Kids Voice July 2013

FR

J ULY

EE

2 013

Forced adoption - Bullying - Fairytale birthday Speech therapy - Sneaky iTunes - Pick your perfect pet Y O U R F R E E PA R E N T I N G M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E G E E L O N G R E G I O N

Page 2

Page 3

HAVE we got a variety of great stories for you in our July edition!

This month we take a look at an issue concerning many teenagers throughout Geelong – bullying.

Professor Helen McGrath, from Deakin University, spoke to us about how she is working on some guiding principles that will help make school communities more safe, supportive and respectful.

We also share a Year 7 student’s firsthand account of how she was affected by the anti-social behaviour.

Her honest and powerful piece is quite confronting, but gives us an insight into how victims must feel at times.

I was shocked to learn one student in every four in Australian schools is affected by bullying.

My son is just four years old and I am already worrying about the possibility of him having to deal with bullying at school.

In the ‘olden days’ when I was at school I never witnessed anything like what we are currently seeing on the news or YouTube.

Sure, there was the odd occasion where words were exchanged between students or a brief

altercation erupted, but nothing like the physical aggression we are seeing today.

But, experts have reassured us the incidence of bullying, particularly the traditional face-to-face style, is not increasing.

They say it’s because bullying is more likely to be reported now as the behavior is viewed unacceptable.

I am very pleased to hear communities and governments are working hard to introduce policies and strategies to combat it.

This month we also speak to Geelong mum Thelma Adams, who at just 14 was forced to give up her baby.

She spent decades searching for her son and he is now a part of her life.

Thelma hopes her story will encourage other birth mums to search for their children.

Another Geelong mum, Shelley Paul, shares some tips with us on how she organised a memorable birthday party for her daughter Miley without breaking the bank.

She created a Little Red Riding Hood themed party.

And... we have included lots of your gorgeous photos of your children

with their siblings or cousins on our Kids’ Corner page.

We received so many we thought, why don’t we just publish them all?

We have received quite a few emails from parents letting us know how happy their child was seeing themselves in the magazine!

One child who should be very excited is two-year-old Archie, who

is our poster boy this month!

His mum Jodie Thomson, of Belmont, said Archie was being very sun smart on a holiday at Wye River.

Thanks for reading!

Bec Launer EDITOR

Page 4

Kids’ Voic e Team Elisha Lindsay Photography

d... l r o w e h to t Welcome

Kids’ Voice is a monthly publication for parents with children of all ages. Each month the magazine will be jam-packed with news, views, reader stories, feature articles, advice columns as well as product, book and website reviews.

There will be something for everyone.

Experts have joined our team and will provide regular columns to ensure you’re in the know about all sorts of issues in the areas of health, education and alternative therapies.

EDITOR

Lucas Anthony Rickards 20/05/13 Son of Bianca and Sam

Rebecca Launer editor@kidsvoice.com.au

Krish Vatnal 31/05/2013

BUSINESS MANAGER

Son of Savita and Shashi Katie Fiorillo Photography

Michele MItten

ADVERTISING SALES

Cath Dunning 0448 077 021 cath@kidsvoice.com.au STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Alan Barber GRAPHICS

Elise Blach

PO Box 54, Ocean Grove Victoria, 3226 Phone; 03 5255 3233 Fax: 03 5255 3255 Find us on Facebook facebook.com/Kids Voice Geelong COVER MODEL

Lakai Francis

No part of this magazine, including the advertisements, may be reproduced without permission of the editor.

The opinions expressed within Kids’ Voice magazine are not necessarily the views of the publisher, but those of individual writers.

Page 5

C o n t e nts

10 FEATURES

7 Thelma’s life now full of happiness 8 Fighting back against bullying 10 A fairytale birthday

SCHOOLS IN FOCUS

11 Grovedale Baptist Kinderplay 11 Tate Street Primary School 13 Sacred Heart College

KIDS’ CORNER

17 LETTERS & ADVICE

15 Have your say and keep up-to-date with parenting news and issues

READER STORIES

17 Thriving twins had tough start to life 19 Chatterbox Jye develops speech in therapy 23 Cuddling up to cats all part of the job 24 Tennis is a game for all ages and life

HEALTH

14 Your gorgeous photos of your children 18 Learning to speak and listen milestones with their siblings or cousins

23 BIRTH STORY

20 The unexpected brings joy and love

TECHNOLOGY

22 It’s easy to get out of tune with iTunes

PET CARE

27 Which pet will best fit into your family?

WHAT’S ON

31 Events happening in the Geelong region

Page 6

Page 7

F e at u re

Thelma’s life now full of happiness At just 14 years of age, Thelma Adams was forced to give up her baby boy.

But after decades of searching for him, he is now back in her life and she is using her experience to encourage other birth mums to search for their long-lost children.

T

HELMA Adams was just a child when she was forced to give up her own child.

At 14 years of age, Thelma’s son, Matthew, was taken from her while she lay under sedation following his birth.

She never got to hold him, hear him or even see him.

That was back in 1973, when being unwed and pregnant was not accepted, and young mothers were forced to put their babies up for adoption.

“I hid my pregnancy until I had 10 weeks to go - no-one knew,’’ Thelma says.

“My mum was all about, ‘Oh my god, what are the neighbours going to think?

“I was told if anyone found out it would destroy jobs and the lives of the parties involved.’’

So to keep the pregnancy a secret, Thelma’s mum sent her away to an unmarried mothers home in Kew before she returned home to give birth in Baxter House, Geelong Hospital.

“The awful thing is, I’ve only thought about it now, is that at 14 years old, I signed my first legal document, which is illegal,’’ Thelma says. “... to sign away my child. So a child signed away their own child?’’

“The woman said if you don’t sign it, you’ll go to a girl’s home and he’ll go to a children’s home.

“I thought it was true.”

Thelma, of Geelong, says the only way she knew how to cope following Matthew’s birth, was to try and block out the experience.

“I was told it didn’t happen and move on, so I blocked it out,’’ Thelma says.

“It was never ever spoken about in my home. ‘’It made me very sick, I had anxiety, panic attacks, the whole works.’’

While Thelma says the pain from losing her son never left her, she felt comfort when she married and later welcomed three more children, John, Alisha and Shane.

And it‘s thanks to her daughter Alisha, who helped bring Matthew back into Thelma’s life.

“I got some information and did my own investigative work and found Matt,’’ Thelma says.

Thelma’s son John, with his wife Tracey, blessed his mum with three grandchildren - Ella, Will and Dylan.

“I made contact for 13 years and got nothing.

“But then Alisha made contact with him when she was 21, and one year later he replied to her in a text.

“I remember when she got the text, she was just standing there going ‘oh my god!’ “...she read it out to me and I went to my room and fell to my knees and cried.’’

Thelma says Alisha met up with Matthew a week later in Melbourne and he now remains in contact with her family.

“I can understand he has other parents and I can never fulfil that role, but I think he really likes what he has with the kids,’’ she says.

“He likes his siblings and our relationship is like a friendship.

“We try to include him in everything.”

Thelma first shared her story publically in the lead up to Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s national apology to victims of forced adoption practices that were in place in Australia from the late 1950s to the 1970s.

She is again sharing her story with Kids’ Voice, following the introduction of the Adoption Amendment Act 2013 on July 1.

Thelma with her daughter Alisha (left), daughter-in-law Tracey and granddaughter Ella.

Thelma says the biggest change to the Act is that natural parents can now obtain identifying information about their child without their consent, which was previously needed.

But Thelma says while this change is a welcome one among parents seeking their adopted children, it also presents some challenges.

“This could actually be scary for a few mothers who are unsure whether to make contact, because now if they make contact and their child says no, they know who they are,’’ Thelma says.

“And some of these adopted children may not know they are adopted if their parents have not told them, but will now if the birth parents make contact.’’

Thelma says things are pretty good in her life at the moment, which includes chasing after her three grandchildren, Ella, Will and Dylan.

She says she is moving forward by helping other birth mothers who have never spoken about or searched for their child.

Thelma is the spokesperson for the Geelong branch of the Association of Relinquishing Mothers (ARMS), and hopes her story will encourage other women to come forward and join the support group.

“My baby in our group was in ’73 - I’m the youngest, so there are all these other ladies out there who had babies in the 60s and have never had any contact, so they are still dealing with that today,’’ she says.

“There are probably hundreds of women out there who haven’t told their husbands, so they will take it to their grave.

Thelma says when she gave birth, people thought you could have a baby and move on, but that isn’t so.

“In death, babies die and you grieve, you can go to the grave site and you know where the baby is,’’ she says.

“But this is a baby who is alive and out there somewhere, but you don’t know in what condition.

“When we search, we want to know that they are happy, and then when we find them we want to know what they look like, but it just goes on, it’s human nature.’’

Thelma encourages other birth mothers to search for their child.

“It’s on your mind everyday and you need to deal with it to move on,’’ she says.

“If they want to come along to the groups, they don’t have to talk, just sit there and listen and build up the courage and then we can help each other.’’

Ring Thelma on 52438302 for more information about ARMS.

Story and photos - Bec Launer

Page 8

Feature

Fighting back against bullying Students across Geelong are affected by bullying on a daily basis.

Professor Helen McGrath tells how the behaviour should be treated as a ‘cultural issue’ and how an online resource is giving those involved the skills and strategies to manage the situation.

O

NE student out of every four in Australian schools is being affected by bullying, Federal Government research reveals.

What is more worrisome is the fact bullying is occurring among children as young as three or four years old.

But Deakin University’s Professor Helen McGrath says it’s only normal for some young children to experiment with ‘social power’ in this way.

Prof McGrath says the responses they receive from other children, teachers and parents will influence whether or not they continue bullying.

She says parents need to teach their children about compassion and empathy, because opportunities for this type of social and emotional learning makes it less likely children will mistreat others and more likely they will support another child who is bullied.

“Some children seek social power and try using negative means to get it; they may think they are impressing other kids,’’ Prof McGrath says.

Prof McGrath, who is currently working with her colleague, Professor Toni Noble, on the development of the online Safe Schools Hub that supports the National Safe School Framework (NSSF), says bullying should be treated as a cultural issue, rather than leaving those affected to deal with it alone.

“In the olden days kids were told to put up with the bullying and it would toughen them up, but we now acknowledge that such a view is both incorrect as well as unacceptable,’’ Prof McGrath says.

“Now we recognise that bullying is both a cultural issue and a moral development issue that impacts negatively on children’s wellbeing and mental health.”

Prof McGrath says the NSSF is part of the ‘bigger picture’, that aims to provide a vision and a set of guiding principles for safe, supportive and respectful school communities that promote student wellbeing.

She says during the last five years, schools have come a long way with their understanding of how to respond effectively to bullying

situations and develop some effective and protective measures against bullying.

“We know that telling a child to ‘ignore’ the behaviour of someone who is bullying them rarely works. ‘‘Sometimes a child is given advice that they should act as though the bullying behaviour is ‘no big deal’, but many shy children can find this is hard to do,’’ Prof McGrath says.

“What they need to do is talk to an adult privately and ask for support. ‘‘Nowadays teachers are more likely to have access to a variety of skills and strategies to manage the situation sensitively and effectively. ‘’Punishment is not usually the best first option as it can make things worse for the child who has been bullied.’’

Prof McGrathsays the Safe Schools Hub website, has activities and tools for schools and teachers and students.

“It’s a one stop shop,’’ she says.

YMCA School Holiday Program Come & join the fun!

What we can do for you

YMCA Geelong School Holiday programs cater for: Prep to Grade 5 Grade 6 & above Grade 6 & above with additional needs We also cater for additional needs children in the Prep to Grade 5 age group.

We offer a great range of activities which may include the following: Sports

Daily Challenges

Music

Outdoor Recreation

Dance

Indoor games

Arts/Crafts

Special guests

Cooking

Creative Play

Water Play

Gymnastics

YMCA Geelong School Holiday Program Opening Hours - School Holidays 7:30am - 6:00pm Cost $50 per child per day (before Child Care Benefits) + additional fee for excursions Children must bring Snacks for morning & afternoon, plus lunch A refillable drink bottle Appropriate footwear & clothing Hat & sunscreen To register Please complete the registration form (available online or at our centre) - a separate booking form must be submitted each program.

At Geelong YMCA School Holiday Program we continually strive to provide quality programming that is fun and interactive for all children of varying needs and abilities.

Our daily activities ensure children have choices and are able to interact with each other in an environment that is safe and nurturing.

Our programs are developed collaboratively between management, staff, children and family feedback.

It is our aim to give children fun and exciting experiences while at the YMCA.

And fantastic excursions!

25 Riversdale Road, Newtown . Victoria. 3220

Tel (03) 5223 2714 Fax (03) 5223 1578



- Bec Launer

WHAT IS BULLYING? Bullying is repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological behaviour that is harmful and involves the misuse of power by an individual or group towards one or more persons. It can have long-term effects on those involved.

Bullying can happen: • face-to-face (e.g. pushing, tripping, name-calling).

• at a distance (e.g. spreading rumours, excluding someone).

• through information and communications technologies

(e.g. use of SMS, email, chat rooms).

Some conflicts between children are a normal part of growing up and are to be expected. These conflicts or fights between equals and single incidents are not considered bullying, even though they may be upsetting and need to be resolved.

Identifying bullying can sometimes be difficult. Bullying is often conducted out of sight of teachers and children may be reluctant to report bullying.

Page 9

Feature

‘The pain and sadness they put me through’ A Geelong Year 7 student shares her thoughts and feelings about being bullied and how it affected her life.

I

HURTsometimes. I don’t know how to feel, cry or love... I just hurt.

I feel like no one cares, I feel like I’m not worth anything on this planet full of pain.

My life is like a never ending black funeral, I haven’t cried for a while but I feel like I’ve been crying forever.

The tears rolling down my soft cheeks like rain down a window. But there is nothing there.

I feel, like no-one ever really cared.That I trusted people that wanted nothing to do with me.

I wish that I didn’t exist. I wish that everyone would just accept that I don’t want to be in this terrible and sad universe, that I just don’t want to feel this pain anymore, I just want to leave everyone so that people can be happy and joyful without me.

I know that everyone won’t miss me, I’ll leave and people will say, ‘Oh thank God, she was a slut anyway and was worth nothing.’

I’ll look down and smirk a smile because they will actually have no idea what I went through.

How much pain and sadness they put me through. But before I do end everything, I’m gonna write a seven and a half page letter to everyone, saying that I finally realise what the problem was. It was me.

I had to change or leave and that I tried

so hard to change but people thought I was just doing it for popularity.

They’ll listen to why I loved the feeling of blood running down my wrists, the feeling of death.

I want them to know what they did. I want them to know that they won this terrible and painful game of trouble.

But they will never understand... they’ll say that I only ended it all so people would actually notice me.

But I won’t care, I’ll be too busy feeling nothing while looking down at the people that I care about, but never cared about me.

I see children running around like they have no problems in the world.

I see that they cry when ever they fall and then five seconds later they get up like nothing happened.

I want to go up to them and tell them to live like that while they have that chance, because one day, it will all change.

That happiness doesn’t last forever and that the world is a terrible place.

You’ll have problems and you’ll have people judge you for being the beautiful person that you are... society will judge you for what ever you do.

You’ll be judged on what clothes you wear, what you believe in, what music you listen to, who you trust, who you love.

PHOTOS: Katie Fiorillo Photography Life is just one massive black hole, waiting to pull you in, waiting to take you and push you to your limits and sometimes so much you have to end it all.

I’ll look down from the heavens above with my headphones in my ears and my hoodie over my head, thinking... ‘Why did my life get so bad?’, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’

But then I’ll smile and think - it’s just because I’m me. *This was a personal experience written by the author, who felt like this in the past.

If you are experiencing any difficulties or need help please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

RESOURCE WEBSITES www.bullyingnoway.gov.au www.ncab.org.au www.safeschoolshub.edu.au www.kidshelp.com.au www.education.vic.gov.au/about/ programs/bullystoppers

Page 10

Feature

A fairytale birthday Shelley Paul’s daughter Miley wanted to celebrate her second birthday with Little Red Riding Hood in the Enchanted Forest. Shelley shares how she brought the party to life without spending a fortune.

SHELLEY Paul proved she did’t have to break the bank when it came to creating a memorable party for her daughter Miley’s second birthday.

With a Little Red Riding Hood theme in mind, the Geelong mum aimed to organise a stress free party that was also cost effective.

“We sourced props and decorations from recycled goods, the Internet, $2 shops and craft stores,’’ Shelley says.

“We created our Little Red Riding Hood theme with visuals including a photo booth based around Grandma’s bedroom.

The party table was the centre piece with a forest theme and an amazing cake from ‘Bells Cakes’.

Brooke and Ingrid

‘’Our backyard was decorated with plastic ivy, flowers, butterflies, ladybugs and homemade mushroom decorations to resemble the Enchanted Forest. ‘’To keep in with the theme all children received a Little Red Riding Hood DVD, which was brought very cheaply off eBay, and a little red riding hood basket filled with play food - as a thank you! ‘’We had invitations, water bottle labels, food cards, chocolate wrappers and birthday banners made to resemble Little Red Riding Hood. ‘’We found the most cost effective way is to purchase a PDF file from an invitation web site, then print it off.’’

But Shelley said the icing on the cake was the wonderful contribution from Willow Star Entertainment. ‘’Brooke and Ingrid are extremely talented with singing, face painting, games ideas, balloon making and the overall running of a party,’’ Shelley says. ‘’Not only are they extremely talented, they have thought of everything to make your party a success and provided table hire and chairs for children. ‘’A real bonus to accommodate for little people to sit back and relax and enjoy the party food and of course another option to decorate and continue the theme.’’

While Shelley was worried some guests would think it was a little extravagant to hire

entertainers for a two year olds party, she was amazed they were the ones to comment on what a great idea it was.

“Some people said why would you ever bother trying to do this yourself?’’ Shelley says.

“It’s not worth the stress and missing out on the enjoyment.

“It was so lovely not having to try and create the fun for the children. Every child was included and participated in all events. ‘‘They took care of every single aspect of the party. ‘’Our daughter loved the girls and was so sad to see them leave.’’

Brooke Leal, from Willow Star Entertainment, says during the parties she aims to create memories that will last for years.

“We will bring our client’s party vision to life, while parents are left free to be present on the day to enjoy the party with their children, family and friends,’’ she says.

“I love my job - it’s a magical world of face painting, balloons, song, dance, dress ups, bubbles, music and movement.

“Some weekends there may be two parties both days, but they are all so different and all equally fun.

“The two main things that all our parties have in common are happy kids and happy adults.’’

- Bec Launer

Page 11

Sc ho ol s

In

F o cus

-

Grovedale Baptist Kinderplay GROVEDALE Baptist Church in Pioneer Road, Grovedale, has been running playgroups for well over twenty years, providing parents and children with a wonderfully stimulating and supportive environment to meet, play and form lasting friendships.

The playgroups run on Thursday and Friday mornings, and cater for children from one year to four years of age, or until the child commences formal four year old kindergarten.

Many children actually start soon after birth as older brothers or sisters are attending the playgroup, so are involved for up to five years.

This year, the church introduced two special rostered playgroup sessions, called Grovedale Baptist Kindyplay (or GBK), specifically designed for three year olds.

The first two children to be enrolled in this program were Ben and Olivia, who first met at playgroup almost four years ago as newborns.

Ben’s mother, Leanne, first joined the playgroup about five years ago, after immigrating to Australia. She was looking for a place to start making new friends and lucky for her, her mother (who already lived in the area) looked into the playgroup for her and recommended it.

First attending with older siblings, she quickly made friends and when Ben was born he was able to commence his playgroup experience early, with a well-established network of friends.

Olivia’s mum, Nikki, was encouraged to

join the playgroup by family members who were in attendance already. As with many of our playgroup families, the positive reputations of our playgroup sessions are spread by word of mouth.

It was at her first playgroup session that she met Leanne and became friends. When Olivia was born it was inevitable she and Ben would also become friends. Now they both attend the same Kindyplay session, they are inseparable.

Both Leanne and Nikki were impressed with how well our playgroup sessions were structured and run.

Each group has its own leader, assistant, and even a “tea lady” – all volunteers from the church community or current/past playgroup mums.

The well- appointed and purpose-built playgroup room has ample light and space to accommodate everyone comfortably (even on “Grandparents’ Day” when there are

Sc h oo l s

In

extra special guests!).

With plenty of storage space for toys, equipment and craft supplies the children are offered different stimulating activities every week, which are set up ready to go.

We can also boast a large, securely fenced outside area for the children to enjoy, with a new swing and slide set, huge sandpit, and “racing track” for their plastic tricycles.

Playgroup sessions run for 1 ½ hours, consisting of one hour inside and outside play (depending on the weather), then about 15 minutes snack time (parents enjoy a cuppa and morning tea while they supervise their children), then the last 15 minutes is story time and singing with the leader-in-charge.

The new Kindyplay sessions are run in a similar fashion. There is a leader (past playgroup mum who has been involved with the playgroups for over 16 years) and an assistant, who run each session, with the support of rostered parents, maintaining the required minimum ratio of one adult per four children.

As a rostered playgroup all parents and carers involved in the program must have a Working with Children Check, and be prepared to participate with rostered duty about two or three times per term.

These sessions run for two hours and consist of indoor play time (45 minutes), group mat time (15 minutes) – show and tell / story time, snack time (20 minutes) – children prepare and help clean up, outdoor play time (30 minutes), and final mat time /

F o cus

-

Tate Street Primary School TATE Street Primary School is a small primary school in the suburb of Thomson in Geelong.

The school is now over 80 years old and has a strong sense of history and connection to the local community.

There are many families whose members have attended our school for three generations.

The Student Family Occupation Index is 0.68 at our school, meaning almost 70 per cent of our families are receiving some form of welfare benefits.

This also means many Tate Street students come to school with a literacy deficit background.

If you visit the Government’s ‘My School’ Website you would see 86 per cent of our families are in the bottom two quartiles of the ‘Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage’.

This means we are heavily reliant on our Parents and Friends Committee to raise the vital funds, which allows us to provide quality programs and raise student outcomes.

During the last three years the school has implemented a performing arts program that includes student involvement in dramatic productions, music education and music ensemble playing.

All of these initiatives have helped to lift the student group’s level of engagement with school, as well as providing real benefits in learning.

We have found our music program helps children with making and hearing sounds

(important for learning to read and write), it extends their vocabulary, aids in developing good structure in their speaking and writing, increases understanding and use of rhyme and metre.

Daily singing has also helped students become more self-assured in the classroom, has helped develop co-operative attitudes and helped with behaviour management.

Our overall Performing Arts program has certainly been a major contributor to the turn-around of our school results in the last three years.

Having our students involved in our whole school performing arts program and daily singing has coincided with students being more interested in school, more focused, more engaged and this, in turn, has played a significant part in our whole-

K i n d er dismissal (10 minutes).

There is a special craft trolley for Kindyplay sessions only, with craft items always on hand for children to express themselves freely with craft projects. The Kindyplay Lending Library provides a selection of books for children to borrow and read at home with family.

More advanced puzzles are provided for the children and a special games table, which brings a different game each week to learn together – examples: Jenga, Dominoes, Memory, Snap, Snakes & Ladder and many more.

It was these new features that prompted both Leanne and Nikki to enrol Ben and Olivia in the Kindyplay system this year.

They felt their children were in good hands, in familiar surroundings, and the added benefit of more advanced, age-related activities, and the ability to encourage separation from parents during the sessions would assist them in the transition to fouryear-old Kinder.

They are very happy with their decision as Ben and Olivia always look forward to their weekly Kindyplay session, any early tears have well and truly subsided, and the mums are enjoying their extra free time!

Places are still available for terms 3 and 4 this year, and we are happy to take enrolments and enquiries for 2014 (and beyond).

Contact the Church Office on 5243 3563, or email us at kindyplay@grovedalebc.org.au - Suzanne More Kindyplay Facilitator

Pri m a ry

school improvement.

Students at Tate Street have access to singing and playing musical instruments and their emotional and social well-being is rising significantly.

A recent report by Melbourne University professorial fellow, Brian Caldwell, in the Australian newspaper suggests “Teaching the performing arts in primary schools significantly boosts the results disadvantaged students achieve in academic subjects.”

An independent evaluation indicated that in national literacy tests the proportion of Year 5 students meeting minimum standards in reading rose 90 per cent compared to about 65 per cent in non-arts schools.

The percentage of students (Teacher Judgement against the VELS’ in Years Prep-

6 combined) indicated in 2011, 23 per cent of our students got an ‘A’ or ‘B’ for reading.

This has improved to 46 per cent by 2012.

Other subjects showed similar improvements.

Writing increased from 15 to 22 per cent and Number from 19 to 34 per cent in 2012.

Even further good news was the results of the Student Opinion Survey.

All Grade 5 and 6 students in Victoria fill out this survey once per year as required by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

In 2012 it has been great to note the students’ opinion of the school has improved in nine of the 11 surveyed areas with huge increases in areas such as learning confidence, student motivation, school connectedness and classroom behaviour.

The icing on the cake for our students included our Marimba Band being invited to play at the Port Fairy Folk Festival on the long weekend in March this year.

Also, last year’s drama production of ‘Theseus and the Minotaur’ was invited to perform for the Royal tour of Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall and the then Victorian Premier, Ted Ballieu.

At Tate Street we hope to continue our performing arts program for years to come, which all helps make strong contributions towards the growth in the educational, social, spiritual and self-disciplinary needs of our students .

Terry Scott Principal Tate Street Primary School

Page 12

GPAC

Page 13

Sc ho ol s

In

F o cus

Sacred Heart College TEENAGERS... well, we often get a bad wrap; having misplaced priorities, forever partying and not thinking about the needs of others!

But what if we turned the tables on this stereotype?

Getting teenagers together, give them a chance to party with the intention of not only considering the needs of others, but actually doing something for them.

On June 20, year 12 students from Sacred Heart, Clonard, St Joseph’s and St Ignatius Colleges came together to raise money for local organisation Headspace.

We, the College captains of these four schools, through the committee of Catholic Leaders of Geelong Schools, held a highly successful Mid-Winter Ball, which raised

DJ Paddy Slack

funds and awareness for the incredibly beneficial and vital work Headspace carries out for the youth of our community.

More than 300 students were in attendance, making this a night to be remembered.

Held at St Joseph’s College, the ball was a fabulous way to celebrate the end of our first semester of year 12, and promote anti-discrimination in a generation that such issues are sadly quite prevalent.

With the approval of our school principals and the support of our respective communities, it is approximated a total of $6,000 was raised on the night, which will go directly to Headspace Barwon to contribute to new initiatives and mentoring systems the organisation is implementing.

The night would not have been such a

-

S eco n d a ry

success without the incredible efforts of our various sponsors.

A huge thank you goes out to DJs Zane Micallef, Paddy Slack and Ayden Green, the Sacred Heart and St Joseph’s Year 11 VET Music Group, Liam Tormey and DB Photography, the Picture This Photobooth, Alan James for his lighting design, Spotlight for the decorations, the staff of the four schools, and Tony McManus of Headspace Barwon.

It is hoped this will be an event that can continue annually as it is a truly uplifting initiative that demonstrates the teenage capacity to make a difference and stand up for social justice.

Georgia Caruana College Captain, Sacred Heart College

CLOGS Committee

Page 14

c

o

Mietta and Alexander - Belinda Hynson, Ocean Grove

r

n

e

r

My boys Max, 2, and Leo, 11 weeks old - Carly Flakemore, Geelong Cousins Sam, Maxx, Olive, Fynn and Stella -Megan De Kook,

Wandana Heights

Bella, 4, and Mayah, 11 months - Naomi Schultink, Corio Estella, 12 months, and Lilani, 3

- Trish Judd, Grovedale

Finn, almost 2, and Ollie, 7 months - Sara Bonnici, Geelong West

Fletcher holding his brand new sister Macy - Brooke Ryan, Torquay

Madyson and Xavier

- Kimmi Croxford, Grovedale

Imogen and Mate - Kristy Berryman Clarence, Grovedale

Cousins Flynn, Taj, Ava and Kohen - Kari Hauser, Geelong

Hattie Jackson and her cousin Robbie Read

- Kate Jackson, Leopold

Cousins Mia, Jaxx and Bonni - Elizabeth Allen, Barwon Heads

Amy and Ryan - Mary Thompson, Leopold

Gracie and Kayde - Elizabeth Allen, Barwon Heads

Send your photos to editor@kidsvoice.com.au

Page 15

Thomas and my niece Ava - Jacqui Cook, Bacchus Marsh My son Tyler, 4, and daughter Summer, 2

- Sally Marange, Newcomb

Charlotte, Olivia and Gabrielle Whitehand with their new much loved baby cousin Lloyd

- Lydia Whitehand, Highton

Sisters Sienna and Marley

- Beth Rowe, Lara

L ET T E R S & NE WS

Organisers thrilled by photo competition entries I AM writing to share with you the success of the Healthy Men, Healthy Minds competition, a recent promotion for the Raphael Centre in Geelong.

The Healthy Men, Healthy Minds competition invited men, women and families to submit a photo which has been inspired by, or is reflective of, positive relationships between children and a significant male in their lives.

We were overwhelmed with the quality and quantity of entries in the online photo competition which was organised through Facebook to raise awareness of postnatal depression in men.

Depression is estimated to affect up to 15 per cent of new dads - and, if a man’s partner is suffering with postnatal depression he is much more likely to become depressed himself.

Judging the three winning entries was hard as every photo was heartfelt and there are some beautiful images capturing a special moment in time.

The one on one images showing new Dads with tiny babies are very special and I thought you might like to see a fun photo

of the Dads and Kids only camping trip to Anglesea, submitted by Merv Stewart.

We know men are often expected to be strong and capable yet fathers also have to contend with the emotional changes and challenges that a new baby brings to the family. At times this balancing or juggling act can be difficult and traumatic.

For some men the struggle is reflected in emotional distress or depression but men are less inclined to access help for anxiety, depression and other mental health issues – support that our Raphael Centre in Geelong can provide free of charge.

For more information on Raphael Centre services or the Healthy Men, Healthy Minds photo competition visit www.sjog. org.au/raphael or the St John of God Social Outreach and Advocacy Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sjogoutreach Raphael Centres do not provide crisis support.

If you need of urgent help please contact LifeLine free on 13 11 14.

Dianna Goodman Marketing Assistant

FAMILIES in Geelong now have access to a revamped, state-of-the-art early childhood learning facility, with Premier Denis Napthine officially opening the newly renovated $1.1 million Kardinia Childcare and Kindergarten.

Joining Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development Wendy Lovell, Dr Napthine said the Victorian Coalition Government proudly provided $300,000 towards the renovated facility.

“This renovation has allowed capacity to increase from 150 to 226 children per day attending long day care and kindergarten programs,” Dr Napthine said.

“The Coalition Government is building for growth and this new and improved centre provides the expanding Geelong community with high-quality early childhood services.

“This facility gives families and their children the very best start in life,” Dr Napthine said.

The newly renovated building includes three- and four-year-old kinder rooms; an art studio and bathroom; a dining area for the children; the centre kitchen; a baby’s room; and a reception area.

Ms Lovell said the new building featured an open design that fostered interaction and promoted community spirit.

“This upgrade allows the service to successfully introduce universal access of 15 hours of kinder in its four-year-old programs, without displacing the three-year-old program,” Ms Lovell said.

“What happens in the early years has a profound effect on how children grow and this facility provides an opportunity for learning and development in the critical years before school.”

Since December 2010, the Coalition Government has made a record $93 million worth of investment in early childhood infrastructure

Kids’ Voice reserves the right to edit letters at its discretion.

Submit letters to editor@kidsvoice.com.au

Katie Fiorillo Photography

Premier unveils $1.1m Kardinia childcare and kindergarten upgrade

Page 16

Page 17

R e ad e r S t o ry

Thriving twins had tough start to life Looking at three-year-old twins, Asha and Xavier, you wouldn’t believe they were born nine weeks early and weighed just 1500 grams.

Their mum Bec Read, of Clifton Springs, shares her story.

A

ROUND New Year’s Eve in 2008, my husband Paul and I received the best but daunting news - not only were we pregnant, but we were expecting twins.

When the shock of this news passed and as the pregnancy progressed, I loved being pregnant.

During the first trimester I experienced bearable morning sickness, but only briefly. Towards the end of the second trimester I experienced my babies kicking and it was amazing.

Apart from a routine medical test finding protein in my urine, everything else was fine. But during the third trimester, at week 30, I developed a nasty headache that persisted.

I sought treatment for the headache, taking pain relief as instructed by the nurse, and rested. That night, I developed severe pain under my ribs, but I dismissed this thinking it was just one of the twins moving.

The pain lasted all night and my headache intensified. I sought treatment from a chiropractor during the next couple of days thinking my back was causing the pain. The treatment did not help.

Paul got increasingly worried and suggested we speak to a midwife, but I thought these symptoms were normal.

In hindsight, knowing what I know now, I would have admitted myself into hospital at this stage.

Paul, who was still feeling uneasy, rang the midwife anyway. As a precaution, the midwife instructed us to head into hospital.

Thank goodness she did as a half hour later, I was shocked to be diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and to learn the twins would be delivered that night at the Royal Woman’s Hospital at only thirty one weeks gestation.

I was rushed to the hospital by ambulance with Paul in tow.

Everything was happening so fast - it was like I was watching a TV show.

As the drip line was inserted into my arm people scrambled around me organising medical equipment for the ambulance just in case I gave birth to the twins on the way.

I just lay still and quiet, and repeatedly reassured the nurses that I was OK, when they asked.

We arrived and I was admitted to hospital late into the night in what seemed to be record time. But a decision was made to hold off on delivering the twins until the morning due to short staffing.

Throughout the night, the nurses and doctors monitored the twins but by morning my kidneys and liver were shutting down due to fluid retention.

We all agreed on a natural birth and I was induced early in the morning. As the day progressed, complications developed with me and one of the twins, so our obstetrician decided an emergency caesarean was now our only option.

The time had arrived and I was wheeled into the operating

room. I couldn’t believe how many doctors and nurses were in the room - I counted around twenty.

In the back of my mind, I couldn’t believe this was all happening, and that thirty one weeks of pregnancy all boiled down to this moment.

The helplessness I felt was overwhelming. All I was hoping for was to hear my little babies cry.

Asha was the first to be born as she struggled throughout the pregnancy. After she was born she didn’t cry.

I saw four nurses hovering over her all trying to start her breathing. While Asha was being worked on, a couple of minutes later Xavier was born.

He began crying and no words could describe the instant relief I felt.

One of the nurses put Xavier on my chest for a brief minute and a silent tear ran down my cheek.

He was perfect. I had no idea my first cuddle with Xavier would be my last for more than one week.

Paul was cutting Xavier’s umbilical cord as Asha began breathing with the help of oxygen, which was a huge relief.

We were all separated when Paul left theatre with the twins to go to the special care nursery, while I lay as the caesarean procedure was completed.

I think this was the loneliest I had ever felt in my life - laying there all by myself not knowing what was happening to the twins, and if they were okay?

After the caesarean, I was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit for around-the-clock care, to recover from the caesarean and all the troubles the pre-eclampsia had caused.

I later learned I needed three blood transfusions and a lot of magnesium. I must admit, I was out of it for a couple of days until the effects of all the medication subsided.

I know this was a really a hard time for Paul as the twins were still in need of round-the-clock care and lots of things were happening at this point.

Our obstetrician said he was only going to talk to Paul if Paul had to make a decision, whether it be about the twins or myself.

The twins were incubated and administered a surfactant to help with their lung development.

For the first week, they had around-the-clock care and each in their own humidicrib so they could be monitored separately.

They began making steady progress and after two days started Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) treatment, which was their first big step towards recovery.

I was admitted to the maternity ward after a couple of days and I was now well enough to see the twins, but I wasn’t prepared for what I saw.

Asha and Xavier were so tiny, weighing 1500 grams (or three tubs of butter). They both had translucent skin and I could see

Now three-and-a-half years old, Xavier and Asha are thriving and full of life.

Asha and Xavier spent their first eight weeks in hospital. every indentation of every bone in their tiny little bodies.

They both had no hair, no eyebrows, no eyelashes and their arms were floppy as though they had no bones in them at all.

It was hardest seeing the tubes in their arms and all over their bodies. I was overcome with emotion I burst out crying.

I couldn’t control myself; I thought there was no way they would be okay. I sat and watched them for hours on end, until the nurse told me to go back to bed and rest.

The twins spent one week in the incubators and by the end, I couldn’t wait for my first cuddle.

It was suggested we should try “Kangaroo” cuddles, whereby you wear a zipped up jumper and you put the baby on your chest to keep them warm while they get introduced and accustomed to your smell.

Nothing could even come close to the feeling of cuddling my babies for the first time skin on skin.

After two weeks I was discharged from hospital, while the twins stayed.

For three weeks, Asha made frustrating progress, two steps forward and one step back.

Every morning when we arrived at the hospital to see them, I felt so sick to my stomach thinking about what could have happened overnight.

Some nights, Asha was moved back into the humidicrib and separated from her brother.

The feelings Paul and I felt whilst having sick children in hospital was a sense of guilt, helplessness, and sadness.

The day finally came when the twins were well enough to be transferred to the Geelong special care nursery.

They spent two more months in there and we were able to be more hands on with them.

We were now able to change their clothes and nappies and we gave them both a bath for the first time, which was unbelievable.

As the weeks passed the feeding tubes were removed and I was able to breast feed. I loved being so close to my beautiful babies and I felt I was actually able to do something for them.

The following two months were hard. Asha would stop breathing at times. They call this Apnea. I got so used to seeing her go purple and the monitors go off that they taught me what I should do and how to stop the beeping on the machines.

Xavier on the other hand started putting on weight. He thrived at nearly 38 weeks and the nurses said he was fine to come home, but they didn’t want to split them up.

At around 39 weeks, the nurses finally gave the twins the okay to come home. Those are the words we had been waiting for.

Shortly after, we were heading home with one healthy baby boy and one little girl who would stop breathing at anytime.

Paul and I attended a resuscitation course for babies at the Royal Children’s Hospital and bought a monitor that she wore constantly for six months.

The journey was hard and felt like it would never end.

But looking back, we would do it all over again to have two healthy and beautiful children.

Page 18

Health

Learning to speak and listen milestones LEARNING to communicate is a step by step process for all children.

Every baby learns to talk by listening to people talk, by playing with sounds and words, and by talking to others.

Babies can hear before they are born – they recognise your voice and the beat of your heart.

The ability to hear is critical in developing speech and language. A child needs to hear language before they can understand it (receptive language) to then use it (expressive language or speaking skills).

Many parents wonder if their child’s language and listening skills are developing normally. While individual children develop these skills at different rates, there is a general pattern to children’s language development.

By the age of one year they: • Recognise their own name • Respond to familiar sounds (eg. telephone ringing, vacuum cleaner, car in the driveway) • Understand simple commands/instructions (eg. “no”, “give me”) and often accompanied by gesture • Understand the names of familiar objects or people • Babbles using different sounds (eg. ah, oo, baba, dada…)

• Use single words (vocabulary of 1-10 words) eg. mama, nana, dad…

• Wave hello and goodbye • Vocalise/point to get what they want • Enjoy songs, music and books By the age of two years they: • Follows simple commands/instructions (eg. “Where’s your shoe?” “Get your nappy.” “Shut the door.”)

• Understands some: action words (eg. sleep, eat, wash); preposition/position words (eg in, on) • Say the names of simple body parts (eg. nose, tummy…)

• Recognise pictures of familiar objects • Use more than 50 words such as “no”, “gone”, “mine”, “teddy” and begin to combine 2 words (eg. “mummy go”, “no want”, “more milk”…)

• Refer to self by name and some pronouns (eg. “he”, “it”) • Talk to themselves or their toys during play • Stay on one activity for 6-7 minutes • Sing simple songs (Eg. “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” or “Baa baa black sheep”)

By the age of three years they: • Follow 2-3 step instructions (eg. “Pick the teddy and give it to me.”)

• Recognise their own needs, such as hunger, thirst…

• Understand how objects are used (eg. a crayon is something to draw with) • Recognise actions (eg. “Which one is jumping/waving?”)

• Understand: more prepositions (eg. off, under, next to); describing words (eg. big/little),; a few time words (eg. yesterday, tonight) • Use 3-4 word sentences • Use ‘m, n, w, h, p’ sounds in speech consistently • Ask “what” questions • Have favourite books and television programmes • Be understood by familiar adults • Stay on an activity for 8-9 minutes By the age of four years they: • Recognise some colours (eg. red, blue, yellow, green) and simple shapes (eg. circle, square, triangle) • Understand action associations according to an object or picture (eg. ”Which one swims in water?” “Which one is carrying something?”)

• Begins to categorise (eg. “Which one do we eat/wear?” “Which ones are animals?”)

• Understand and use ‘who, what, where, why’ questions • Use correct grammar with occasional mistakes (eg. “I falled down.” “Her broked the glasses.”)

• Use language when playing with other children • Use ‘b, d, y, k, g, f ’ sounds in speech consistently; speak clearly enough to be understood by most people • Stay on an activity for 11-12 minutes

When to seek help: If your baby:

• does not seem to listen to you, enjoy sound or respond to them • has difficulty sucking, chewing, swallowing or biting • isn’t using real words by 18 months

If your toddler/child:

• is frustrated by not being able to speak to others • has trouble understanding what you say • stutters • has an unusual voice (eg. it sounds husky) • isn’t trying to combine words into 2-word phrases by 2½ years

If you are concerned about your child’s communication development, please don’t hesitate to contact the Speech Pathologist in the Child Health and Development Team at Bellarine Community Health (BCH). For appointments and enquiries please phone 5258 0812.

Page 19

R e ad e r S t o ry

Chatterbox Jye develops speech in therapy

J

YE Manic has always been considered by his family and friends to be quite the “social chatterbox”, but clear talking for the nine-yearold has not always come so naturally.

Jye’s mum, Kim Manic, recalls a time when Jye had such considerable speech difficulties that most people could not understand what he was saying.

“When Jye first started talking we noticed that he would mix up his speech sounds as many children do, making it difficult for us to understand him.” Kim said.

“At first we thought he might grow out of it, however at the start of his kinder year we became very aware of the degree of difficulty Jye was experiencing.”

Kim met with Jye’s kindergarten teacher who had also expressed concerns regarding Jye’s speech.

His teacher had started to notice some social implications these speech difficulties were having for Jye as other children were starting to walk away if they didn’t understand him. “ This was very concerning for us, as Jye had always been confident socially and quite resilient, but we didn’t want him to experience any bullying or for his speech difficulties to impact negatively on his self-esteem,” Kim said.

Kim was hopeful as Jye’s kinder teacher made a referral in term one for Jye to be assessed publicly by a speech pathologist through the local community health centre.

Due to the long waiting lists at that time Jye was not able to be seen at all that year and by the time Jye was about to start grade prep

Kim received a letter stating that he would be discharged from the service as it was for preschool children only.

“We were absolutely devastated. By now we were not only concerned about Jye’s speech and the possible impact it may have for him socially, but we were also very concerned about the impact this may have on Jye learning to read and spell,” Kim said.

At around that time I was ready to pursue a career-long passion of mine to manage my own private speech pathology practice and had noticed the growing demand for private speech pathology services in the Geelong region.

Kim and I had been close friends since childhood and I too had become quite concerned about Jye’s speech development. Baylee Speech Pathology commenced that year and Jye was my first ever private client.

I conducted a comprehensive assessment of Jye’s articulation skills, which revealed Jye had a “severe phonological disorder” impacting considerably on the intelligibility of his speech.

The term “phonology” refers to the system of speech sounds in languages and the pattern in which sounds are used to make words.

Children with phonological disorders substitute sounds in their speech, often confusing several phonological rules.

For example, a child may substitute the ‘s’ sound with a ‘d’ sound saying ‘dun’ instead of ‘sun’. When children make multiple sound substitutions in their speech resulting in several patterns of errors, their speech can be very difficult for unfamiliar people to understand.

Jye Manic, Kim Manic (centre) and Lorelle Baylee. Photo: KASEY MANIC Now that Jye had been assessed I was able to work with him in therapy to correct his speech meanwhile monitoring his acquisition of literacy and language skills to ensure that these were continuing to develop appropriately.

From a clinician’s perspective, working with Jye and his family was highly rewarding as Jye’s attitude towards therapy was nothing short of inspirational.

He engaged in therapy really well, was highly motivated, and was quite proud of his achievements. In addition to this he had such awesome support from his parents and older sister Kasey who consistently followed up with home activities with Jye. “Week by week he would make such great pro-

gress and eventually we were able to understand everything he was saying,” Kim said.

By all accounts Jye made exceptional progress with his speech and has continued to thrive both academically and socially.

When asked about what speech therapy was like, Jye replied, “I loved doing my speech therapy activities, it was lots of fun.’’

The popular nine-year-old then laughed and said, “...And everyone stills call me a chatterbox, but at least now they can understand me!”

Lorelle Baylee

Speech Pathologist Baylee Speech Pathology

Page 20

B i r t h S t o ry

The unexpected brings joy and love C

Like most new mums, Coral was a bit anxious about everything going well during her first pregnancy. On the whole she really enjoyed being pregnant, but was unaware her new baby boy had Down’s Syndrome. Coral shares her story.

ORAL has worked as a nurse since completing her Nursing Degree in 1995.

Coral and her hubby, Paul, have been together since 1990 and they married a few years after she completed her Nursing Degree.

Coral would have liked to have children when she was around 30 years old, but Paul said he was ‘not ready’, or at least that’s how she remembers it.

By the time Coral was 35, she decided they needed to do something about having children, and her hubby agreed.

Coral and Paul now have three children.

Patrick will be eight at the end of June, Rebecca will be six at the start of August and Megan has just turned three.

It took Coral and her hubby two to three months to get pregnant with the first two children and longer with the last.

During Coral’s first pregnancy she was a bit anxious about everything going well, but on the whole she really enjoyed being pregnant, except for the nausea of course.

She was very nauseated with her first pregnancy from about eight weeks until around 18 weeks. Then it went away, but came back after she was 30 weeks or so.

Coral was 36 when she fell pregnant, so immediately fell into a higher risk group for birth abnormalities.

She was concerned about the two per cent risk of a miscarriage with amniocentesis and did not want to have one, so did not have any of the screening tests for abnormalities.

At just over 37 weeks Coral’s waters broke. She had been on maternity leave for less than a week. Coral then felt the contractions commence and rang Paul to leave work and drive her to the hospital.

They went to the local public hospital and Coral had not been having contractions for very long, maybe a bit over an hour, and the midwife decided she needed to go to the Delivery Ward.

As it was Coral’s first pregnancy, she had planned, and dreamt about having a baby, read a bit of ‘stuff ’, and bought what she thought they needed.

Coral and Paul went along to the hospital’s ante natal classes. While these classes were enjoyable and interesting, in hindsight they did not really prepare Coral for anything except some of the things that may occur during the birth.

Coral had an idea she did not want to use pain killers during labour, and she definitely did not want an epidural as she wanted to have her baby least effected by drugs, and she wanted to allow her body to ‘do what it was meant to do’.

Patrick as a baby.

During labour she walked around, showered, sat on a large inflated ball and moaned and groaned heaps.

Coral tried the gas but could not tolerate the taste or the smell.

The labour progressed well, however in the second stage and after pushing for over an hour, the head was not descending.

The doctor on call was not readily available, but the midwife set up for ventouse delivery (using the suction cap to ease the head out).

Coral mentally prepared for that to happen even though she did not want it to.

However, as time went on she was able to finally push her baby out before the doctor arrived.

Coral had her ‘midwife delivery’, which was what she had hoped for.

The doctor did show up almost straight after delivery, and her son was ‘floppier’ than expected, and there was concern he was not breathing well enough.

He was put on Coral’s chest (all wrapped up) and that was an overwhelmingly emotional feeling.

Very quickly however, Coral realised things were not quite right with her baby.

Page 21

Bi rt h S t o ry

Patrick with his sisters Rebecca and Megan.

One of the nurses said there were some ‘concerns’. Coral does not remember her exact words but she does remember asking ‘Do you mean that he may have Down’s Syndrome’?

Coral does not know where this came from and she had not really contemplated it might happen to her family, but this is what did happen.

Coral’s hubby followed as their son was taken to the Special Care Nursery (SCN).

Coral stayed where she was to allow the placenta to be delivered, and to have a small tear stitched. The labour lasted somewhere between eight and nine hours.

Coral thinks she got out of it pretty well seeing some first time mothers have much longer labours. It was definitely painful, although not unbearable.

Coral went to SCN when she was ready.

She was very certain of wanting to give as much support, bonding and loving to her baby, even though she wasn’t exactly sure what she felt (except being stunned by the whole experience).

Coral and her hubby told his parents a couple of hours later, then Coral’s mother.

She does remember feeling quite bittersweet about having this wonderful news - that they had their baby boy, but also he may have Down’s Syndrome.

The doctors had also initially warned Coral and her hubby their baby may have a heart defect and may need to be transferred to the Royal Children’s Hospital (about half of babies born with Down’s syndrome have Congenital Heart Defects).

Luckily it turned out that he just had a bit of fluid on his lungs and needed extra oxygen overnight.

Their son stayed in SCN and Coral expressed breast milk regularly as she wanted to breastfeed.

The breastfeeding did not go well initially, and tube feed top ups were required until day five.

On day five a midwife (who I think was a Godsend) introduced a nipple shield. It was a very soft one and Coral’s baby could latch on to the breast, and she could see him sucking.

It took persistence but she breastfed him until he refused her breast milk when he was about 18 months old. By this time Coral was pregnant with her second child.

Having Patrick was quite disorienting in a way. The hospital staff were all great.

Coral’s friends and co-workers were all supportive, as was the paediatrician (all provided information and acceptance).

Some people did ask, ‘Didn’t Coral get the pre natal testing?’ She presumes this would also lead to the assumption a termination would be the logical thing to do had Coral known her baby had Down’s Syndrome. She was glad to have not had to make that decision.

Coral and Paul did not know what to expect when Patrick was younger, and she stressed quite a bit about him not meeting milestones, and worried she was not doing enough for him.

As Patrick has gotten older and learned to communicate more, Coral has become more sure his needs were being met.

Patrick is generally happy and Coral has faith they are doing the best they can as a family.

Over the first couple of years of Patrick’s life she probably felt very alone even though she had physiotherapist help.

She did not want to have to cope with going to play groups. She did try the local Maternal and Child Health Nurse mother’s group, but found she had little in common with the other mums, so did not continue.

She remembers one of the mum’s saying to her ‘doesn’t he kick you when you change his nappy’? (which Patrick did not).

He also did not move very forcefully when he was inside Coral, which she did not realise until she was pregnant again.

One of the features of Down’s Syndrome is low muscle tone (both gross and fine motor), which affects mobility, chewing, and various other motor skills.

Patrick did not walk until he was 26 months old (which was after Coral’s second child was born).

Life with a son with Down’s Syndrome was very different than it would otherwise have been.

Coral has come across some instances of people being ignorant or slightly rude to her in public but never anything too extreme.

People used to always want to touch Patrick when he was younger. This does not happen now that he is older. Patrick has a few children who are comfortable with

him at school and is well supported. Staff at Coral’s local school are wonderful, as they are both supportive and accepting.

She has heard some terrible stories of prejudice that other people have had to deal with (for instance, other parents not wanting a person’s daughter with Down’s Syndrome at the kinder she was attending, and her older siblings had all attended).

After having Patrick, Coral and Paul decided they wanted to have more children, but they would have the amniocentesis test during pregnancy, so they did not end up with more than one child with a genetic disability.

Obviously there are limits to what can be tested for in amniocentesis, and Coral also had to deal with her fear of miscarriage associated with the procedure.

With Coral’s second pregnancy she suffered from nausea from about week eight until around 16 weeks, and then it never really came back.

She did not go back to work as a nurse between having Patrick and Rebecca, but the family were living on a dairy farm.

Coral milked cows up until about four weeks before having Rebecca. Again she felt good ‘in her body’ being pregnant, though she was sure she was much more tired the second time around. It was so much harder to rest when looking after a two year old.

Coral did not realise until reflecting now, that she did not have a lot of memories about being pregnant with Rebecca.

on-call, which was very different from her previous experience.

Rebecca was born at about 8pm and Coral stayed overnight in the hospital and went home at lunch time the next day.

This was probably too quick in hindsight, because she did not have special alone time with Rebecca. Coral got back home to look after Patrick and Rebecca because Paul and his father were the only people at home, and her hubby had 180 cows to milk and calves to feed.

Breastfeeding Rebecca was also difficult.

Coral took out her nipple shield again and everything went really well from then on.

She stopped using it at about four to six months, and ended up stopping breast feeding Rebecca at about 20 months of age when she wanted to get pregnant again, and just felt tired a lot of the time.

By this stage the family were no longer living on the farm. Coral had gone back to nursing when Rebecca was eight months of age.

Her hubby looked after the kids while she worked. This has worked well for them ever since, with lots of communication and too-ing and fro-ing.

It took about six months to get pregnant the last time and again Coral had an amniocenteses to check for abnormalities.

Thankfully again there were none.

From about 32 weeks on-wards Coral was sure Megan was breech.

This was confirmed by an ultrasound at about 38 weeks.

She does remember how strong her kicks were and thinking she was a strong baby.

She needed to be strong because Coral was pushing her body fairly hard when milking and looking after Patrick.

She was still breastfeeding about four times a day and growing a baby. Coral did consider this to be ‘tandem’ breastfeeding, but she was glad that Patrick had stopped breastfeeding when Rebecca was born.

Coral found breast feeding very tiring on her body and after stopping each time felt a new burst of energy.

Rebecca’s delivery was similar to Patrick’s, only heaps quicker. The pain was extreme and she was yelling heaps. Rebecca was born in less than three hours.

This delivery was attended by the doctor

Coral agreed to an Elective Caesarean Section, which was quite good because the family were back on another farm and she could organise who would be looking after Patrick and Rebecca.

Megan was delivered on May 17th, not long after the start of calving.

Thanks to Coral and Paul for sharing their family story!

If anyone has a Birthing Story they would like to share, they can email me at jencarr@y7mail.com

Jennifer Carr

Associate nurse unit manager Special Care Nursery Geelong Hospital.

Page 22

T e ch n o l ogy

It’s easy to get out of tune with iTunes

I

WAS shocked to read in the Herald Sun recently children will cost parents almost $300,000 by the time they reach 18.

It was even more shocking when I did some sums for our three children.

I was wondering if those figures included the sneaky hidden things like iTunes charges.

That’s right, those purchases you don’t know about until your credit card bill arrives.

While checking through a recent credit cart statement, there were several entries of purchases made to iTunes.

I have an iPhone and an iPad, and occasionally purchase apps. This time however, there were eight purchases of the same amount of $34.99 within a few minutes. With a total of over $250, these charges were worth investigating.

On contacting iTunes, they determined the purchases were made on a Monday morning around 10am. I have two school aged children, and they had school as their alibi that morning.

My pre-school child however had no such excuse. I reasoned with Apple iTunes that the purchases had been made by mistake, my son can’t read, and they were the same purchases over and over. They could obviously see it was a mistake. iTunes came to the party and refunded me the full amount, but specified it was a ‘one off ’ and they wouldn’t be reimbursing in future.

Here are some things I learnt about stopping this from happening again...

to make exceptions if you have a valid reason. If you believe you are eligible for a refund, you may wish to know how to go about it. There are a few ways.

In order to activate your iPhone or iPad, you must have a credit card associated with the device. You can have your security set so a password must be added when making a purchase.

What most people don’t know is when you add your password, the account is active for 15 minutes. This is the period my pre-schooler must have ‘gone shopping’.

The most effective ways to make sure you don’t have any iTunes surprises on your next credit card statement are to: • De-activate your account on your

iPhone, iPod and iPad. To do this, go to your Settings, select iTunes & App Store.

Click on your Apple ID and select Sign Out. • Hide the App Store Icon. This can be done by going to Settings > General > Restrictions. Select Enable Restrictions and enter a four-digit passcode and then turn on restrictions for Installing Apps and In-App Purchases.

• Set up a separate iTunes account for your children. But in this case, don’t associate any credit card with this account.

If they ever want to purchase something from the App Store, you can login to your own account and send the app as a “gift” to your child’s Apple ID. If you are in the situation where you are looking to reclaim some costs, unfortu-

EMAIL RECEIPT If you received an email receipt for your iTunes Store purchase, you should have been emailed a receipt. There will be a link under the item called Report a Problem. You will then be directed to a form where you can provide details.

nately there is no guarantee you will be refunded for purchases made with iTunes.

Each case will be evaluated individually.

Some examples of when you might want to ask for a re-imbursement could include: • Purchasing a large file (e.g. movie) but finding it is taking hours to download.

• Accidently purchasing an iPad version of an app for your iPhone.

• Buying the wrong version of an app that you were looking for. This can happen when looking for a specific game as there are plenty in the iTunes store that look similar.

• A purchased song will not play on your device.

The iTunes App store clearly says you cannot cancel a purchase or receive a refund for a purchase. But they are known

ONLINE THROUGH ITUNES You can view your purchase history with the App Store. From there, you will see a link to Report a Problem. This will again direct you to the online form.

PHONE If you prefer to speak to a real person, you can call Apple directly on 1300 968 979.

Smart phones and tablets offer a wonderful opportunity to explore, create, learn and develop.

It is a shame you have to worry about what costs might be involved.

Hopefully some of these ideas will help you control your spending and allow you to continue to use these great resources without the worry about mistaken purchases.

- Shelley Gross Director of Wonderful Websites www.wonderfulwebsites.com.au

Page 23

R e ad e r S t o ry

Cuddling up to cats all part of the job VANESSA SCIARRONE, 17, says one of the many highlights of her traineeship at the Geelong Animal Welfare Society is cuddling up to the cats and kittens while she learns. The Year 12 student is one of 15 who are undertaking the schoolbased traineeship program. Vanessa shares her story...

G

EELONG Animal Welfare Society has provided me with a vast amount of learning experiences.

I have learnt about animal handling and how to approach animals in a range of different situations.

The GAWS staff have broadened my understanding about animal behaviour and enhanced my confidence in my ability to approach animals under even the most extreme and difficult circumstances.

Through the support and dedication of the staff I have been given knowledge and first-hand experience to not only further my skills within the animal care industry but enhance my confidence in working in the industry as well.

I have also had the opportunity to work first hand with vets, assisting and receiving an extensive range of information on animal care and hygiene, detecting illness and disease as well as becoming aware of various treatments and procedures that routinely take place.

I have learnt how to administer medications to various animals confidently as well as taken responsibility for my work. \ The trust GAWS staff have given me to

undertake tasks alone has provided me with the responsibility of taking ownership for that animal’s health once in my care.

Through the shelters adoption service, as well as providing the facility for sick and injured animals, I have learnt how to interact with a range of people all experiencing many different levels of emotions.

I have learnt to deal with people who may be grieving from a lost animal, and have learnt how to read different peoples’ personalities to identify what animal may be best suited to their home.

I have been able to interact with others and provide information on animal care and hygiene.

One of the most rewarding experiences gained through this job is assisting people in the adoption process of an animal previously suffering from neglect and illness.

I have the opportunity to be a part of a workplace which is extremely dedicated to animals. I have also learnt how a large organisation like this operates.

I see it is a specialised workplace, relying on the dedication and love of its staff, all operating beyond their call of duty to ensure that the animals are cared for and kept in

optimal health to ensure that animals can be given a better opportunity for a second chance.

While the job is sometimes tiring and difficult, (as I have had to deal with some issues that have been difficult for me to cope with) the satisfaction that it has brought to me would always out weigh this.

I could only recommend others to follow this path if they have the smallest interest in the animal industry as it is so much more.

Better than just working for someone, I get to play with, and cuddle animals, in particular cats and kittens for most of the time that I work. Nothing compares with this.

The Geelong Animal Welfare Society believe in employing and educating locally, which has led them to create a large school based traineeship program in Geelong.

With the help of the Geelong Community Foundation and the Strategies for Excellence program from GForce, GAWS have been able to provide 15 students the chance to work and learn locally.

The students come from a range of Geelong schools and work one day a week at the shelter.

GAWS hope to raise the number of trainees to 25 in 2014.

Page 24

R e a de r S t o ry

Tennis is a game for all ages and life T ENNIS is for everyone; it gets your heart pumping and your legs moving.

Tennis is the ideal sport for any age, fitness level, ability or gender and it is played all year round.

According to Tennis Australia, more than 450,000 people play tennis weekly in Australia.

Children as young as 3 and seniors well into their 80’s enjoy the social, physical and mental benefits of tennis.

Tennis is not only a competitive sport, it’s a great recreational activity for families, friends and social groups.

For families with children of all ages, tennis is ideal because it non-contact, has low equipment requirements and is easily adapted for all age groups and most of all its lots of fun.

It is also an activity that’s easy to take on holidays. A can of balls and a few racquets in the boot and off you go. Many hotels, resorts and caravan parks have tennis courts for guests to use.

Depending on what stage their life is at, many mums leave tennis only to come back to it when their children are toddlers.

Besides the beneficial fitness and health benefits, tennis can be a great way for mums to meet new people, socialise and feel connected to a community.

Tennis Australia introduced a Mums & Tiny Tots introductory program to welcome new tennis mums and returning players to the court.

The five-week program, run by fully

qualified tennis coaches, covered all aspects of tennis including sessions of Cardio Tennis. Cardio Tennis is a tennis based fitness program.

The tiny tots were treated to their own tennis fun with modified sessions based around hand eye coordination, tennis skills and most of all lots of excitement.

Designed especially for kids, the courts are smaller, the balls don’t bounce very high and the special racquets are perfect for small hands. The littlies learn to hold a racquet, hit a ball and discover the fun of tennis.

The Mums and Tiny Tots program highlighted the fun, fitness and health benefits of tennis.

Tennis is an excellent activity for people

to stay fit and healthy.

It aids cardio vascular function, improves bone strength, balance and coordination making it an ideal activity for everyone.

There are also social and mental advantages of playing tennis. The regular social interaction contributes to overall positive mental health. Social tennis usually incorporates a coffee and a chat after leaving the court.

Tennis can be played all year round.

This time of year when the days are shorter, colder and wetter there is no need to stop playing tennis.

Geelong’s only indoor centre, Centre Court Indoor Tennis in North Geelong offers a full range of tennis programs and coaching, including the Mums and Tiny Tots program.

Centre Court owners, Kathy and David Hicks are former players and their son Matthew was Geelong’s number one

player for many years.

The whole family is passionate about tennis and share this passion with everyone who walks through the centre door.

They recently ran the Tennis Australia, Mums & Tiny Tots sessions and were delighted with the response.

Kathy said, “The littlies have such a great time and get so excited when they hit the ball over the net. The Centre was buzzing with excited pre-schoolers, racquet in hand ready for some tennis fun.”

Tennis can be played at any stage in life, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens.

Many people especially mums take a break from tennis only to come back to it later realising they miss being out on the court.

So whether you play socially or competitively you cannot underestimate the benefits of playing tennis, tennis is for life.

Centre Court Indoor Tennis 1/3 Hepner Place, North Geelong www.geelongindoortennis.com.au

Page 25

Community #wallpaper3216 #wallpaper3216 was a youth arts project that covered the ‘Youth Precinct Area’ surrounding the Waurn Ponds Skate Park with Instagrammed photos, for National Youth Week 2013.

More than 200 photos were taken by young people, in the suburbs covering postcode 3216, and used to make a ‘wallpaper’ (imagine giant stickers). #wallpaper3216 ran for two weeks, and the demand for it to stay was high.

During July a more permanent mural will be painted at Waurn Ponds Skate Park with help from young people in the area.

Projects like this and more information on things happening for young people aged 12-25 can be found at www.youthcan.vic.gov.au

Before I Die…

Before I Die is a global public art project that invites people to reflect on their lives and share their personal aspirations in public space.

After artist and urban planner Candy Chang lost someone she loved very much, she painted the wall of an abandoned house in her neighborhood in New Orleans with chalkboard paint and stenciled it with a grid of the sentence “Before I die I want to ______.”

Passersby can use chalk to write directly on the wall.

The Geelong Before I die wall went up in Union St for National Youth Week.

Thousands of entries were made, and each time it was cleaned to make more

room, it was full within minutes.

People drew, brought their own chalk there, found peace there and loved sharing it with others.

Many people wrote, but also a lot more just stop and take time to read... think... smile... and ask what it’s all about.

People posted pictures on Facebook and Instagram and talked about how ‘cool’ it was this was in Geelong.

Hopefully the wall will return anorther time, at another location in Geelong in the future.

For more information about Before I Die... visit http://beforeidie.cc/site/geelong/ Also visit www.youthcan.vic.gov.au

Contributed by the City of Greater Geelong

Page 26

Page 27

Pet

C are

Which pet will best fit into your family?

C HOOSING a pet and long term family companion is a huge decision.

There are rescue organisations and shelters nation wide that are overflowing due to poorly researched options and bad decisions made in adopting unsuitable pets.

Dogs and cats fit well into most situations, but there are other species that may be worth some consideration too.

CANINE COMPANIONS Dogs come in all shapes and sizes.

Choosing the right breed of dog to suit your family can be challenging.

Research the breeds you are considering so that you are aware of what the type of dog was originally bred for - your dog’s perceived “job” will influence its personality.

For example Beagles are not good dogs to take on long relaxing walks off leash, as they tend to find a scent and follow it. Poodle cross breeds, such as Labradoodles, Spoodles and Cavoodles are popular recent choices.

In theory, the poodle coat helps to reduce the amount of fur shed and is less allergenic than other longer coated breeds.

Giant breed dogs such as Great Danes are docile and loyal, they take up a lot of space but don’t require a lot of exercise.

Working dog breeds, including Kelpies and Border Collies require lots of exercise and may not be suitable for a small suburban yard, unless you run long distances or can take your dog to work every day.

All dogs may have destructive tendencies if they do not have good training, sufficient attention or exercise.

Enrolling in puppy preschool or dog education classes within the first couple of months of pet ownership is an important aspect of establishing a great relationship and setting boundaries for your dog.

Consider Pet Insurance from Day 1. In the case of accident or illness, medical bills for dogs can mount significantly in a short period of time.

FURRY FELINES Cats can be deceivingly long living pets, they may live up to 20 years of age, so careful consideration must be taken in adopting a kitten.

Whilst there are many beautiful pure bred cats available, consider giving a home to one of the many unwanted or abandoned cats in our animal shelters.

Pets sold from shelters will be rehomed having already been desexed, vaccinated and microchipped, which provides a considerable savings on initial purchase.

Pet insurance is highly advisable for cats.

Ensure that your new cat has an indoor space where bedding, food, water and litter is located, where the cat may be able to retreat if other cats, dogs or kids are all too much at times.

Ensuring your cat is indoors at night time helps to minimise cats’ predatory behaviour, stops them from being involved in territorial disputes with other neighbourhood cats, and reduces the likelihood of being injured in a road accident.

BOUNCING BUNNIES Rabbits can live outside in a hutch or entirely indoors.

They have a life expectancy of up to 6-8 years. Generally if the bunny has been well handled from a young age they are very sociable and affectionate.

Male rabbits are often more docile once they have been castrated, and female rabbits should be speyed to avoid uterine caners.

If more than one rabbit is in the family then consider having them desexed after 12 weeks of age.

If bunnies are housed outdoors, ensure adeqate prevention against mosquitoes, particularly in summertime when the fatal Myxomatosis is spread.

Most medical problems with bunnies are dietary related - a high fibre diet of at least 75 per cent quality hay, 20 per cent Fortified food such as pellets or kibble, and 5 per cent treats and greens such as fresh vegetables or Oxbow treats.

GUINEA PIGS Like bunnies, guinea pigs are prolific breeders.

Keeping a guinea pig and a rabbit for companionship, rather than multiple guinea pigs, assists with population control!

Guinea pigs are usually housed in secure outdoor hutches, if handled from an early age

can make placid companions for children.

Their diet is similar to bunnies with lots of hay, a specific Fortified pellet formula for Guinea Pigs and occasional vegetables and treats. When fed a premium diet, Guinea pigs have few medical problems and have a life expectancy of up to 4-6 years.

RATS AND MICE - can be low cost and shorter term pets, but are avid breeders and require secure enclosures BIRDS - some types of parrots can live in captivity for over 50 years. Budgies are extremely intelligent and can be taught to speak.

Because birds are naturally prey animals, they can mask signs of illness so that by the time we recognise symptoms, the bird is extremely unwell. A cage with natural tree branches for perches or a secure outdoor aviary is needed for housing.

REPTILES - such as lizards, snakes and turtles all require very specific environments in which to be housed. Most health problems encountered are related to suboptimal feeding or environmental conditions Other lower cost more temporary pets to consider include: ant farms, worm farms, hermit crabs and stick insects. These choices may provide your family with an opportunity to prove their commitment to pet ownership without having to immediately invest in a more interactive, furry but long term and higher maintenance dog or cat!

Newtown Veterinary Clinic 121 West Fyans Street, Newtown 03 5221 5333

Page 28

R e v i e ws

WIN

To win a copy of this book, LIKE our Facebook page facebook.com/ KidsVoiceGeelong and send us a message telling us why you’d like to win.

R IC K S TE I N ’S I N D I A

By R i c k S t e i n - R a ndo m H ou s e

WIN

To win a copy of this book, LIKE our Facebook page facebook.com/ KidsVoiceGeelong and send us a message telling us why you’d like to win.

What makes a good curry? Sensual spicy aromas or thick, creamy sauces? Rich, dark dahls or crispy fried street snacks?

Rick journeys through India to find the answer, searching this colourful, chaotic nation in search of the truths behind our love affair with its food.

Chefs, home cooks and street vendors hold the key to unlocking the secrets of these complex and diverse flavours – and Rick’s travels take him to the heart of both their long-held traditions and most modern techniques. He uncovers recipes for fragrant kormas, delicate spiced fish and slow-cooked biryanis, all the while gathering ideas and inspiration for his own take on that elusive dish – the perfect curry.

Full of beautiful coloured photos, this is another credit to Rick Stein and really makes the reader want to get into the kitchen and start cooking. My mouth is watering!

A picture book for kids about transport around the world.

From planes, trains and automobiles to all things that GO. It’s like Dora the Explorer meets Thomas the Tank Engine.

Peter is going to the zoo and he wants his friend Ahmed to come too. To get to Peter, Ahmed just has to ride his camel through the desert, catch a bus to the airport hop on a jumbo jet. A picture book about all the different types of transport we can use to get around our big wide world, and the many places, people and customs you can see along the way.

To win a copy of this book, LIKE our Facebook page facebook.com/ KidsVoiceGeelong and send us a message telling us why you’d like to win.

WIN

If everyone loves the world’s hottest band, who’s trying to destroy them?

Most people would love to be Lorna Powell, travelling the globe with her brother and his mega-famous band.

Then again, most people don’t realise just how annoying four handsome rock stars can be. A new home and a new school seem like the start of a normal life – until Lorna overhears a chilling plot to silence the band forever. Soon Lorna is drawn into a frantic attempt to identify the killers before they strike. But it’s not easy to track suspects around the world when she’s got homework to do and secrets to protect. And when gorgeous lead singer Marius starts to act strangely, Lorna wonders if she’s had the wrong idea all along . . .

TO GET TO ME B y El e a no r K e r r - R a nd o m H o u se

FO R E V E R C L O V E R

Welcome to the Forever Clover swap card craze that has taken everyone by surprise!!!

If you haven’t heard about them by now you soon will, with the new Series 3 swap cards and albums already flying off the shelves. Girls of all ages are coming in daily to add to their collection which is making it difficult to keep up with the huge unexpected demand!

Girls just love coming in and buying, swapping and collecting all 3 different series. With a variety of books, cards and albums in the range it also makes the best birthday party gift for all their friends.

Mums also love the new and exciting swap card craze. Not only does it bring back memories of their own childhood collection, but the concept that the cards represents. It can teach their girls the value of close bonds and friendships with mums, sisters, and friends. With the cards being made in Australia from 100% recycled materials, this shows the Forever Clover Club is also teaching the girls that it is important to look after our environment.

Toy World Geelong West and Market Square stores are getting involved and supporting the Forever Clover Club. We are having colouring competitions to win a Forever Clover Gift Pack, and will be holding a huge swap card meeting in the Market Square store during the September holidays this year.

For your chance to win a set of Forever Clover cards, books and albums, send us an email win@kidsvoice.com.au

WIN

K ILL T H E M U S I C

By Na ns i K u nze - Ra ndo m H ou s e

Sponsored by

Page 29

R e v i e ws SI R M E IR ’S A CE P ATR O L 1 2+ b y 2 K

Ace patrol is a turn by turn dogfight game set in WW1 where you take it in turns with the enemy to shoot down and destroy each other.

When you start you choose your country (It comes with Britain but you have to purchase additional countries). Then you are shown your base, where you can change your planes, customize you squadron and other micro-management.

Then you select a mission and start the combat.

After one or two fights it starts to get repetitive with essentially the same actions, sometimes you are asked to blow up a supply train and in one stage a zeppelin. After you have finished the first stage it will ask you if you would like to play the rest of the campaign but of course that costs real life money. Check it out if you are interested in WW1 planes and dogfights.

You can catch me on steam at sushiphantom.com or email me at sushiphantom@gmail.com. Frag out for now!

L EA P R EA D E R - T he Fi r st Ev e r Re a di ng a nd Wr i ti ng S y ste m - Le a p f r o g The new LeapFrog LeapReader is designed to enhance vocabulary and reading comprehension to help children become confident, independent readers and writers.

LeapReader helps your child learn to build reading fundamentals, sound out words, read sentences and trace letters.

LeapFrog’s education experts explain that literacy is an all-round learning experience where reading is not an isolated experience – it happens at the same time as writing, listening and speaking. Hence the development of LeapReader incorporating all these things into one device, offering a complete literacy solution.

Kids’ Voice reviewers were impressed with the new system. It is easier to hold than the original product and is much slimmer, making it easy to slip into a bag and take it on your travels. The reading experience is similar to the old version, but the new writing capability is fantastic.

MOV I E RE VI E W S Sponsored by

EPIC

If the kids have already seen Monsters University over the school holidays, then check out EPIC, an animated adventurecomedy perfect for those under 12. Created by the guys behind the hilarious ICE AGE flicks, EPIC tells the story of an ongoing battle between the forces of good who keep the natural world alive, and the forces of evil, who wish to destroy it. When a teenage girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she teams up with an elite band of warriors and a crew of comical, larger-than-life figures, to save their world...and ours! EPIC is a beautifully animated forest fantasy that is compelling viewing for the young ones. Enjoy!

GEELONG

MAN OF STEEL

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No… it’s Superman! That’s right readers, this month sees the man famous for wearing his underwear on the outside of his pants return to the big screen, in the blockbuster MAN OF STEEL. Produced by those behind the new Batman trilogy, MAN OF STEEL takes a similar dark and serious approach. Clark Kent aka Superman is a young journalist who feels alienated by his super powers. Transported to Earth years ago from his home planet Krypton, Kent struggles with the reasons why. That doesn’t sound too exciting, but I assure you it heats up when he has to use his powers to save the planet! Come prepared to get blown away, this is pure spectacle. A relentless non-stop action fest that will leave you physically exhausted! This is not just another movie, but one of the film events of the year! Do not miss!

Rev iews by Ma t t L a nc a s t e r ( a k a t he M o v i e G u y )

T U O B A S TELL U !

S T N E V E YOUR IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING HAPPENING IN YOUR AREA DROP US A LINE news@kidsvoice.com.au

Page 30

Cooking

s l l o r r e Rice pap

C r ea t i o ns This is purely a building exercise, and you can use just about any ingredients you like. I make them plain and have a dipping sauce on the side, but you may like to add a sauce or some mayo with your filling. You can go traditional Vietnamese, or completely creative – there aren’t many rules for these. Just have fun, and use what you like to eat.

METHOD: Dip your rice paper rolls in water (only needs to be for a second or two).

Lay the rice paper flat on a clean tea towel and put your toppings on the rice paper, about 1/3 of the way across.

Fold the short side over your toppings first, then fold the sides across, then roll the whole thing up.

Easy! They don’t have to be too tight either.

Ingredients:

** As a fun after school snack, you could do rice paper rolls with fruit! Just make sure you use crisp fruit, not sloppy/soggy fruit.

Tinned fruit won’t work.

Round rice paper sh Lettuce, Carrot

Cucumber, Corn kern

eets

els (drained and rinse

d)

Written by Megan Brooks, a mum of two beautiful kids who runs her business ‘Fudgalicious’ from home.

Page 31

W h a t ’s Health & fitness EVERY MONDAY: Parent and toddler group fitness, 9-10am, Barwon Heads Community Hall, corner of Hitchcock Avenue and Ozone Street.

EVERY WEDNESDAY: Yoga and dance, 9.30am-10.30am, Barwon Heads Community Hall, corner of Hitchcock Avenue and Ozone Street.

KID’S DANCE CLASSES: Tuesday to Friday evenings, 4/22-26 Essington Street, Grovedale. Phone 0420 998 596.

KOOMBAHLA PARK EQUESTRIAN CENTRE school holiday program, phone 52562742.

GROUP FITNESS LARA: Monday and Wednesday, 9.30am Mums and Bubs/ Kids. Tuesday and Thursday 6pm, circuit.

Sunday 9am, running group. Foot Crt Lara. Phone 0403369917 www.yourmissionpossible.com

Music EVERY MONDAY: ‘acabellas kid’s’ singing and music group for primary school children, 4.30pm - 5.30pm, Kalkee Hall, 48 Thomson Street Belmont. Phone 0407 804 886 or visit www.acabellas.net.au EVERY TUESDAY: ‘acaBellaBubs’ singing and music group for bubs and pre-school children, 9.45am -10.30am, Geelong West Senior Citizens Hall, cnr Autumn and Pakington Streets Geelong West. Phone 0407 804 886 or visit www.acabellas.net.au

Mums

Youth GIRL CONNECT 3241: Free community art program for women 14 and over.

Programs will run on Wednesday in Winchelsea from February to June.

Phone 5221 6333 or email geelong@ ywca.net

TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS: Freshwater Creek Steiner play groupstoddler’s group and 3-year-old groupsexperience baking, singing, storytelling, crafts and free play. Phone 5264 5077 or visit www.fwcss.com.au

The fOrT Drop In youth centre, St Georges Rd, Corio (Old Tourist Information Centre-Stead Park), open Monday, Thursday and Friday, from 4pm, for anyone aged 12 to 25.

EVERY WEDNESDAY: Pregnant Young Mum’s Club, Newcomb Community Health Centre, 104-108 Bellarine Highway, Newcomb. Phone 0423 603 633 or 52603333.

MONDAYS: Food for fOrT, 4-6pm.

FIRST FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH: Greenmums, Moby, Esplanade, Torquay, 10am.

THURSDAYS: Movie Night, 4-7pm.

MUSIC LESSONS: guitar and drums – bookings 0488 443 778.

Education EVERY MONDAY: Road to Reading,

age-group sessions between 9am-3pm, at Uniting Church, Anderson Street, Torquay.

EVERY TUESDAY: Road to Reading, age-group sessons between 9am-1pm, Western Heights Uniting Church, Douglass Street, Herne Hill.

THE MUSICAL GARDEN: fun, educational music classes for young children in Geelong West. Contact Liz on 0415 977 860 or visit www.themusicalgarden.webs.com

Celebration SURF COAST TOY LIBRARY is celebrating its 18th birthday with a pyjama party.

Dress in your jammies for the chance to win terrific prizes, including 12-month toy library memberships.

Enjoy free entertainment by Willow Star, share some birthday cake and discover the treasures within this much-loved community resource.

Join the party from 9.30am to 11am, August 3, at Torquay Children’s Services Hub, Grossman’s Rd, Torquay.

Email surfcoasttoylibrary@gmail.com for more info.

Festival

School holidays

SPLASH!DANCE FESTIVAL is presented annually by Geelong Dance Network Inc. in conjunction with the City of Greater Geelong and the Geelong Performing Arts Centre.

This year splash!dance has dance events for children aged 4 years to 7 years and 10 years to 18 years.

The festival is on now and runs to Sunday, July 7.

Visit them on www.facebook.com/ splashdanceFestival to find an event.

Just look in the ‘event’ folder.

DROP IN CRAFT ACTIVITIES: The National Wool Museum is offering activities daily, Monday to Friday, throughout the winter school holidays, led by the Museum’s education team.

These are included in the entry price.

Make Your Own Gingerbread Home – Wednesday, July 10. Be part of this year’s Scarf Festival theme of “home” by making a gingerbread house for the Tastes of Central Geelong celebrations.

Bookings are required - please phone 5272 4701 to book your place.

Times: 10am to 11.30am and 1.30pm to 3pm.

Submit your listings for What’s On at editor@kidsvoice.com.au

T ra de Cleaning

On

D i re ct o ry

IT support

Parties

Health

List your business in

the Kids’ Voice trade directory.

Phone 0448 077 021 or

email cath@kidsvoice.com.au

Toy library

Page 32