investment.

“I’m thrilled that this funding is making a difference to the families and children who come to visit Myuna Farm, giving them the opportunity to interact with animals and learn about Australian farming and sustainability,” she said.

Ms Twaits’s son, Owen, is an RDA participant and looks forward to his weekly 50-minute session. She looks forward to hearing his shrieks of joy.

“It’s the way it brings him to life,” Ms Twaits said.

She said the program helped riders to build strength and motor skills, gain confidence, and enjoy freedom of movement and a sense of calm.

“They all have their own needs and goals,” she said.

“The smile that lights up their face is just incredible to see.”

At the launch, Ms Duff noted a child had been quite agitated while waiting for their RDA session but was totally calm once on their horse.

New park in Clyde North

A new neighbourhood park has opened within the fast-growing Smiths Lane community in Clyde North.

Located on 35 Burnbank Parade, Lacey Park is the third park to open within the Mirvac development.

It joins Banjo Park and Tilion Park, providing residents and the wider community opportunities to gather, connect, play, and explore.

“What a great facility and what a great organisation,” she said.

“What has been achieved here has been part of ensuring this area is accessible to everyone.”

Inspired by the native lace monitor goanna, Lacey Park is about 8000 square metres and features adventure opportunities for all ages.

There’s a sandpit and sand play table, play hut, ropes course, climbing structure, swings, trampoline, slide, large kick-about lawn, and undercover barbecue areas and seating.

Go nuts for this fruity crumble in

the kitchen

with Lucy Stewart

IS there anything more comforting on a cool winter evening than curling up on the lounge with a bowl of warm fruit crumble cradled snugly in your lap?

I have such fond childhood memories of this dish – my parents are English so we’d often spend Christmas holidays in the UK where a crumble was always on the ‘pudding’ menu.

Not only is my macadamia and coconut fruit crumble super easy to make – kids of all ages will enjoy getting their hands into the mixing bowl and squishing all the crumble bits together – it’s also a dessert that gets bonus points for doubling as a nutritious breakfast.

You can use any stewed fruit for the base. I’ve gone with two pantry staples of apples and frozen mixed berries here, but pear, plum, and rhubarb also work well and nectarine or peach are

Stewed fruits are great for kids because they’re easy to digest, promote the growth of healthy bacteria, and enable regular bowel movements. Apples are especially healing and soothing for the gut thanks to the pectin

I’ve replaced the traditional crumble topping with a mix of almonds, coconut, and beautiful Aussie macadamias that are grown just up the road from me – a combination that’s naturally sweet and full of nourishing fats and protein to leave you feeling sufficiently full and satisfied after one bowl.

And if you’re lucky enough to have any left over for breakfast, it’s delicious served cold with a dollop of coconut yoghurt.

Macadamia and coconut fruit crumble

Serves: 8 – Prep time: 10-mins – Cook time: 30-mins

Ingredients:

Base

■ 4 apples, cored and diced

■ 500g frozen mixed berries, thawed (preferably organic)

■ Juice of 1 orange (you’ll need the zest too)

■ 1 tsp vanilla extract

■ 1 tbsp pure maple syrup

Crumble

■ 1 cup macadamias, roughly chopped

■ 1 cup almond meal

■ 1 cup flaked almonds

■ 1 cup shredded coconut (preservative-free)

■ 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

■ 1 tbsp pure maple syrup

■ Zest of 1 orange

■ ½ tsp cinnamon

■ ¼ tsp sea salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees

2. Put the apple, orange juice, vanilla extract, and maple syrup into a saucepan over a low heat and cook until the apples are soft but not mushy, about 5 minutes.

3. Transfer the apples and cooking liquid into a pie dish or baking tray, then top with the frozen berries. Set aside while you make the crumble.

4. To make the crumble, place all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl then use your hands to rub the oil and maple syrup into the dry ingredients until it resembles a clumpy crumbly mixture.

5. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the apples and berries and bake for 30 minutes or until the crumble is cooked and golden. Keep an eye on it as the nuts will catch and burn easily

6. Serve warm with coconut cream or ice cream.

Created by Nutritionist and mum, Lucy Stewart, they’re made with only real wholefood and plant-based ingredients – no additives, nothing artificial, and without nuts, dairy, soy and wheat.

Well Fed Kitchen provides an easy snack alternative to the sugar-laden, healthy pro- cessed options, guaranteed to fill kids tummies, satisfy their hunger, provide a steady release of energy and some essential growing nutrients too.

www.wellfedkitchen.com.au @wellfedkitchen_snacks 12562706-MS36-22

It’sYourLife

Desperate mum turns advocate

By Emma Xerri

MAYA Pinn wears many different hats but they all have one thing in common - using her own experience to help others.

The Narre Warren 25-year-old is a solo mum to Lloyd, 6, and Elsie, 4, and a staunch advocate in the disability sector.

“My advocacy work came about after I had to advocate for two years to get genetic testing for my son, Lloyd,” she said.

“I had done every test known to mankind to find out why he had such a severe global developmental delay.

“The average diagnostic odyssey for receiving a diagnosis is seven to nine years, and 30 percent of children with a rare genetic disease pass away before they’re 5.

“So I think it’s so important that these are caught early on. If there’s going to be a life-limiting condition, and there’s no cure right now, then how can we improve the quality of life for the child and their families so that they have the best five years?”

Maya’s experience led her to work with Syndromes Without a Name (SWAN), tackling issues like discrimination against genetic testing in life insurance, which stops life insurance companies from increasing premiums or denying insurance due to genetic tests.

She advocates on NDIS issues and creating inclusive playgrounds with the Association for Children with a Disability (ACD).

“Lloyd is in a wheelchair, is nonverbal, has a severe intellectual disability, and is PEG-fed now - has completely different needs from my four-year-old, who is neurotypical and can walk, talk and run,” she said.

“So, how do you include them both in the park at the same time?

“And it’s not just my family that I’m providing this sort of feedback for.

“Trying to keep everything as inclusive and accessible as possible not only suits me but the families around me.”

Maya also runs adaptive clothing business RareWear to “help parents lessen the stress for simple daily tasks like getting their kids ready in the morning”.

“A lot of families don’t even know that things can be easier,” she said.

“So I hope to make mine and their lives easier so we have more time for fun and connection.”

She founded RareWear while studying a Bachelor of Health Science and working at a local auto retail store 25 hours a week.

Maya was also volunteering with the Royal Children’s Hospital Family Advisory Council and at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, where she is now doing her honours with The University of Melbourne on increasing diversity in Australian genomics.

“I try to do as much as possible,” she said.

“I’m not good at being bored, or relaxing for that matter, so I’m very strategic in how I plan my days, weeks, and months.

“I’m also really lucky to have such a great community around me in terms of my family, with my parents and sister, and also my best friend, work colleagues, and, of course, groups like SWAN and ACD, who have always been really supportive, especially when I need disability-specific advice.

“And I have so many calendars, it’s not even funny.

“I have two on my phone, one on my email, two physical calendars in my kitchen, and I do a weekly one as well.

“But the key for me in balancing everything is passion.

“When you’re passionate about it, it doesn’t feel like work.”

Maya’s extraordinary efforts earned her the 2024 Young Citizen of the Year title in the Casey Community Awards.

“I think my win is a great opportunity to really make a big impact on families in the City of Casey predominantly, but also statewide and nationally, by building a community for children like mine,” she said.

“I know what it’s like to feel isolated, so I hope to lessen the mental health impact on families and help them find more people like them.

“Because from my standpoint and experience, we can do a lot better with disability inclusion and it doesn’t have to be hard.”

Maya Pinn with her kids Elsie and Lloyd.

Picture: Stewart Chambers

It’sYourLife

Partner with Berry Street and support a local child

ARE you ready to make a lasting impact on a young life?

Partner with Berry Street and join its dedicated team committed to nurturing and empowering children and young people on their unique journeys.

As a Berry Street foster carer, you’ll support local children and young people at a crucial moment in their lives.

As one of Victoria’s largest providers of out-of-home care, Berry Street provides children and young people who have experienced trauma with a safe and secure place to live.

For more than 145 years, it has supported children and young people in Victoria at whatever point in their journey they need help.

Every year, more than 11,000 Victorian children and young people are unable to live safely with their families and enter the care system, including foster care.

This is where foster carers play a crucial role by providing vital support and a safe home for these children. Unfortunately, a decline in foster carer numbers has plunged the care system into crisis.

“More children are coming into our care now than we can find safe homes for; it’s really a devastating situation,” acting Berry Street CEO Jenny McNaughton said.

“Every act of care, whether it’s offering respite care once a month or providing emergency, short-term, or long-term care, plays a crucial role in providing stability and support for children and young people, contributing to their overall wellbeing and development.”

Berry Street’s home-based care senior manager, Holly Ames, said: “Childhood is a journey, but not every child has the same opportunities, which is why we need foster carers to play an empowering role in a child or young person’s life.”

“We are encouraging residents across the local area to start their foster care journey – you never know where it will take you.

“The team and I will be there to support you every step of the way, as you learn and grow in your new caring role.”

Berry Street welcomes foster carers from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and experiences.

Berry Street is appealing to individuals who can step forward to support a local child or young person in their community.

If you are over 21 years old and have a spare bedroom for a child, you can apply to be a foster carer at www.berrystreet.org.au/fostercare

It’sYourLife

By Casey Neill

Empowering new dads

TWO professional couch potatoes are helping new dads to find their feet.

Gogglebox favourites Adam Densten and Matty Fahd are bringing their candid commentary to fatherhood in podcast The dads and the Docs.

They’re sharing practical tips and stories to help prepare new parents with help from medical professionals.

Matty has sons Malik, 4, and Lyon, 1, while Adam has a two-year-old daughter, Celia.

“She turned up earlier than expected,” he said.

“The Denstons are known as being very punctual people.

“(My wife) Rach started mat leave on a Monday. On the drive home, she called me and said ‘she’s not really moving as much as she previously had’.”

Rach went in for a checkup and was surprised to discover she was in the very early stages of labour at 36 weeks.

Celia was in a breech positionbottom first rather than head down - so doctors didn’t want the labour to progress.

Rach called Adam to the hospital, and Celia was born 45 minutes after he arrived.

“The other four weeks would have been nice,” he laughed.

“She’s awesome.

“From day one she’s been a really good sleeper.

“She was sleeping through the night from seven or eight weeks.

“She’s super happy.

“She’s in her Bluey era at the moment.

“I intentionally didn’t watch any of it before she was ready so I could enjoy it with her.”

Celia changed Adam and Rach’s lives in ways he expected, and in many ways he didn’t.

“The big one was how our relationship changed,” he said.

He and Rach had been together six years when Celia arrived.

“You have six years of basically only focusing on each other to something else coming in and taking more than half of your focus,” Adam said.

“I’m really glad that Rach and I did heaps of travel in our twenties and saw lots of things and achieved some of the goals we had.

“I’m glad that we got all that out of the way.

“I can’t imagine what it would be like to be 22 and have a kid.

“I’m glad we waited a little bit longer. It made us the people we are.

“You can be ready to have a child but you can never be prepared to have a child.

“It’s going to be the most difficult thing you do but it’s not insurmountable, which it can feel like at times.”

That’s where the podcast came in.

“The thing that we found was the resources out there for dads are all for dads of teenagers or kids at school,” Adam said.

“We wanted to produce something that was digestible and easy and simple but also evidence-based.

“This is not an anecdote or some story that’s been passed down.

“And dads don’t want a lecture, they just want the information.”

Adam and Matty wanted to highlight the support available, from sleep and lactation consultants to the maternal and child health and PANDA hotlines.

“Just knowing that those resources are out there can make a difference,” Adam said.

He said the stereotype was Mum doing all the research and passing on what she’d learnt to Dad.

“We’ve found that dads want to be more engaged and have the answers themselves.

“The big bumbling idiot dad is a bit of a dumb stereotype.

“If you want to learn how to swim you’ve got to get out of the boat.

“If you want to be good at changing a nappy, you’ll be shit at changing a nappy for a while but you’ve got to get into it and try.

“The more you are engaged, the better you’ll be.

“The more informed you are, the better time you’ll have.”

Adam wants to make parents - but particularly dads - feel less alone.

“Whatever you’re thinking has been thought before,” he said.

“A whole heap of research out there says the more hands-on a dad is, particularly early on in a child’s life, the more coordinated a child will be and the more resilient they’ll be.

“You want to produce a better version of yourself.”

Season one covers pregnancy, labour, the hospital stay, and the first week, month, and three months at home.

The first episode on each topic features a chat with an expert, and in the second, Adam and Matty chat about their takeaways and personal experiences.

“We wanted people who were really well regarded and spoke really well, and were still involved in some level of research so they were up with modern science and birthing,” Adam said.

Dr Scott Shemer covers everything dads can do to help their partner during pregnancy, while Dr Jonathan Nettle talks listeners through labour.

Paediatrician and neonatal doctor Dr Brendan Chan shares what to expect when you’re in the hospital room with your new family.

Dr Golly guides dads through the intimidating first week at home, Dr Cheng talks through what is and isn’t normal during the first month, and Dr Billy Garvey covers the mental health side of parenting.

Adam said the data showed an equal split of men and women listened to the podcast, “even though it’s a show by dads to get dads more engaged”.

Adam and Matty are planning for season two to feature targeted episodes, like a sleep-focused chat featuring a sleep consultant.

“We’re working it out and open to feedback,” he said.

What’s one thing Adam wishes he knew before having a baby? A tool to help prevent those day-destroying nappy blowouts.

“Nappies with the wings - I just was not told that you need to pull those out,” he said.

“I was only pulling out the frilly bits.”

His favourite nugget of wisdom delivered in the podcast’s first season counters the ‘love at first sight’ narrative often espoused by new parents.

“Billy Garvey has a great line: when you first saw your partner, did you fall instantly in love with them?” he said.

“It’s OK to let the relationship develop.”

As a bloke aged in his thirties, many of Adam’s mates are also having children and turn to him for advice.

“I just say ‘listen to my podcast’ and they say ‘I can’t be bothered’ and I say ‘fair enough’,” he laughed.

“People are afraid to tell you that some of it’s going to be a bit s*** because they don’t want to rain on your parade. “I like the shit sandwich method.”

He tells them something really great, delivers something to look out for, and then rounds out the chat with another positive.

“The most helpful thing I think is just saying ‘reach out to me if you’re struggling’ and also reaching out to them during those first weeks,” Adam said.

“Say ‘I don’t expect you to reply to this, but if you need 20 minutes, I’m on the other end of the phone’ or ‘I’m coming over to drop food off’.”

Adam Densten and Matty Fahd.

Rach and Adam with daughter Celia.

It’sYourLife

Steering safer drivers for 15 years

By Ethan Benedicto

THE City of Casey’s learner driver mentorship program celebrated its 15th anniversary in April by adding two new vehicles.

Casey’s chair of administrators Noelene Duff heralded the anniversary as a milestone for the city’s support towards its young people.

“The City of Casey is very proud to have been part of this program for such a long period,” she said.

“We are currently supporting 60 learners, and that is an enormous number of young people who would otherwise not have the opportunity to learn to drive.”

The L2P program helps Victorian learner drivers aged between 16 and 21 without access to a supervising driver to gain the 120 hours on the road required to qualify for a probationary license.

It matches those eligible with a fully licensed volunteer mentor driver who

will not only help them obtain their required hours, but grant them the exposure and experience needed to safely navigate the city’s roads.

Ms Duff said 250 people had obtained their P-plates through the city’s program in its 15 years.

“Not only do we have 250 safer young drivers on the road, but it’s also the path to independence,” she said.

“We’re great advocates for trying to ensure there’s better public transport, but it’s a very big city and it’s very difficult to negotiate long travel times on public transport, so having access to a vehicle is really a means to education, to employment, etcetera,” she said.

She said the volunteers served as the backbone of the program.

“The issue we have in the City of Casey is so many members of our community are new to Australia and perhaps do not have people that have the confidence or are willing to help them to learn how to drive,” Ms Duff said.

“So the volunteers that have been part of the program...are such a valuable resource and we know that you become ambassadors for the program, you become the advertising to encourage other people to participate.”

The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) funds the program, the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) administers it, and the City of Casey coordinates it.

DTP’s Hatsady Sathongnot told the anniversary event that the initiative was more than just a licensing program. He told his children he helps “make other kids have the opportunity that you kids have to make their lives better”.

“For us it’s not about the numbers, it’s changing someone’s life, giving them that foundation to better themselves, and this program is what that’s aboutmaking them a safer driver, teaching them to be good citizens,” he said.

“Hopefully they impart that knowledge and their learnings from this

program onto their kids and their friends, to have that influence in society.”

Volunteer mentor Irene Luchtwark attended the event with her student, Alyssa Byrne.

“The buzz of seeing a new driver morphing from a nervous or dangerous and overconfident one into a confident and competent driver is what I’m here for,” Ms Luchtwark said.

“It’s also really nice when we can stay in contact and see how they develop and how theirs and our investment is paying off, and it is an investment, it takes time and dedication and nerves, a lot of calm energy and a good dollop of humour to be there from fledgling driver to obtaining 120 hours.”

The celebration ended at the Bunjil Place community plaza, where Ms Byrne cut a red ribbon adorning the two new Kia Ceratos provided by Berwick Motor Group, officially making them part of the L2P program.

It’sYourLife

Stepping out of the shadow

By Casey Neill

A young male survivor is giving hope to children stuck in the shadow of family violence.

Conor Pall, 20, is determined to use his lived experience to drive change in several ways, including writing The Shadow that Follows.

“I wrote the book when the shadow was really big and scary, so when I was in Year 11 and 12, when I was really going through the impacts of family violence,” he said.

“Someone called it bibliotherapy. It was very therapeutic writing the book.

“I don’t want what happened to me to continue to happen to children and young people.”

Conor, the youngest Victorian Victim Survivor’s Advisory Council member, said one in three women and one in nine men experienced family violence.

“Ninety-seven percent of violence in Australia is committed by men, towards women, towards men, towards children,” he said.

“The common denominator in the story about family violence is men.

“We need to be supporting our young men to heal from family violence.

“You talk to perpetrators and the common thread is that they experienced some sort of violence when they were young.

“Hurt people, hurt people.

“What are we doing to support young boys today to tell them this behaviour is not acceptable in our society?

“There’s no time for tiptoeing around.

“We can’t continue to frame this as a women’s issue.

“It hasn’t worked.

“It’s not violence against women, it’s male violence. It’s male-perpetrated violence.

“With the next stage of the reforms in Victoria, particularly, men and young boys have been identified as agents of generational change.

“For us to break the cycle and stop family violence in one generation, which is in line with the national plan, we’re going to need to bring men along to the issue.”

Conor said The Shadow that Follows was designed to be used with care and with a safe adult.

“It’s being distributed to schools and refuges in Victoria,” he said.

“It’s not a mainstream children’s book. It’s an educational resource.

“I wish there was a resource like this when I was a kid.

“I didn’t have the language to understand that what I was going through was wrong.“I didn’t have someone to tell me that what I was going through wasn’t normal.

“My schools weren’t having those conversations when I was going through family violence.

“It’s now embedded.

“They’re difficult conversations for teachers to approach.

“That doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile doing.

“If a teacher had asked me if I was OK, or noticed I’d been absent from school, I probably would have started my journey of healing a lot sooner.

“I was a class clown and would get in trouble a bit at school.

“Those behaviours are warning signs.

“Research shows that if kids are exhibiting challenging behaviours or unhelpful behaviours in the classroom, we can’t be punitive in response.

“We need to be respectfully curious and not just think because a kid’s misbehaving that they’re a bad kid.”

School was a safe space for Conor.

“That’s where I went to decompress,” he said.

“I remember instances of sitting in the classroom just watching the clock and counting down to when I’d have to go home.

“I was 9 or 10 going through those emotions and didn’t have anyone to talk to about those emotions.

“Get comfortable with having those uncomfortable conversations.

“We’re talking about lives.”

The Shadow that Follows includes the message that it takes one person to make a change.

“My mum was that one person that took a stand against the shadow,” Conor said.

“Others followed.

“The people I’ve had supporting me through the impacts of family violence have made me the young advocate I am today.

“Survivors make the best advocates.

“So often the common thread throughout our stories is you don’t have a voice for years.

“We suppress our emotions.

“When we have this space to heal and recover, people tend to want to watch out when we start to use our voice to make change.”

Conor received a Victorian Young Achiever of the Year Award in 2022 for his advocacy.

He’s now studying social work at RMIT University and hopes to pair this with a master’s in public policy with a view to working in policy.

It’sYourLife

Appeal for nappy stress support

THE Nappy Collective is helping parents in desperate need as cost of living pressures hit hard.

The community-based charity collects donations of new and leftover nappies - ones that little ones have grown out of or no longer need - and pass them onto community partners who support families in need.

It started with a group of mums who found a handful of nappies their toddlers no longer fit.

After considering what to do with only six nappies – Pass them onto a friend? Keep them for the next child? Throw them out? - they began to wonder if other parents were in a similar predicament.

“What if we were able to collect all these leftover nappies and distribute them to families in crisis or in need?” the group said.

“Collectively these handfuls of nappies could make a big difference.”

The group launched its first collection drive via Facebook in 2013 and received 1500 nappies within two weeks.

It has since expanded to more than 650 collection points across Australia and distributed more than 6.8 million nappies.

Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn and Albert Park MP Nina Taylor met with The Nappy Collective in May to hear about its work to build new community partnerships and expand donation points.

“Given the current cost of living pressures impacting many Victorian households, the work of The Nappy Collective is even more important with the charity establishing new community partnerships and nappy donation points across Victoria,” Ms Blandthorn said.

“Being a new parent is one of the most incredible, yet challenging experiences –and for Victorians experiencing vulnerability or in crisis, this work provides significant relief when they need it most.”

The Nappy Collective received $110,000 from the State Government in September last year, plus $100,000 in January this year to launch two new programs.

The School Collective and Corporate Collective will allow participants to contribute financially to The Nappy Collective while gaining education on nappy stress and wider social disadvantage through guest speaker presentations.

shows that one in 10 Australian families don’t have enough nappies due to reasons outside their control, such as homelessness, escaping domestic violence, major weather events, or other emergencies.

RealityBites

A space to grieve

By Casey Neill

ONE couple has turned their pain into a healing sanctuary for other parents who have lost a child.

Hayden and Sheree Ballinger founded Forever Held Foundation on their Naringal dairy farm.

“It came out of our own journey,” Sheree said.

“We have five children.

“We feel so incredibly grateful, but part of the journey of growing our family was experiencing five miscarriages.”

In May 2018 they lost their son Jamin after 18 weeks of pregnancy.

“The grief that followed was overwhelming for a really lengthy period of time for me,” Sheree said.

“It was compounded grief - I hadn’t fully acknowledged or slowed after each to take that time to grieve.

“When this happened it was layer upon layer and it forced me to a stop.

“I would go for a walk or a run down our farm road and past this piece of land we had purchased about 10 years before.

“The idea came on a run, to make space for parents to stay, a retreat.

“At the time it felt like a dream.

“We didn’t know if it would be possible.”

But the Ballingers finished the no-cost short-stay Forever Held haven for other loss parents in October 2022.

“Our vision was to create space to grieve,” Sheree said.

“Grief is a really natural part of life.

“In our Australian culture we often don’t know how to handle that.

“We hope that any parent who’s experiencing the loss of a child knows that their story matters and they’re not alone.

“We’ve had some really encouraging feedback even months after a stay.

“It helped them to feel seen and heard.

“One thing that we also hear is how there’s a certain sacredness to the space.

“They appreciate that only loss parents have stayed in the retreat.

“There’s some sort of connection because of that.”

Sheree designed the space very intentionally.

“We wanted to make it feel different to a hotel,” she said.

“We wanted to use as many natural materials as possible - timber, stone, natural light.

“We can’t always physically be there to sit with everyone who comes to stay, but we wanted to wrap each person with love.

“They walk in and feel the warmth, and that there’s people who really care about what they’re going through.

“It’s also off-grid. There’s very limited phone reception, no Wi-Fi, no TV.

“It’s just that chance to switch off.

“It can initially feel confronting. It is a slowing down, it is a switching off.”

The Ballingers provide an art and journalling space for guests.

“They share their story if they’d like to, if that’s going to help them in their healing,” she said.

“There’s no rules for any of it.

“We want people to be able to come and simply be themselves and have their grief acknowledged.”

The retreat is a family affair, with the kids often helping Sheree and Hayden set up for guests.

“Child loss has been very much part of our story,” she said.

“It’s not something we’d ever choose, but I think they’ve been able to see how we’ve used those hard parts of our story to be an encouragement for others.

“I think it’s definitely helped them to grow in their understanding that life carries those beautiful joys but it does carry pain.

“It’s not one or the other, it’s often both alongside each other. “It’s given them an appreciation of that aspect of life.

“I hope it helps them understand how to reach out to others in their pain.”

Sheree said speaking about child loss with her living children had been hard.

“When we experienced our first few miscarriages our children were quite young so it was hard to be open and to know how much to be open about it,” she said.

“They knew and they were looking forward to a brother and a baby in our family.

“There’d be times when tears would just come.

“(My daughter) would come and sit next to me on the couch and just snuggle in for a cuddle.

“They don’t try to run away from it.

“They are happy to just sit in that place and give you a hug or talk about it or draw you a picture.

“I would say ‘I’m feeling really sad today because of Jamin’.

“Mums do have sad, hard days too.

“I didn’t feel like I had to pretend with them.”

The Ballingers would take family camping trips around difficult milestones.

“That is one of the most common times people reach out to make a booking is a first anniversary of a loss or around a birth date,” Sheree said.

“It would have made a world of difference to us.

“We are a fully registered charity. We do take donations to support the ongoing costs of each stay. We provide meals, as an option, plus basic supplies.”

To donate or become a corporate sponsor, email info@foreverheld.org.au.

Your chance to WIN a Vtech prize pack!

VTECH and LeapFrog products are designed to enrich children’s development and make learning fun!

This collection of exciting and innovative toys has been created for children aged 3 months to 8 years.

The Kids magazine stable has two packs of VTech’s most popular toys to give away to our readers!

Each pack contains:

■ 1 x Beep Beep Baby Driver (ages 3-24 months)

Put your baby or toddler in the driver’s seat with the Beep Beep Baby Driver, which can be attached to your pram.

■ 1 x Explore and Discover Roller (ages 6-36 months)

Babies and toddlers can drum up discoveries with the Explore and Discover Roller.

For your chance to WINvisit caseycardiniakids.com.au/ competitions

Extra screening to save lives Health

VICTORIAN newborns will now be screened for two additional rare but serious health conditions.

The move is designed to help identify babies at risk of developing illnesses and ensure they receive lifesaving treatment sooner.

Premier Jacinta Allan and Medical Research Minister Ben Carroll visited the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in March.

They announced the Newborn Bloodspot Screening Programcommonly known as the heel prick test - would screen for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID).

The addition of SCID and SMA will see the program test babies for 29 uncommon conditions, ensuring parents can get their children early treatment so they live long, healthy lives.

“No parent wants to even think about their child being sick – but newborn screening means babies with serious health conditions get the very best care for the very best chance in life,” Ms Allan said.

In Victoria, about two babies per year will be born with SCID and eight with SMA.

Weakening the immune system, SCID affects the body’s ability to fight infections due to compromised white blood cells, but early diagnosis and stem cell treatment before three-and-ahalf months can be lifesaving.

Identifying newborns with SCID will enable access to a new gene therapy trial delivered by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and announced by the government last year – the first time a cure has been offered in Australia.

SMA is a serious disease causing progressive muscle wastage and weakness that is life-threatening without treatment.

There is no cure but early intervention and new treatments are improving outcomes.

The State Government has invested more than $1 million to roll out the additional screening, including adding congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) to the program last year.

CAH is a serious but treatable condition that affects the production of hormones. If caught early, babies who receive proper treatment can lead full lives.

The program is offered to the parents of all newborns within their first 72 hours of life, at no cost. Last year more than

73,000 Victorian newborns were screened.

Newborn bloodspot screening started in Victoria in 1966, with more than 3.6 million babies screened to date. One in 1000 are found to have a rare but serious condition such as congenital hypothyroidism and cystic fibrosis.

ADHD can be an asset

By Dr Harsh Sharma

ATTENTION deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder in children and adolescents and affects about one in 20 children in Australia.

It is thought to be multifactorial and genes do play some part.

With the rising awareness of mental health, a lot of parents are being diagnosed in their adulthood and hence seeking help for their children.

The main signs and symptoms include trouble focusing/paying attention (inattention), acting without thinking (impulsivity), and being extremely active (hyperactivity).

These symptoms can be seen alone or in combination.

If your child has persistent symptoms, you should have your child assessed for ADHD and its related problems such as learning difficulties, sleep problems, or anxiety.

Diagnosis of ADHD must be made by a trained and experienced health professional using a wide range of information provided by both the child’s family and school.

If you are concerned about your child, see your GP initially. They can arrange a referral to a paediatrician or a child psychologist, who will be able to assess your child.

ADHD symptoms can be managed using a range of home/classroom strategies and cognitive/behaviour therapy.

If after trying these options your child’s symptoms are still having a big impact on their life, your doctor might recommend medication.

Few choices of medications are available for ADHD but some of them are regulated In Australia.

With appropriate management, a child with ADHD can live a successful life and can be an asset to society.

Many famous personalities have been reported to have struggled with ADHD symptoms at some part of their lives, including Micheal Phelps, Greta Gerwig, Justin Timberlake, Emma Watson, Jim Carrey, Paris Hilton, Richard Branson...the list is very long.

These individuals demonstrate that timely and appropriate management leads to impressive achievements.

We must remind ourselves of the quote by John F. Kennedy, “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”

I’m a GP and can be consulted at Cardinia Paediatric Specialists, Pakenham Specialist Consulting Suites, 2 McGregor Road, Pakenham. Call 5924 3010, or email referrals@cardiniapaeds.com.au or admin@cardiniapaeds.com.au

This mum’s on Oprah’s mind

By Casey Neill

AN Aussie mum who counts Oprah among her fans says mindfulness saved her life.

Psychotherapist Jacqueline Yeats’ experience inspired her to help children learn and practice mindfulness through business Mindful and Co Kids.

Ten years ago she completed a mindfulness-based stress reduction course as treatment for postnatal depression following daughter Alexis’ birth.

“I could probably say it saved my life with the depression and anxiety I was experiencing,” she said.

“Once I healed from my depression I decided to go back to uni.

“My background is in youth counselling and psychology.”

Jacqueline researched the brain science of mindfulness, honing in on mindfulness for stress reduction in young adults.

“Mindfulness is just paying attention on purpose and in the present moment,” she said.

“With the world becoming so busy and with social media, there’s so much going on and so much stimulation for the brain to take on, especially for children.

“When I was going through my research, the mental health stats were so devastating for youth.

“The biggest cause of disease is depression.

“I was really motivated to want to teach it to children.

“I worked with at-risk youths for 10 years. I wanted them to have these skills by their teenage years.”

Jacqueline started with her own child, who was aged 3 at the time.

“It was more like regulating her breath and we would do mindful movement like yoga,” she said.

“When she was overstimulated or having a tantrum I would just sit with her and come into the present moment with her and just breathe with her.”

Alexis is now 10 and “when she gets overwhelmed she will just stop and take a deep breath and regulate her emotions”.

Jacqueline moved on to teaching mindfulness and yoga classes for kids.

“I was having parents coming up to me after two sessions and saying ‘What have you done to my child?’,” she said.

They were using deep breathing, getting along with their siblings, and doing better in school.

“I thought ‘I’m definitely onto something here’,” she said.

Mindful and Co Kids was born, designed to cultivate children’s selfawareness, resilience, and a growth mindset.

“I came up with our first product, our yoga flash cards,” she said.

“It’s the easiest way to implement mindfulness for children at a younger age.

“You want to make this fun.”

The cards became popular and Jacqueline received feedback from around the world, including schools and kinders - and Oprah Winfrey.

“It’s been crazy. She’s endorsed us three times now. We were on her favouite things list twice,” she said.

“I was a bit hesitant when I first started the business.

“I was worried mindfulness was a bit of a buzz word and people didn’t resonate with it.”

It turns out she was at the right place at the right time. The pandemic hit and people shifted their focus to mental health.

“Parents were wanting something other than screens to entertain them,” she said.

“It’s not a buzz word anymore. It’s written into the curriculum in schools.

“We were taught science and geography but no one taught us how to stand still and how to breathe and how to practice gratitude.

“If I’d been taught that as a kid it would have been very beneficial to me.”

Jacqueline’s now selling thousands of mindful breathing balls, Hoberman spheres, and weighted teddies.

She recently teamed up with Sesame Street to create a mindful moments floor puzzle, designed to cultivate mindfulness, enhance emotional well-being, encourage problem-solving, and more.

“Our products are all fun, engaging ways for parents to do mindfulness with their child,” she said.

“They could do as little as 10 minutes a day.”

Low milk supply

LOW breast milk supply is being linked with low breast growth during pregnancy in a new study.

La Trobe University researchers led a survey of almost 500 women in Australia, the US, and the UK.

They found that women with low milk supply often did not notice an increase in breast size during pregnancy; could have breast hypoplasia; or might have been overweight as a teenager.

La Trobe PhD candidate and study lead, Renee Kam, said it had long been suspected by breastfeeding specialists that a lack of breast growth during pregnancy could be associated with low milk supply, but this study was the first to show evidence of this link.

“This study showed that 72 percent of women with low milk supply reported that their breasts did not change appearance during pregnancy,” Ms Kam said.

“Most pregnant women notice that their breasts increase in size as their pregnancy progresses, so lack of change could now be considered a sign to health professionals that milk supply may become an issue after the baby is born.”

The study, conducted with the universities of Cincinnati and Bristol, also connected high body mass index around the time of puberty and a low milk supply.

Ms Kam said this was the first time such a link was made, and its connection needed to be confirmed in population-based studies.

She said the researchers did not know how many women in the study had breast hypoplasia, but more than two-thirds (about 70 percent) reported at least one irregular-shaped breast. Breast hypoplasia is not the same as small breasts, but refers to breast tissue that is underdeveloped and might give the breast a tubular shape or asymmetry between the breasts.

links

Study participants shared their experience of not being able to produce enough milk for their babies, despite seeing lactation consultants, expressing breast milk, taking lactation cookies, and drinking lactation teas.

Despite following the usual protocols to increase milk production, they were physically unable to make enough milk.

One distressed participant wrote: “I finally learned that ‘all women make enough milk’ was a lie. No amount of education or determination would make my breasts work.

“I felt deceived and let down by all my medical providers.

“How dare they have no answers for me when I desperately just wanted to feed my child naturally.”

Professor Lisa Amir from La Trobe’s Judith Lumley Centre said some women had physical and physiological reasons that prevented them from producing a full milk supply.

“Like every other organ, the breast may not be fully functional in some people,” Professor Amir said.

“We need to support women to achieve their optimum milk production, and make sure people don’t equate successful breastfeeding with being a good mother.”

Hospital dental delay leaves kids in pain

THOUSANDS of kids are hospitalised unnecessarily every year for oral health conditions that are entirely preventable - and the Australian Dental Association says the trend is getting worse.

About 1500 are left waiting in pain for treatment each year due to insufficient theatre space, according to the ADA.

The association released new data from its Oral Health Tracker to mark World Oral Health Day on 20 March.

Almost 11 in every 1000 children aged 5 to 9 years were admitted to Australian hospitals for preventable dental conditions in 2021-2022, compared to 9.5 per 1000 in 2018.

In Indigenous children, this number is 14 in every 1000, compared to 11.5 in 2018.

“That’s thousands of children being hospitalised for preventable oral issues every year,” ADA president Dr Scott Davis said.

“It’s hard to believe in a first world country like Australia, with most people

having access to fluoridated water, healthy food and the tools for keeping mouths clean and decay-free, that this is still happening – but it is.

“There are complex reasons for this.

“Cost is always an issue and this continued trend of children needing to go to hospital to get their oral health problems fixed indicates that we have a significant problem today and for the future.

“Every state and territory provides free dental care for eligible children so they can see a private or public dentist under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule - but there needs to be considerably more effective, targeted publicity of the scheme.

“It’s currently only used by 38 percent of eligible families.”

High rates of dental decay also play a big part in this issue, with nearly three in four (70 percent) kids aged 9 to 13 and a similar number (73 percent) of young people aged 14 to 18 having too much sugar.

WE MAKE CASEY CARDINIA SMILE

Orthodontic Treatment for children and adults utilising the latest technologies including SureSmile, Invisalign, lingual and clear appliances. We offer flexible, interest free payment plans to make orthodontics accessible to everyone. Strict hygiene and physical distancing policies in place.

Sugary drinks are the main culprit37 percent of kids have two to five drinks of fruit juice a week, and the same number have two to five soft drinks a week.

Infants and children sometimes need a general anaesthetic (GA) for dental work, but the ADA said a flawed funding model prevented them from having the surgery they urgently needed.

“The current hospital funding model means dental cases are less lucrative for private hospitals than other types of operations like cataracts and grommets, so access to surgery theatre time for dental procedures has been slashed,” Dr Davis said.

“The result is infants and children are having their operations postponed or cancelled and they’re waiting a long time, often in considerable pain or on pain relief, before their problem is fixed under GA.

“The funding model for theatre lists needs to be overhauled and while the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority is currently reviewing the model, it won’t be completed until the middle of 2025, which fails to address the urgency of reduced paediatric theatre space.”

Dr Nicky Kilpatrick, president of the Australasian Academy of Paediatric Dentistry, said some academy members had lost up to 60 percent of their access to hospital theatre space.

“There’s a severe reduction in access to hospital theatre space across both public and private hospitals, resulting in very delayed care for private

paediatric patients and a blowout in the already years-long paediatric dental waiting lists in public hospitals,” she said.

“In the meantime, these patients are in pain, not sleeping, and potentially risking facial infection and swelling which can be a medical emergency.

“The problem is the way the system works.

“Dental procedures under general anaesthesia can only access one poorly rebated code irrespective of how much or how complex the treatment required.

“This results in paediatric dental lists being less profitable than other medical procedures which attract more codes, and in some cases the paediatric dental lists run at a loss because the hospital gets the same rebate whether we restore one tooth or 10.

“This is what needs fixing.

“No one knows the extent of the problem but data collected from our members suggest that across Australia, in excess of 1500 less children are able to access dental treatment per year now compared with four years ago.

“That’s a lot of children suffering needlessly, and it’s getting worse.”

Fitness opportunities

CARDINIA Leisure is a network of recreation facilities spread across the Cardinia Shire.

The facilities are managed in partnership by Aligned Leisure, an accredited provider of leisure services, and Cardinia Shire Council.

Regardless of age, fitness or skill level, Cardinia Leisure provides safe, inclusive, and accessible facilities, providing opportunities for all to help improve fitness, learn to swim, play sport, or connect with the community.

Cardinia Leisure offers a wide range of activities, available across seven sites - Cardinia Life, Pakenham Regional

Tennis Centre, Officer Community Hub, Pakenham Swimming Pool, Koo Wee Rup Swimming Pool, Garfield Swimming Pool, and Emerald Lake Wading Pool.

The facilities provide aquatic, fitness, health, sports programs and services and childcare to Cardinia Shire residents.

Cardinia Leisure puts the customer at the heart of what it does and endeavours to make memorable experiences in each and every visit.

To contact Cardinia Leisure Facilities, call 5945 2888 or visit www.alignedleisure.com.au.

ActiveKids

Jump! into the pool this winter

AS the temperatures drop and winter sets in, it’s tempting to stay bundled up indoors, but don’t let the chilly weather put a freeze on your swimming routine.

The Team at Jump! Swim Schools

Pakenham shares a few important reasons why continuing to swim through winter is beneficial:

1. Maintain your skills

Consistency is key to mastering any skill, including swimming.

By swimming regularly throughout the winter, you’ll maintain the progress you’ve made and avoid losing technique or endurance.

2. Stay active and healthy

Swimming is an excellent full-body workout that engages muscles you might not even realise you have.

It’s a low-impact exercise that’s easy on the joints, making it perfect for staying active during the colder months without risking injury.

3. Boost your immune system

Regular exercise, like swimming, has

been shown to boost the immune system, helping you fend off those winter colds and flu bugs that seem to be lurking around every corner.

4. Beat the winter blues

Exercise releases endorphins, those feel-good hormones that can help lift your mood and combat the winter blues.

A refreshing swim can be just the thing to brighten your day and keep your spirits high.

5. Set goals and stay motivated

Setting swimming goals - whether it’s improving your stroke technique, increasing your endurance, or training for an upcoming competition - can help you stay motivated and focused throughout the winter months.

Remember, the JUMP! pool is heated and ready for you to jump in, so don”t let the winter weather be an excuse to skip your swim sessions.

Call 5941 6555 or visit jumpswimschools. com.au/pakenham to book in and get your child ready for summer.

Supporting mums and bubs

OAKGROVE Community Centre takes pride in delivering programs for its community, to reduce social isolation and increase community engagement while creating meaningful connections.

Its Connecting Mums group had a fantastic celebration on Friday 24 May, being the final session, sponsored by the Victorian Department of Health.

Oakgrove would love to share some great news for those who have missed out on its Connecting Mums program – a Mums and Bubs program started on 7 June, scheduled to run every Friday from 10.30am to 12.30pm during the school term weeks.

This will be an ongoing program for the community to benefit from, provided at the low cost of $5 per family per session.

The Mums and Bubs playgroup will be facilitated by an experienced playgroup coordinator, with activities including health information sessions, sewing, free play for kids, and more.

The program will take place at Oakgrove Community Centre, Narre Warren South, and carers are welcome to join in as well.

This program will support mothers/ carers from multicultural communities to:

■ Increase their engagement in community, creating connections and decreasing social isolation;

■ Increase their knowledge about supporting their child’s development and positive parenting strategies;

■ Increase their knowledge about women’s health and wellbeing and where to access support for any issues they might be experiencing;

■ Increase their knowledge about how to build and maintain healthy family relationships, reducing the risk of family violence, as well as what family violence is and where to seek support should they experience it;

■ Increase their knowledge of where to access support for social issues such as financial, housing, legal issues, and more;

■ Increase their knowledge of how to navigate the service system in Australia, including but not limited to Centrelink, childcare, and schooling; and

■ Increase their knowledge of how they can engage in community or participate in the workforce after having children.

To book, call the office on 9704 2781 or email office@oakgrovecc.org.au.

Winding Down works wonders

DOES your little one have a hard time winding down for bed?

Not only does Penny O’Loughlin feel your pain - she’s done something to help you.

The self-published Kooyong author wrote Winding Down after often solo parenting sons Fletcher and Harry, now aged 9 and 7, during the Covid lockdowns.

“They are bright, passionate balls of energy that bring me so much joy,” Penny said.

“I needed that one-on-one time to really understand Fletch.

“He is an extremely bright and passionate boy who sees the world with very different eyes.

“We’d walk to the park and he’d wear his tuxedo and no shoes.

“He’s taught me the important things, how to really see things in the moment.

“He really stops and smells the roses.

“This energy and brightness were and still are very hard to wind down at the end of the day.”

Penny tried audiobooks, essential oils, meditations, music, relaxation sounds, teas, warm baths, candles, weighted blankets, massage, and more.

When she couldn’t find the right book to support both her and Fletcher through their bedtime battles, Penny wrote it.

“It’s rhythmic, almost like a meditation,” she said.

“As it’s read, it calms the reader too.

“We overschedule ourselves, with the rapid pace of the world.

“It’s about taking a moment to pause and just be.”

Penny’s background is architecture and landscape architecture, and she’s worked as a landscape designer for years.

“But I’d always go to the children’s book section,” she said.

“I love the simple tales and parables that can explain complex topics simply and with comedy.

“I used to read the kids lots of books.

“I did a children’s book author course at Abbotsford when I was pregnant with my second son.

“I started writing when I did the course, so I wrote and wrote.

“It’s so impossible to get published. I sent them off and I got rejected by everybody.

“I felt like this book worked for its purpose.”

So Penny started down the path of self-publishing.

“I heard, in the back of my head, some of the negative comments about self-publishing but I had to get a thicker skin really,” she said.

“I had to be brave enough to take the steps to get to where I wanted to go.”

She developed an author website and bought a stash of books.

“It’s now just having the confidence to get out and meet people and talk about it,” she said.

“It’s in a few bookshops around and is selling well.

“People are buying it for people who have new babies, as a gift, but also for children who are wound up and have heightened energy at the end of the night.”

Fletcher is “pretty chuffed” to have inspired a book.

“He says, ‘Mum’s an author, Mum wrote a book about me’,” Penny laughed.

“It reminds me of a very difficult time but a time that we worked really hard, and a time where there was massive growth for myself and my son, too.

“It’s the result of hard work - and not just the writing hard work, but the personal hard work.

“It worked for me and I hope it will work for others.”

She read Winding Down in local kindergartens and early learning centres during Book Week last year.

“They now use it after playtime just to bring the energy back down and to switch off,” she said.

A publisher picked up Penny for her next book, this time inspired by her youngest.

“I felt like I needed to do this for him,” she said.

“It’s coming out in December and it’s called Bud and Buzz.

“It’s about a garden.

“Bud is a little flower that’s yet to bloom and he sits in the shadows, yet to be seen.

“He gets his day in the sunlight, but he has to endure the wind and rain.”

Penny is also working on Cartwheeling Sally and Jumping Jack Jim.

“It’s about two little kids who don’t sit still,” she said.

“I feel like all the books are about trying to calm down.

“There’s nothing that makes the kids see themselves on the page and have a laugh, because it is quite funny - they’re at the top of the trees and they’re upside down.

“This is heroing them saving the day.

“It’s rhyming verse and it’s really for the cartwheeling Sallys.”

Order Winding Down from pennyoloughlin.com.

Climbing therapy this school

HOLIDAY programs can be daunting for children on the autism spectrum.

Unfamiliar settings and general group supervision by adults lacking autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience can make it difficult for ASD kids to enjoy activities and socialise with other children. Now Clip ’n Climb Berwick has developed a brilliant solution to this unsettling holiday dilemma: the MindClimb holiday program.

In addition to the exciting MEGA Nerf holiday program for non-NDIS children, the MindClimb therapeutic holiday program for neurodivergent NDIS participants provides much closer and more empathetic supervision to cater for the individual needs of children aged 5 to 17 years with learning difficulties such as ASD and ADHD.

MindClimb instructors have considerable experience with children and teenagers with diverse disabilities and the MindClimb occupational therapist oversees the program, offering additional support as required.

holidays

All MindClimb programs are therapeutic and suitable for NDIS funding.

The school holiday program includes tailored, unique, fun activities on all four attractions at the Berwick facility,

plus a facilitated Nerf gun battle, and making their own pizza and playdough. These programs run for six hours from 9am to 3pm but the duration can easily be increased or decreased if necessary.

The specific program dates are shown on the Clip ’n Climb Berwick website. Participants in the MindClimb program during the school term enjoy attending the MindClimb school holiday program because they are already familiar with the instructors and the venue. This program caringly supports a wide variety of capabilities of neurodivergent children that often struggle to engage in extracurricular activities and typical school holiday programs.

Harry’s mother Carley says: “My son attends the MindClimb program weekly during the school term and gets really excited about the school holiday program.”

“I love that MindClimb encourages Harry to be himself and embraces each of his qualities and strengths.

“It helps him build a range of skills needed for daily life.”

For more information or to book either the MEGA Nerf or MindClimb school holiday programs, call Clip ‘n Climb Berwick on 9769 9966.

Indian language boost

MORE schools will soon offer Hindi and Punjabi language studies at VCE.

Education Minister Ben Carroll in March announced language programs were rolling out at schools in Melbourne’s western, northern, and southeastern suburbs, backed by $3.5 million from the State Budget.

The language programs will be available at Cranbourne North’s Alkira Secondary College, Wyndham Central Secondary College in Werribee, and Mount Ridley P-12 College in Craigieburn.

“The establishment of Hindi and Punjabi programs at these three schools will make sure Victoria continues to be at the forefront of education in the nation,” Mr Carroll said.

The three leading schools can also provide professional learning support and resources for teachers of Hindi or Punjabi at other schools.

More than 20 languages other than English are taught at government schools but there are limited options for students to learn Hindi or Punjabi. These new programs will encourage more students to learn the two languages at a VCE level.

Studying languages other than English at school creates important links for multicultural Victorians with their heritage, while also improving literacy and communication skills.

Victoria has the highest Indian population in Australia and Census data says there are more than 170,000 Victorians who speak Hindi and Punjabi in our state.

Making music accessible for all

EVERY child deserves the gift of music.

Group music education benefits wellbeing and helps children socially, academically and developmentally.

The team at Melbourne Youth Chorale believes every child should be able to access quality music education, build lasting friendships and develop self-confidence.

Melbourne Youth Chorale in Hampton Park is a choir for anyone aged 6 to 20 without prejudice.

No auditions or previous experience are necessary for joining.

As well as choir groups, MYC provides a comprehensive Kodaly music theory program, enabling children of all backgrounds and abilities to learn the building blocks of music through to VCE/university level.

All MYC’s programs operate on a ‘donate what you can afford’ basis,

eliminating financial barriers to music education.

The music education is only part of what makes MYC unique – it’s a warm, social, multicultural community where families connect and in which children and young people thrive and flourish.

One of MYC’s programs is a choir especially for primary-aged children with additional needs.

This group is directed by a music therapist and a speech therapist, encouraging children to explore social and communication goals through music.

Performance opportunities are a valuable opportunity to bring the wider community together, and MYC has fun events throughout the year.

At MYC’s recent Community Big Sing, supported by the City of Casey and St Margarets Berwick Grammar, some people met who had sung together in a choir in India 10 years ago!

The Melbourne Youth Chorale team loves the way music brings people together.

For more information, visit www.melbourneyouthchorale.com.au, email manager.myc@gmail.com or

Kool

Education

Students ‘hesitant’

to sign on to university

By Casey Neill

TODAY’S high schoolers are more worried about study debt and increasingly likely to take a gap year, says one career coach.

Geelong mum and teacher Danielle Flack has worked in career education in secondary schools for 13 years.

“The last couple of years I’ve noticed young people’s attitudes and aspirations towards work and further education changing,” she said.

“I’m seeing lots more teenagers wanting to take gap years.

“There’s a lot more hesitation about committing to university.”

Danielle recently started a PhD in career education and has just written a book on the topic - Career Planning Handbook: Navigating Your Future Career and Work Life.

“I basically wrote the book with my teenage self in mind,” she said.

“What do I wish I knew back then? What would I have found helpful?

“I was the first in my family to attend university, and despite getting an ATAR in the high 90s, I really struggled with adjusting to uni life.

“I actually changed courses three times in three years.

“This experience made me passionate about helping young people like myself, who just don’t know where to start and maybe don’t have the support or resources at home.”

So Danielle collated the information and advice she gave to her students.

“I’ve broken it down into the steps that I would take if I was in their shoes,” she said.

“I thought about the questions I regularly get asked from young people.

“It’s the first time they’re making a decision that potentially has long-term implications.

“For a lot of young people, that causes so much stress and anxiety.

“I wanted to convey that it’s OK if you don’t know what you want to do or if you make a mistake or you change your mind or if you try something and it’s not quite right.”

She said many of her students were “really tired” by the time VCE rolled around.

“They’re tired from being through Covid, then returning to school, and I just feel like a lot of them don’t want to rush into making a decision,” she said.

“They just want a moment to pause and reflect.”

That often means a gap year, which Danielle encourages - so long as they make it profitable by doing something meaningful.

“That could look like working a part-time job, building up your skills,” she said.

“Or doing a short course at TAFE that is an interest area for you.

“A lot of my students who may be interested in becoming nurses or teachers, they might say ‘on the side I’m actually really interested in makeup’.

“Do the certificate.

“When you go back to uni, you can start your own business on the side and earn money while being flexible around university.

“A lot of them just want to travel.

“I think that’s an excellent way to get a bit more independent, get organised, learn how to manage their time, be a little bit more resilient.”

Another factor in students electing to delay a decision on further education is the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS).

“That whole conversation about having the HECS debt and indexation, you wouldn’t think that young people would be thinking about that, but in the last two to three years it is so common for Year 12 students to come in and ask ‘how much does this course cost?’,” she said.

“Previously no one would ever ask.”

Danielle introduces students to career education in Year 7 by building self-awareness.

“We start with what are they curious about, what do they like to do, what are they good at,” she said.

Empowering Curious Minds

In Year 8 she introduces activities like ranking jobs from lowest to highest salary, busting myths and misconceptions, and investigating the level of study or training behind different roles. At Year 9 and 10 Danielle shifts the focus to shaping the kids as future employees.

“We look at part-time jobs, resumes, cover letters, job interview skills, their rights in the workplace…then start planning for senior secondary school and beyond,” she said.

For Year 11 and 12 students, Danielle’s interactions focus on making decisions about the future. Along the way, she provides parents with conversation starters to use at home and shares information explaining the different pathways.

“So we still have a lot of misunderstanding, maybe misinformation, about TAFE and about apprenticeships, and what is a good career and how do you get there,” she said.

“A lot of the work we do is on educating parents as well.

“One thing we’re trying to do this year is to provide a little bit more information about the future of work. There is a lot of anxiety, worry, confusion about what the future of work is going to look like.

“We’re trying to use that as an opportunity to explain what skills might be needed, how to develop them, and highlight some of the growing industries.”

Danielle’s PhD will look at the hopes and aspirations of young people in relation to work, education and training with a regional lens. She moved to Geelong from Melbourne three years ago.

“It is quite different here,” she said.

“There’s two camps: ‘I have to escape from Geelong the second I can’ or ‘No I can’t leave, this is where my family is’.

“It’s a passionate commitment one way or the other.

“When I lived in Melbourne I had traditionally worked in Catholic schools.

“I worked in the western suburbs so I worked with a lot of young people who were first in the family going to university, a lot of students who were looking at apprenticeships or trainee pathways.

“Most wouldn’t consider studying overseas or interstate.

“In Geelong, young people will consider studying interstate, that’s just a normal thing.

“We’ll look at universities in Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania.

“I’ve got lots of young people interested in studying overseas.”

You can find Danielle on Instagram at danielle_thecareercoach.

Dynamic learning Education

Learn with love

ST THERESE’S School is one of the smallest primary schools in the Cranbourne area, which allows the staff to proudly share that ‘every name is known’.

We welcome diversity, with students attending the school from a wide range of cultures.

Differences are embraced to create an inclusive school, rich from learning from one another.

St Therese’s School takes its motto from its patron saint, Saint Therese of Lisieux - ‘Do all that you do with love’ - and strives to ensure that each student grows in faith to be understanding and respectful of one another.

Teachers at St Therese’s are focused on ensuring each child learns fundamental English and mathematics skills to prepare them for their future.

In addition, the school offers rich and diverse learning opportunities that include weekly classes in visual arts, physical education, Japanese, and a digital and design technologies program.

At St Therese’s Catholic Primary School our vision is simple: do all that you do with love.

We aspire to provide a faith-filled, safe, respectful and welcoming community where everyone thrives and develop a partnership between parents, teachers, children and the wider community.

To learn more about what St Therese’s has to offer, call 5996 7525 to book a personalised tour or visit www.sttcbourne.catholic.edu.au.

Felicity Broughton, Principal

St Therese’s Primary School

“Do all that you do with love” St Therese of Lisieux

Principal: Felicity Broughton

St Therese’s Catholic Primary School is a welcomingand happy place where children are nurtured to become independent and responsible learners.

To learn more about what St Therese’s has to offer,contact the school on 5996 7525 to book a personalised tour, or visit the school’s website: www.sttcbourne.catholic.edu.au

We look forward to welcoming you and yourfamily to St Therese’s Primary School.

NESTLED in the heart of the community, St Agatha’s Catholic Primary School stands as a beacon of excellence in education.

With a commitment to fostering well-rounded individuals, the school offers a diverse range of specialist programs designed to inspire and challenge young minds.

As a Catholic school, St Agatha’s is dedicated to teaching the traditions, rituals, values, and stories of the Catholic faith.

Teachers are guided by the Diocese of Sale’s Religious Education curriculum, ‘To Live in Christ Jesus’.

Students are encouraged to live out these values in their daily lives, fostering a strong sense of community and compassion.

The St Agatha’s team believes that strong literacy and numeracy skills form the foundation of academic success.

Dedicated teachers work tirelessly to develop these essential skills in our students, ensuring they are wellequipped for the challenges of the future.

The school is proud to offer a comprehensive range of specialist programs, including STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), visual arts, physical education, performing arts, and Japanese language studies.

These programs are carefully crafted to engage students in dynamic learning experiences, equipping them with valuable skills for the future.

St Agatha’s is committed to nurturing lifelong learners who are curious, resilient, and adaptable.

Through an engaging curriculum and supportive learning environment, students are encouraged to explore their passions and reach their full potential.

The team understands the importance of a strong partnership between school and home.

St Agatha’s works closely with families to ensure the best possible outcomes for students, to create a supportive community where every child can thrive.

St Agatha’s Catholic Primary School promises a world of excellence in education.

Together with parents, the school will inspire, challenge, and empower students to become the leaders of tomorrow.

Schedule a tour today and discover the difference at St Agatha’s. To book a tour, visit www.stacbourne.catholic.edu.au

BOOK A SCHOOL TOUR

https://stacbourne.schoolzineplus.com/event-registration-form

www.stacbourne.catholic.edu.au

Education Discovering the power of ABA therapy

IN the vast landscape of therapies aimed at improving the lives of individuals with autism, applied behaviour analysis (ABA), an evidence-based approach to understanding and influencing behaviour, has demonstrated extraordinary results in helping autistic children reach their fullest potential.

CEO of Abacus Learning Centre in Hastings, Taimi Clinch, said, “ABA is a structured, data-driven approach that uses the principles of learning theory to break down complex skills into smaller, manageable components.”

“The tasks are designed to build on the child’s achievements.

“When the child experiences task success, the therapist celebrates

with great enthusiasm.

“The use of positive reinforcement makes Abacus a delightful place to work, full of fun and celebration.”

One of the key strengths of ABA therapy is its adaptability. It is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

Instead, it recognises that every individual is unique, with their own set of strengths, challenges, and goals.

ABA programs are highly individualised, ensuring that the therapy aligns with the specific needs and abilities of each child.

Early intervention is crucial, as it can lead to significant improvements in social skills, communication, and behaviour.

The structured nature of ABA helps children develop essential life skills, often unlocking doors that would have remained closed without the guidance and support of this therapy.

A former Abacus parent recently said, “There is an intangible magic that

happens at Abacus, it’s what sets them apart and always will.

“Abacus has changed my family’s life in ways we could never entirely express.”

Visit www.abacuslearning.org.au for more information.

Abacus is full of fun and celebration.

Nurturing lifelong learners Education

EXPLORING KU Kooweerup

Kindergarten: A conversation with director Melissa Luxford

Q: Where is KU Kooweerup Kindergarten located?

A: KU Kooweerup opened in January this year and we are conveniently located on the grounds of Kooweerup Primary School at 28 Maughan Road, Kooweerup.

Q: What are some noteworthy features of the new facility that children and families like?

A: Our new service offers calm, spacious classrooms that create a serene learning environment. Families appreciate the easy off-street parking and the convenient location on school grounds.

We also have a large outdoor play space adjacent to the school oval and maintain close connections with local schools.

Additionally, we offer a range of natural resources to enhance children’s learning experiences.

Q: Tell us about the KU staff at KU Kooweerup Kindergarten?

A: I’m an early childhood teacher and educational leader.

I hold a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary) and have been in the early childhood sector for over 15 years.

Lauren Pound, an advanced early childhood educator with a Diploma of Early Education and Care, has 12 years of experience.

Jess Williams, an early childhood educator with a Certificate III in Children’s Services, has more than 20 years of experience.

Q: Tell us about the KU Kooweerup Kindergarten philosophy and program and how it helps children find their voice.

A: Our program supports children in developing a strong sense of self and confidence in their abilities.

KU Koo Wee Rup Kindergarten Now Open and Enrolling

KU Koo Wee Rup Kindergarten, co-located on the site of the Koo Wee Rup Primary School, provides high quality early childhood education for children aged 3 and 4 years old, in a brand new building, featuring two generous kindergarten rooms and a large outdoor play area.

To learn more visit www.ku.com.au or contact:

KU Koo Wee Rup Kindergarten 28-34 Moody St (access via Maughan Rd), Koo Wee Rup T 03 7003 1704

E ku.kooweerup@ku.com.au

We enhance their language and communication skills, helping them express thoughts, feelings, and ideas effectively.

By fostering positive relationships and collaborative work, we cultivate curiosity and a love for learning, ensuring children grow into confident, articulate, and enthusiastic learners.

Q: What are your hours of operation and are there any changes expected?

A: We run our 3 and 4-year-old kindergarten programs on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8.30am to 4pm during school terms.

Next year, we plan to expand our programs to offer multiple groups throughout the week.

You can check our 2025 timetable and enrol via www.cardina.vic.gov.au.

Q: What makes KU Kooweerup Kindergarten a great service for families to send their children?

A: KU Kooweerup Kindergarten offers a nurturing and high-quality early childhood education experience.

Our highly qualified and passionate educators ensure each child receives personalised attention.

We provide a comprehensive curriculum focusing on cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development through play-based and structured activities.

Our safe, clean, and stimulating environment, coupled with strong family and community partnerships, fosters a supportive network for children’s learning and development.

We tailor our teaching methods to each child’s unique needs, promoting a love for learning and smooth transitions to primary school.

Overall, KU Kooweerup Kindergarten is dedicated to nurturing lifelong learners in an enriching environment. For more information, visit www.ku.com.au or call 7003 1704.

MARNEBEK SCHOOL

School is

campus specialist school which provides opportunities and pathways for students with additional learning needs. We encourage and welcome you to contact the school to arrange a tour. Please see our contact details below.

Winter Arts Festival returns

THE City of Casey’s Winter Arts Festival is back, offering an exciting line-up of arts, cultural, and entertainment experiences to warm up your winter.

This year’s festival will run throughout June and July, offering more than 60 events across Casey, including a curated program of winter warmers at the region’s home of entertainment –Bunjil Place.

Now in its 22nd year, the festival is the southeast’s largest annual celebration of the arts.

From interactive experiences and workshops to engaging performances and immersive art installations, the festival program offers something for all ages and interests.

Highlights of the Bunjil Place program include:

■ Hybycozo Deep Thought installation: Delve into the realms of geometry, math, and science intertwined with traditional pattern design when Hybycozo’s mesmerising installation Deep Thought lands in the outdoor plaza.

■ Hybycozo Launch Party: Be among the first to marvel at Hybycozo’s five larger-than-life geometric sculptures at the opening night celebration on Friday 28 June featuring live music, dance performances, and food.

■ School of Rock presented by Windmill Theatre Company: This musical based on the beloved film promises

an electrifying experience that will have audiences on their feet.

■ The South East Area Throwdown: Back for another year, the Southeast Sessions are bringing an afternoon of vibrant and dynamic street dance culture for all ages.

■ Kids Dancehall Workshop: Join Jungle City for a fun exploration of Jamaican Dancehall and Afro Fusion, learning basic grooves, rhythms and fun party dance steps.

■ Kids Breakin Workshop: Join Demi Sorono for a deep dive into breakin’ for kids where participants will learn basic popping, locking and fun dance steps.

■ Escalate: Australia’s best jugglers will rip through an explosive hour of entertainment on Tuesday 2 July, pushing the boundaries of their art with a unique eye for musicality and timing.

■ Impro Workshops - In The Spotlight: This improvisation workshop will focus on being spontaneous using creative play, active participation, and lots of laughter.

Visit bunjilplace.com.au/winter-artsfestival to see what’s on at Bunjil Place and book tickets.

Check out the full Winter Arts Festival program at casey.vic.gov.au/ winterarts.

Winter – Spring 2024 Season

ON SALE NOW

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

Date: Friday, 26 – Sunday, 28 July

Time: 7:30pm and 1:30pm

Tickets: From $40

Ghostlight Theatre presents The Addams Family, a comical feast that embraces the wackiness in every family.

An original story and it’s every father’s nightmare: Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family.

Roar into zoos

A unique dinosaur experience is coming to life across Victoria.

Four encounters within speciallycreated natural habitats are open at Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Open Range Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary, and Kyabram Fauna Park.

Visitors can meet the prehistoric reptiles free with zoo admission until the end of the winter school holidays on 14 July.

At Melbourne Zoo, venture along paths not normally open to visitors to discover 16 huge dinosaurs, their nests, and newly-hatched young.

For budding palaeontologists, there’s the chance to uncover a fossil in the sandpits under the watchful eye of a mighty tyrannosaurus rex.

At Werribee Open Range Zoo, journey through time and embark on an Indiana Jones-inspired prehistoric adventure.

Expect the unexpected and let your imagination run wild as you encounter 14 dinos, smoking volcanoes, bubbling swamps, dino footprints, and life-like dino fossils.

Healesville Sanctuary’s bushland nature trail is home to 16 roaming dinosaurs, and 15 prehistoric beasts have taken up residence at Kyabram Fauna Park.

The dinosaurs will be roaming in a newly-created area of the parkland, and visitors will have the opportunity to make a discovery in the fossil dig sandpit.

In an Australian first, Dinos at the Zoo provides unprecedented access to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

Expression Australia partnered with Zoos Victoria to create videos in Auslan to provide information on every exhibit, accessible via QR code.

Expression Australia CEO Rebecca Adam hopes the QR code activation will set a new benchmark for inclusion.

“We are very proud to have created a pathway for our community to have equal opportunity to learn about the Dinos at the Zoo through their primary language and truly immerse themselves in the experience,” she said.

Zoos Victoria CEO Dr Jenny Gray hoped Dinos at the Zoo would inspire visitors to help prevent other species from becoming extinct.

Children aged under 16 years enjoy free zoo entry to Werribee Open Range Zoo, Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary, and Kyabram Fauna Park on weekends, Victorian school holidays, and public holidays.

Windmill Theatre will present School of Rock.

BORNTOPERFORM

DANCE Legacy is a dance studio based in Pakenham offering expert tuition by experienced teachers for students aged 18 months to adult.

It offers classes for not only the serious dancer but also those who purely want enjoyment and recreation.

The team at Dance Legacy prides itself on having an experienced faculty that promises to provide excellent training coupled with fun, fitness, and endless laughter.

Dance Legacy offers a wide variety of classes for ages 18 months through to adults in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, acro, and stretch/conditioning.

Studio owners and teachers Miss Danielle and Miss Loren have a combined 30-plus years of dance teaching experience.

Over the years, they have not only produced award-winning choreography but fostered a love of dance in hundreds of students and celebrated many achievements, no matter how big or small.

Musician training next generation Dance drives dedication

JP Music Academy offers guitar, bass guitar and piano lessons for children and teens.

The business runs from a Pakenham studio near the Lakeside Square shops and in five schools in the Cardinia Shire area, with more than 100 students enrolled.

James Peden started JP Music Academy in 2017 to make some extra money.

“I’m passionate about teaching kids what I do best,” he said.

“I teach engaging material that keeps students interested and provide incentives and awards for their achievements.

“When we came out of lockdown I had maybe 30 students.

“I spent lots of time training to become a better music school owner and teacher and was able to get my music programs into more schools and grow the enrolments to over 100 students.

“The next phase is to get more music teachers and teach the program in more schools.”

James runs nine-level programs Guitar Ninjas and Keyboard Superstars, and he presents a Student of the Term Award.

“My goal is to train my students to become music teachers and performing artists,” he said.

“I am now offering work experience and training those that are interested.

“It has helped develop one of my assistant music teachers to be more

Dance Legacy is into its fourth year in 2024 and has already grown to more than 200 students, and it’s growing every week. The studio has welcomed many new faces through the door and seen students skip for the first time, wing for the first time, and achieve personal goals they have set for themselves.

The faculty has lots of exciting opportunities planned for the students in 2024 including two whole school performances throughout the year where every student gets their time to shine on the stage and perform for their friends and family.

Students will also prepare for their Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) ballet examinations and Australian Teachers of Dancing (ATOD) tap and jazz examinations, as well as representing Dance Legacy at local performances and competitions.

But what Miss Loren and Miss Danielle love to see the most and are the proudest of is students gaining or re-discovering a love and true enjoyment of dance.

The school owns three purpose-built studio spaces for more than 60 classes throughout each week.

Dance Legacy promises to provide an inclusive and safe environment to help develop the person as well as the dancer.

The team pledges to nurture and further a dance legacy for every student who dances through the studio door. Enrolments for season 2024 are open! Love to dance? So does the Dance Legacy team. Call 0422 774 665 or email admin@dancelegacy.com.au to book a free trial.

confident, how to deal with kids, and become a great music teacher.”

James acknowledged there were many music schools out there.

“You will be taught by an experienced musician that is active in the music scene, has worked with many students over the years and works not only in the studio but in local schools.,” he said

“I am connected with other music schools across the globe that train music teachers to run successful music schools.”

James is an electronic synth music artist signed with Pur Zynth Rekords.

He creates video content for TikTok, Instagram and Facebook for the label and his own music.

His music is available on streaming services, he has provided DJ services for kids’ parties, and he’s been a professional keyboard player for years after taking up the instrument at age 8.

James is offering four lessons for $100 until the end of June.

“Financial times are tricky so we have set up a way to make music lessons affordable, by introducing the first month at a discount and then offering weekly regular payments from there,” he said.

JP Music Academy is at 3/1 Village Way, Pakenham, and is open by appointment only.

Email admin@jpmusicacademy.com.au, call 0407 857 616 or visit www.jpmusicacademy.com.au/ book-lesson to book a lesson.

DUCK cake!

Dads are taking the cake

Like Bandit, we now use the term to express frustration in our house.

While the Bluey episode named for an elaborate Australian Women’s Weekly cake definitely showcases the frustrations associated with baking, it

says a lot more about the joy.

For those unfamiliar, Bingo chooses the duck cake for her fifth birthday cake after an image of the finished product sends her tail wagging.

Bandit is reluctant to take on the challenge, to say the least, but is determined to do his best to make Bingo’s day.

Picture: Ludo Studio

He struggles through the bake - with some moral and cleaning support from Bluey - and his imperfect result sends Bingo’s tail into overdrive.

The episode highlights finding joy in doing things for others.

For me, it’s also a great example of a shift in the mental load.

Arguably, children’s birthday cakes have traditionally been a mum’s responsibility. There’s no way I’ll

relinquish control of making my daughter’s birthday cake without a fight - getting into the kitchen brings me so much joy - but baking is a chore many mums would happily handball.

Of late, anecdotally, that’s led to expensive outsourcing of the task. Great for bakers but not for bank balances, which can take a big hit where kids’ birthdays are concerned.

So it was great to see a dad (albeit a cartoon dog dad) take on the task. His effort wasn’t perfect but his daughter couldn’t have been happier. It’s a nice return to the old adage ‘it’s the thought that counts’.

We also see this in comedian and TV presenter Hamish Blake’s biannual late-night bakes.

His son, Sonny, and daughter, Rudy, share their vision for their birthday cake each year and he shares his baking journey on Instagram.

Watching is always good for a giggle - Hamish never leaves himself enough time and inevitably battles to meet his

DINING OUT

brief into the early hours with a scotch in hand.

The resulting cake is usually pretty impressive but far from perfect.

It’s a great reminder of what our kids actually want and need - us - and a valuable lesson for the kids.

Hamish steps outside his comfort zone for his children and finds joy in bringing their vision to life. They feel the love that’s gone into the process.

One dad commented on his Instagram: “You inspired me to do the full birthday cake setup…my boys love their mad crazy stay up all night drinking scotch birthday cakes and you’re a bloody good dad.”

It sure sounds like these prominent examples of dads baking are inspiring more dads to take (charge of) the cake.

But let us know what you think - find us on Instagram or Facebook and share your dad bakes!

- Casey Neill

RealityBites

Traumatic toilet birth

By Casey Neill

Green’s son made an unconventional entrance to the worldinto a toilet.

Pascoe Vale South mum can see the funny side seven years on, but the sudden birth left deep scars she’s still coming to terms with.

The nurse had always wanted to be a mum.

“I’ve always been quite maternal and very girly, kind of fitting into the stereotypes,” she said.

“I was in a relationship before my current partner with someone who didn’t want kids.

“That was a deal breaker.

“It became very clear to me then that I wanted to be a mum.

“Then I met (fiance) Nick.

“I said to him on our first date ‘do you want kids?’ and he said ‘maybe one day with the right person’.

“That was close enough.

“I’m an advocate now for having that conversation early on.

“If it scares them off they’re not the right person anyway.

“Do you want to have kids with someone who doesn’t want to have kids?”

Completing a half marathon flicked a switch in Lauren and spurred her to try for a baby.

“I felt quite strong, it felt at the right point in my life and my career,” she said.

“I just did a really hard thing, I’m ready to have a baby.”

Nick was hesitant.

“I’d had a few friends having a hard time getting pregnant. I told him it might take time,” she said.

“Then I think we pretty much got pregnant the first time we tried.

“I’m very grateful for that.

“We all got over the shock and were just over the moon.”

Lauren instinctively knew that she was pregnant early on.

“We’d gone out in the city for something,” she said.

“My boobs were huge and aching. I’d never experienced that before.

“I was like ‘Nick, I’m pregnant’.

“We went into a pharmacy in the middle of the city and got a pregnancy test.

“It lit up like a Christmas tree.

“I must have only been four weeks.”

Fatigue and nausea struck hard soon after.

“The second trimester was lovely. I went for lots of walks and had a spring in my step,” she said.

“The third trimester was good as well.

“I tried to work to 36 weeks but as a nurse, that’s hard.

“It was really hot. It must have been February or March.

“My boss came up to me and said ‘you can go on sick leave for the next few weeks if you want to, you don’t have to push yourself through this’.

“I don’t think I would have done that myself if someone hadn’t told me.

“That must have been at 34 weeks, which I think is when they recommend nurses stop.

“I was still safe to look after my patients, it was more about me being exhausted.”

Lauren had “a lovely time nesting” - aside from organising a new car after hers was stolen - and took Calmbirth classes with Nick.

“I’m really happy that we did that. I think Nick learnt a lot about how to support me,” she said.

She was 38 weeks and one day and she and Nick decided to have one last date night.

“We went to our local pub, played Uno, and had dinner,” she said.

“It was a really lovely night.

“In retrospect, I’m so glad we did that because it was our last time together as just the two of us.”

She’d had an induction massage earlier that day and instinctively filled her car with petrol.

“I was making sure everything was prepared,” she said.

“My body knew what was happening even if my brain didn’t.”

Lauren went to bed and woke to contractions at 1am.

“While I was sleeping I was obviously dilating and I didn’t know,” she said.

“The female body is just incredible. I’ll never get over being in awe of it.

“I thought ‘I’ll just let it happen for a bit, it could be Braxton-Hicks or it might go away’.

“It got pretty intense pretty quickly so I woke Nick up.”

Nick ran a bath for her but she soon got back out.

“I was restless, it didn’t feel right. It just wasn’t what I wanted,” she said.

“I was walking around the house remembering my Calmbirth sessions, breathing through it and being mindful.

“I felt comfy on the toilet. The position that your body is in when you’re on the toilet is quite natural for that process.”

Lauren had a TENS machine on her back and was timing the contractions using her phone.

They got closer together and more intense so Nick called the hospital.

On learning that Lauren was only three hours in, the midwife told her it’d be a while longer and she should take some Panadol.

“I think they didn’t believe me,” she said. “I thought ‘they’re two minutes apart and they bloody hurt. What do you mean I can’t come in yet?’.

“It’s all a bit of a blur from there.

“I had a funny contraction that felt very different from the others.”

Lauren felt like her body was pushing.

“It happened again and I felt Otis’s head coming out.

“I said to Nick, ‘I think the baby’s coming out’.

“He was trying to do all the things he’d been told to reassure me.

“On the third weird contraction, he came out into the toilet.

“I felt like I didn’t have enough time in my head to process what was happening.

“Nick came barrelling into the bathroom and got him out.

“He was passing him through my legs.

“Everything’s tangled and it’s chaos.

“It was scary.

“I just put him on my chest and said to Nick, ‘You need to call an ambulance’.

“I just sat there then, in shock.”

The ambulance arrived in less than 10 minutes.

“In retrospect, if he wasn’t breathing that’s not quick enough,” she said.

She started having contractions again once she arrived at the hospital.

“That hurt more than the ones I’d had before Otis was born,” she said.

“I asked for pain relief.

“They said to me ‘You had the baby without anything so you’ll be OK’.

“I was lying on the trolley with Otis on my chest and my placenta still inside me.

“I think the ED was full but they made a space for me on the delivery suites.

“After that I felt very calm and I had a beautiful midwife who helped me through the process of delivering the placenta.

“I think my body was fighting it. I was so stressed.

“Once the placenta was out I finally just got to rest.

“Otis was completely fine.

“He did have a hematoma on his head. They checked that and everything was OK.

“That’s quite common if you have a vacuum birth anyway.”

Lauren lodged a complaint with the hospital following her experience.

“I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what would have happened if he wasn’t breathing,” she said.

“I do spend a bit of time thinking about that - less these days, but more in the year or two after.

“Everyone who goes through birth, it changes you.

“It’s definitely left me with some scars.

“It’s changed the way I think about things.

“We had floated the idea of just having one child before we had Otis anyway, but after that I was like ‘nope, I’m done, I can’t go through that again’.

“I don’t want to go through that again.”

Lauren told Otis about the ordeal “maybe a year or two ago”.

“He knows he was born in the toilet at our house, not in the hospital,” she said.

“When he was a couple of weeks old we went to a wedding.

“Someone there told me their son had been born in the toilet.

“She said her son had got picked on for it at school. That made me a little bit conscious of it.

“I told him he didn’t have to tell anyone that if he didn’t want to, that’s his personal story.

“I would be devastated if he got bullied for it.”

LAUREN

Mum Lauren and her son Otis.

Picture: Rob Carew

RealityBites

Roadside birth ‘empowering’

By Casey Neill

A shock delivery in an ambulance station versus a scheduled caesareanTayla Keene’s two births couldn’t be more different.

The Mooroolbark mum’s experience post-birth has been chalk and cheese, too. Postnatal depression clouded her first months with Jasper, but therapy put her in good stead for Lyra’s start to life.

Tayla had always wanted to be a mum and instinctively knew she was growing a little life with fiance Trent Broome before a positive pregnancy test confirmed it.

“There weren’t any symptoms as such but I knew straight away,” she said.

“The first test came back negative but the next morning there was a faint positive line.

“Trent didn’t believe me until we were sitting in the doctor’s room getting our results back.”

Her pregnancy with Jasper went smoothly, but things kicked up a notch about a week past his due date.

“I woke up about 2am with contractions all across my lower back,” she said.

“I timed it roughly in my head. They were repetitive, but not consistent.”

Trent woke up to Tayla writing notes on her phone. They decided she’d get as much rest as possible and send her midwife a message in the morning.

“I was lucky, I was part of the midwifery group practice program,” she said.

“My midwife was actually a family friend of ours, too.

“I texted her about 8am, but she’d been at a birth with someone else that night and had to hand me over to her partner midwife.

“I laboured during the day at home.

“We were living with my parents at the time in Christmas Hills.

“I was going to The Angliss, they knew we were about an hour away.

“It was probably around lunchtime that I wanted to hop in the bath for a little bit.

“The contractions started to get pretty regular.”

She’d read an old wives’ tale that you could tell how far dilated you were by how cold your legs were, from your knee to the top of your thigh.

Tayla thought she was about 8 centimetres and called her midwife, who listened to her breathe through a contraction and said she was still in early labour.

“I think they underestimate people’s pain tolerances,” Tayla said.

“I wouldn’t say labour for me was painful.

“I’ve had really bad periods my whole life so I can say I’ve had periods worse than labour.”

Tayla was told to come in when she could no longer talk through her contractions, that at that point she’d be in the next stage of labour.

“Maybe 20 to 30 minutes later we were bang in that next stage,” she said.

“Every contraction brought me to my hands and knees.

“I was pushing - I couldn’t not push.”

She got out of the bath, dressing herself between contractions, and her dad and sister helped her get into the car with Trent.

Her waters broke about 20 minutes down the road, in Lilydale.

“I reached down and I could feel his head,” she said.

“I told my husband he had to pull

over and call an ambulance.

“I was OK. If we had to deliver this baby ourselves on the side of the road, that’s what we were going to have to do.

“You just have to accept it.

“I was never scared of birth as a thing because I figured women had been doing this for hundreds of thousands of years before me.

“My body was designed for this. Whatever happens it’ll be fine.

“I just had to listen to my body.”

They soon came to an ambulance station.

“We didn’t know if it was manned,” Tayla said.

“We pulled up on the side of the road. I don’t know how I made it inside.

“I just pulled my pants off and I was on my hands and knees on the ground.

“Trent’s rummaging through their cupboards, getting their blankets out.

“He’s on the phone to dispatch. They’re telling him what to do.

“Luckily, at this point the paramedics who were happening to have their lunch at 4pm took over.”

They got her up onto a trolley - then received dispatch instructions to respond to her call.

“The paramedic that was mainly helping us, this was his third birth,” Tayla said.

“Most paramedics don’t get to deal with them. They usually get called straight after the fact or just don’t get to see them.”

They pushed the trolley into the amulance and Tayla got onto her hands and knees and pushed.

“I could feel the ring of fire. I knew one more push and he was out,” she said.

“There was this wall of paramedics standing behind me.

“A paramedic half caught him while the rest of him came out.

“We all chilled out in the ambulance for a little bit.

“The paramedics made sure we were both OK.

“I had a little bit of a tear. Everything was really good.

“He latched pretty much straight away on the drive there and fed maybe about half an hour, 40 minutes.

“We came in through emergency and they took me up to the birth ward.

“They had to pull my placenta out in the end.

“I had a third degree tear that was quite deep, so they took me into theatre.”

Tayla said Jasper barely cried in those first hours and was so strong he was almost holding his head up.

“He wanted to be a part of everything,” she said.

“He had so much of his personality even before he was born.

“Now we see how it translates to him today. He’s very strong, outgoing, reactive. He has a big personality.

“He was a very easy baby.

“The hardest thing for me was probably breastfeeding. Something so natural did not come naturally.

“My milk came in very quickly but I had an oversupply which was leaving me very sore all the time and wet constantly.

“Then we both developed thrush as well because my breast pads were so full all the time.

“He had a bit of a tongue tie that we got snipped.

“Once we got through those first weeks we were pretty good.

“He followed the awake windows and the sleep schedules.

“He grew really quickly, he learnt things really quickly. All of his milestones he has reached early.

“He would have been about four months old when I started recognising signs of postnatal depression.

“I had a textbook perfect child, yet I struggled so much, and I’d always wanted to be a mum.”

Living at home didn’t help, and then the Covid lockdowns hit.

“He was about 18 months old when I first went to the doctor to start a mental health care plan,” Tayla said.

“I knew I should have done that a lot sooner. I kept waiting for it to go away.

“That guilt of ‘I should be happy about this, I’ve got a really good child, a really happy child’.”

Tayla had always been an overachiever and people pleaser.

“If I admitted that I needed help I felt like a failure, I felt like I wasn’t doing this mum thing the way everyone else seemed to do it.”

Jasper was about 2 when Tayla was able to speak to a counsellor.

“I’m now such a big advocate for counselling and therapy,” she said.

“I still see my therapist now, two years later.

“One of the biggest things she did for me was normalise a lot of feelings I was having.

“We made plans and strategies but also looked at a lot of the root causes of things.

“I learned to give myself the grace that I need and be OK with where things are at.”

For about the first year after having Jasper, the thought of having another child terrified Tayla.

“But I never wanted him to be an only child,” she said.

She spent time with her therapist and returned to work in a new field, finding a job she enjoyed.

“I don’t really know exactly when it was, but a switch turned and I felt ready to have another child,” she said.

“It took a lot longer for Trent to come around.

“Jasper’s birth for me was a very empowering experience. For Trent it was a very stressful experience.

“The thought of me going through potsnatal depression again was a big factor for him and really scared him.”

They fell pregnant the same month Trent came around to the idea.

The early days were very different to Tayla’s first pregnancy.

“Period symptoms are very similar to pregnancy symptoms, so I ignored everything,” she said.

“We were probably about seven weeks along before I took my first test.

“I didn’t want it to be negative. It was something I’d really wanted for 12 months.

“There were so many symptoms. I felt really hot, wanted a lot of sweet sugary things.

“I was at work one day and cracked it about something, and my colleague said ‘you just seem very quick to anger, are you alright?’.”

She picked up a test at the supermarket on her drive home, and was relieved it was positive.

Unlike her pregnancy with Jasper, Tayla felt nauseous throughout.

“About halfway through my pregnancy with her I had an ultrasound with the perineal clinic at Box Hill,” she said.

“I took myself to a pelvic floor specialist when we first agreed we were ready to have another baby and my recovery seemed really good.

“I had an ultrasound and the colorectal surgeon said they didn’t advise another vaginal birth.

“That crushed me.

“It was really hard to not cry in the appointment.

“I instantly felt like my choice had been taken away from me and my body had failed me.

“I felt very let down by my own healing.

“It took a while to come to terms with having a caesar.

“It was a situation I couldn’t control so I just had to let it be and control what I could.”

Tayla wanted a maternal assisted caesarean, where the mother helps to lift her baby from her womb.

“Going through the public system it’s not really a big thing that they do,” she said.

“No one could give me a straight answer as to why I couldn’t do it.

“I was told it would depend on the doctor on the day.

“I wanted at the very least immediate skin to skin.

“They gave me my spinal at 9am, she was born at 9.16am.

“It was such a strange experience.

“You could feel everything that was going on in terms of the pushing, the pulling, the tugging.

“She was crying before they’d even properly got her head out.

“They lowered the drapes and we got to touch her.”

Only 10 seconds passed between Lyra entering the world and being placed on Tayla’s chest.

“She was instantly very different to Jasper - very vocal, a lot sleepier,” she said.

“It’s different when you’ve been evicted rather than knocking on the door.”

She said the hardest part of the caesarean was the first few days, particularly standing.

Lyra latched and put on weight well, and Jasper was bursting to meet her.

“We’re very lucky Jasper’s been really good with her,” Tayla said.

“He just wants to hug her all the time and give her a kiss on the head.

“He can’t wait for her to play toys together.”

Lyra was eight weeks old when we spoke, and was having reflux and tummy issues that were affecting her sleep.

“She hates being put down, she will not tolerate being put down for more than a minute,” she laughed.

“I don’t think the exhaustion is as bad because you’re conditioned to it.

“Being in our own house has made a massive difference.

“My mental health is in a much different place this time around.

“We are having regular check-ins because we’re more aware.

“She’s more difficult than Jasper, but we are in a much better position this time around.

“You could not get two more polar opposite kids from the same family.

“But they’ve both got those piercing blue eyes.”

Not your everyday dad

By Angie Hilton

SOME people enter this world and it’s very clear they are here to make a difference. Woon Ooi, 44, is not your everyday corporate dad or tradie dad.

His day job has seen him come face to face with some of the most confronting situations imaginableincluding being on the front line in the Bourke Street massacre, hostage negotiations, going undercover to buy illicit drugs from traffickers, and coaxing people off the top of buildings and bridges.

Son of a minister, Woon’s adolescent backstory is every parent’s worst nightmare – gangs, expulsions, you name it!

But somehow, all the danger and rebellion of those formative years shaped him into an outstanding human with a drive and passion for helping others.

When you hear about his career you might picture a hardened, desensitised man.

But quite the contrary - Woon wears his heart on his sleeve, has an endless capacity for helping people in need, is an amazing father, a loyal and caring husband, and would give you the shirt off his back.

His lived experience has gifted him with a humble wisdom that is evident as soon as you talk to him. Woon, can you give us a snapshot of life before babies? Childhood, school life, ambitions?

I had my first baby when I was 20 years old. She is 24 this year, so I was only a baby myself.

Life before babies was school, university, business college, and working part-time in a dim-sim factory and a restaurant.

I deferred my university studies, finished business college, and started at the Victoria Police Academy in 2001.

School life was tough. I was born in Malaysia and migrated to Australia in 1985.

We started life in a little town on the other side of Melbourne called Frankston.

I was the only Asian kid at Frankston Primary School and on my first day of school (in Prep), I was beaten up so badly that I required stitches on the top of my head.

When I was 7, we moved to Geelong, and it wasn’t much better.

I was expelled from school in Grade 2 for defending myself. Shamefully, I became a bully myself.

When I was 10, I joined a gang and by the time I was 14, I was couch surfing and at times sleeping rough.

I had no ambitions; life was about survival. I was expelled from three high schools before managing to complete my VCE.

You’ve worked in fields that would terrify the average person. Can you give us a snapshot of your career highlights and lowlights? What inspired you to head into such a challenging field?

In 2000, I was studying at business college and Victoria Police was recruiting.

I applied for the Victoria Police and the full-time Army at the same time but decided to take the policing option.

My career was rather unusual. I was one of two Mandarin speaking officers at the time.

I graduated from the Academy and went to the City Patrol Group to complete a three-month posting in the city.

I completed my mandatory threeday traffic direction course, and on the fourth day I reported for duty at the section sergeant’s desk and he sent me to the senior sergeant’s office.

The senior sergeant said, “Don’t bother sitting down”, as he handed me a report.

I said, “What does secondment mean?”

He replied, “It means pack your bags, you’re out of here. There is a car outside waiting for you.”

I was taken to St Kilda Road Police Complex where I worked in the kidnapping unit for a number of months, listening to recorded phone conversations, listening devices, and conducting real-time surveillance.

After that I worked in plain clothes drug investigations, buying heroin from drug dealers on the streets.

I then spent three years in the Melbourne Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Unit. This is really where I began my journey and passion in looking into how people communicate to influence others.

My job was meeting complete strangers in their most vulnerable state and making a connection to elicit the best evidence that we could use to mount a strong case, ultimately seeking justice for the victims.

After three years I needed a change and became a specialist weapons instructor. I learned how to use my voice to teach and train police officers, and how to use structure in language to achieve the highest possible training outcomes in the shortest amount of time.

I did that for three years before taking a promotion to the Police Academy as a senior instructor. There I developed programs, trained other trainers, and advised on a number of committees including the Coroners Court of Victoria.

In 2011 I joined the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), which became the best 11 years of my career.

After completing my basic operators’ course, I qualified as a Close Personal Protection operative, Siege Hostage Negotiator and eventually became a Tactical Commander.

I was involved in many critical incidents including the 2017 Bourke Street Massacre, which became the tipping point of many years of unprocessed emotions.

A year after the Bourke Street incident, I was diagnosed with PTSD and sent off work for seven months.

I was determined to ‘get well’, return to work, and leave on my own terms.

I did, and went on to perform duties at higher ranks for another five years.

As a CIRT operator, on a daily basis I encountered people in crisis and sometimes truly believing that day was their last on earth.

I had the incredible privilege of sitting in that final moment with them and helping them see that there were more days to come for them.

I joined Victoria Police to make a difference. I left Victoria Police for the same reason.

I now work with people in so many different contexts.

I work with high performing teams, CEOs and senior executives running large corporations with over 3500 employees.

They all want the same thing: to make a difference in this world, and leave a legacy.

The formula is the same. Help people become great communicators, teach them how to make genuine human connections, and lead people to positive outcomes.

Amy and Woon with daughters Lulu, 6, Isla, 9, and Nevadah, 23.

Pictures: Louisa Jones

Your work is something not many of us would be cut out for - what is the secret to staying calm in such high-pressure situations?

The mind is an incredible machine. It has limitless resources. Learning how to access those resources has changed my life.

The unconscious mind processes a lot more than our conscious mind can.

The mind also loves to be in control. It is also a pattern recognition machine. If it encounters a situation that it doesn’t recognise it will process the situation as a threat.

A threat response is typically a flight, fight or freeze response.

However, it is difficult to predict your response unless you have developed a pattern of response.

I do think being prepared is advantageous and responsible, especially if you are in charge of little lives.

It also puts you back in the driver’s seat and puts your mind at ease, because you have a plan. A simple IF/ THEN exercise will help greatly.

You can say to your child, “If you get lost, wait at the information booth and I will find you there.”

During a pressure situation, ‘box breathing’ is very effective: Look at a square object. Count to four seconds while breathing in and following the top edge of the square object with your eyes.

Now hold for four seconds while following the right edge of the square object down one side.

Now breathe out for four seconds while following the bottom edge of the square object.

Now hold for four seconds while following the left edge of the square object up the other side.

Do this for two minutes and you will feel amazing.

You must consciously think about breathing (that way), which means you have to activate the part of your brain which is responsible for thinking, problem solving, and regulating your emotions.

In the negotiator world, we call this ‘brain online’.

Another way to prevent or reduce a survival stress response is to practise gratitude, empathy and mindfulness (eg box breathing) every day.

Research has shown that this practice will reduce activity in the part of your brain that triggers your survival stress responses.

How would you describe your parenting style?

I would describe my parenting style as ‘doing the best I can with the resources I have’.

I believe that is true for every parent.

I also believe that ‘every person has the resources within them to succeed and achieve whatever outcomes they desire’.

It is also vitally important to be ‘kind and gentle to yourself’ when you don’t respond in a way that you are proud of, because ‘there is no failure, only feedback’.

Pick yourself up and try again. What have you found to be the hardest thing about parenting?

The hardest thing about parenting is probably the same for most people - the consistency and persistence that is required, because the rewards are so far

into the future that it is hard to stay focused and motivated on doing the best you can now.

Something I discovered in negotiation that is incredibly powerful is ‘rapport building’ with your kids.

In fact, it is vitally important. Without rapport, it is difficult, if not impossible to lead or influence anyone, including children.

How often do you tell your partner you love them? Imagine if you said to them, “I told you that I love you on our wedding day. If that changes, I will let you know.”

Kids are the same. We need to seek to build rapport with our kids all the time, especially if you want them to learn a lesson.

A few weeks ago, my nine-year-old Isla was very disrespectful towards Amy at a netball match.

Amy had the wisdom and patience to let it go at the time, and then asked me to address the issue in the morning.

The following morning, Isla came into our room (at the same time), said good morning (as she normally does) and asked to go downstairs to watch TV (which is her normal routine).

However, on this particular morning, I told her to hop in bed with me.

Now, this is out of routine for her, so I could immediately anticipate that her survival stress response was being activated. Even a child needs to feel in control and of course, the need to be right.

I spent five minutes getting into rapport with her, to bring her survival stress response down and to bring her ‘brain online’, because I was about to discuss something very important.

Something that would mould her character and make her a better human being, and become more socialised, which is, after all, our primary objective as parents.

Once her brain was ‘online’ she was able to regulate her mood, receive feedback without being defensive, rationalise, identify what made her angry, and be disrespectful to her mother (the night before), problem solve and develop solutions herself on how to manage her emotions more constructively in the future.

The alternative would have been to cause an argument with her that would have lasted all day, and maybe into the next day. Negotiating with my kids requires me to focus on the objective.

The opposite is turning the situation into a contest.

In a contest, there is a winner and a loser, and nobody likes to lose, and you will not win a contest (especially with your kids) by presenting more rational and convincing points.

If you focus on the objective (which is to socialise your child and turn them into productive members of society) then there is nothing that child can say to you to bait you into a contest.

The best thing about family is that you love each other no matter what. You aren’t going anywhere, which means you get to fail and try again as many times as you need.

Just remember to be kind and gentle to yourself and ‘there is no failure, only feedback’.

Gosh, Woon, you have so much wisdom to share with our readers. If you had one sign-off message, what would that be?

Something I had to learn the hard way and now I tell myself daily: “Be really kind and gentle to yourself.”

Warming winter fashion Fashion

FIND fashionable and warm additions to your child’s winter wardrobe at Billy Lidz.

Country Road Kids is now available in-store at the Berwick boutique.

The Billy Lidz team has been doing the hard work for shoppers since 2009, selecting the best high-quality designer baby and kids wear from Australia, Europe, and America.

Shop your local baby and kids store for all your baby needs, from change mats

to Charlie Crane Rockers, clothing, and nappy bags from local Australian brands like Illoura and Ziggy Lou, plus international brands like Moonie bears, Silly Silas tights, and the ever-popular Crywolf, Quincy Mae, Rylee and Cru, and Banwood bikes, scooters, and trikes.

Visit the boutique at Blackburne Square, Berwick, or check out the range at www.lovemybillylidz.com.au.

Understanding anxiety

By Casey Neill

A Geelong author’s new book gives children a glimpse into life with anxiety and an assistance dog.

Childcare centre owner Karyn Connors based Kitty and I on her experience with 6-year-old chocolate poodle Raffy.

“I’ve worked with children all my life and I was an avid reader as a child,” she said.

“I’ve always enjoyed books and reading to children, so for a long time I’ve wanted to write a children’s book.

“I’m also an artist and I was looking for a new project.

“I thought it was a good way of introducing a topic to children that is not openly discussed - that being anxiety - and also educating on assistance dogs and how they help people.”

Raffy rarely leaves Karyn’s side.

“Primarily when I’m sitting he’ll be on my knee, so the weight of him soothes me, makes me feel calmer,” she said.

Children’s books... Books

“He’s very intuitive about how I’m feeling. He’ll be lying on a blanket next to me and all of a sudden he wants to get up on my knee.

“It’s an amazing sort of bond or relationship that we have.”

Raffy came into Karyn’s life when she “had a lot of things going on”.

“My mental health and even my physical health was not very good at all,” she said.

“I got a puppy just before my partner passed away and found that just having him was helpful.

“I then looked into how I could have him trained to be able to go with me everywhere, which he has over that time.

“The book is actually about that.

“One of the pages talks about how with Raffy I can go to art galleries or theatres or orchestras, things that I would otherwise not have done on my own.

“When I have Raffy with me, I feel more comfortable.”

Karyn has shared the book at schools and elaborated on her experience with anxiety.

“I explained the physical things that my body feels when I’m worried or anxious,” she said.

“I talked to them about feeling like your heart’s racing and you’ve got butterflies in your tummy.

“In the book, I tried to make it relatable to children.

“It says that whether they’re imagined or real, they’re fears that I have.

“I used a lion in the jungle, a bear in the forest, and a shark in the ocean to give children something they could grasp and understand how that would feel.”

Karyn combines different media to create her illustrations, including children’s drawings, photos, acrylic paints, and inks.

“It’s a very visually different book to the majority of other children’s books,” she said.

“I use words and imagery that I believe children can relate to, whether they’re three or nine.

“I hope that they feel more understanding of differences in people.

“Children - whether they’re in childcare, kinder, or school - will always meet people who differ from them in some way.

“I hope it gives them a better empathy and acceptance of diversity.

“So many people are touched by anxiety, whether that’s a child with anxiety themselves or a family member.

“If we allow children to be aware and educated about such mental health issues we can help them to be resilient and to develop strategies.”

Listen, Hippo!

Gabriel Evans

When Billy is feeling sad, he wishes he had someone to talk to.

He thinks what he needs is someone to listen…but his best friend, Hippo, believes he knows exactly what Billy needs!

Playing dress-ups will cheer Billy up, and dancing in the cherry blossoms, or maybe a pirate adventure?

Hippo just wants to make Billy happy, but it’s only when he finally listens to what Billy wants that he can help his friend.

Penguin

$24.99

Detective Beans and

the Case of the Missing Hat

Li Chen

In this hilarious full-colour graphic novel, Cat Town’s best kitten detective is on the case – of his very own missing hat! The clues take Beans all over Cat Town.

He encounters philosophical pigeons, dodgy street magicians, lounge singers and soup chefs, and even a mysterious trash portal.

No one is a match for his crime-solving powers. But will Beans find his hat before Mum is expecting him home for dinner?

Penguin

$17.99

The Land Recalls You

Kirli Saunders

Do not mourn the hands that raised you…Do not weep for songs of land.

Honouring the Stolen Generations, and all who’ve been taken, The Land Recalls You is a powerful story of returning, written with love and reverence by awardwinning Gunai author Kirli Saunders and illustrated by debut Bundjalung artists David and Noni Cragg.

Scholastic Australia

$26.99

Everything We Never Said

Sloan Harlow

The dead keep the best secrets…

It’s been months since Ella’s best friend, Hayley, died and everywhere she looks she sees reminders of her – including Sawyer, Hayley’s boyfriend. Soon, the two grow closer, finding comfort in each other.

Racked with guilt, Ella turns to Hayley’s journal, but what she finds leaves her terrified.

The Sawyer in these pages is nothing like the kind and thoughtful boy she knows. Torn, Ella finds herself having to make a choice. Yet making the wrong one could have fatal consequences…

Penguin $19.99

The Sea in Me

Cody Simpson

From multitalented athlete, musician, and writer Cody Simpson comes a breathtaking story of finding the calm and quiet amid the bustle and noise of everyday life.

The sounds from above are hazy and lost to me.

I can only hear my heartbeat, slow and steady.

When your heart beats faster and the noises close in, it’s time to make a break for it and find the sea within.

Dive deep and look, listen and feel all the creatures as they block out the distractions and allow you to listen only to the voice inside you.

Penguin $19.99

Karyn Connors with assitance dog Raffy.

Picture: Louisa Jones

ENROL NOW FOR 2025

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This motto is the energising source of all that happens at St Clare's and is embedded in the ethos of the school, the curriculum we offer and the relationships we develop within our school and wider communities.

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