Kids Voice September 2013

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Preventing homelessness - Here come the kidpreneurs - Father’s Day Supporting families living with disability - Kids and music - Little Athletics

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

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A BIG Happy Father’s Day to all our dad readers out there!

I am sure you are all enjoying your new power tools, car accessories, gifts from the school present stand, the traditional jocks and socks, or possibly the best gift of all... a homemade one!

To mark the occasion we have included a Father’s Day feature in this edition.

We asked three dads, a first time dad, a dad of 33 years and a dad of 44 years, what Father’s Day meant to them?

I think our first time dad Andrew Maslen sums up the day beautifully.

He says, “Father’s Day to me probably means the same to every other father out there, it means that I am a father, and that in itself is the greatest gift’’.

We also have a page dedicated to photos of dads with their children.

This month we have a story about little Archie, who is a walking miracle.

Archie was born with a critical heart condition and underwent surgery at just two days old - his cardiologists still can’t explain how he is still alive.

Sharon Demopoulos shares how she and her husband John started The Treehouse Geelong Autism

Support Service.

She tells us how the service evolved and how it continues to offer support and friendship to families living with disability.

I love the quote Sharon uses to sum up her article.

She says, “Autism parents, if you think our hands are full, you should see our hearts”.

Our technology writer Shelley Gross tells us all about kidpreneurs and how there is a fun and inviting website helping kids start a business in ‘3 easy steps’ and perhaps make some money along the way.

We learn about three Geelong teenagers who joined Little Athletic clubs because they wanted to develop new skills while having fun.

They have since improved greatly and are breaking records in their specific events.

Lastly, I had to share this lovely photo with you all!

This is gorgeous Isla, 2, dressed up just like her daddy Sean, who is her hero!

Thanks for reading!

Bec Launer EDITOR

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Kids’ Voic e Team Elisha Lindsay Photography

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

Abel William Poulter 22/07/13 Third son for Lee and Sarah and a brother to Logan and Archer

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

Rebecca Launer editor@kidsvoice.com.au BUSINESS MANAGER

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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

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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.

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C o n t e nts

FEATURE

10 Working to prevent homelessness

SCHOOLS IN FOCUS

11 Goodstart Early Learning Newtown 12 Roslyn Primary School 13 St Ignatius College Geelong

VOX POP

15 We asked Moolap Primary School students what they wanted to be when they were older?

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7 HEALTH

FATHER’S DAY

READER STORIES

LITTLE ATHLETICS

18 Play in infancy and early childhood

7 Little Archie is a walking miracle 8 Branching out to help other families living with disability 17 Little fighter has just a scar to show 19 Bravehearts empowering children 23 Kids learn all about music a fun way

TECHNOLOGY

21 Move over, here come kidpreneurs

24 What does Father’s Day mean to me?

27 A fun way to stay fit and healthy

COOKING CREATIONS 30 Easy no fail scones

WHAT’S ON

31 Events happening in the Geelong region

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R e ad e r S t o ry

Little Archie is a walking miracle Cardiologists still can’t comprehend how Archie Smith is still alive. Archie’s mum Yolanda, of Lara, tells of how her little boy was born with a critical cardiac condition and underwent surgery at just two days old.

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FTER a perfect pregnancy, we welcomed our precious baby Archie into our family of three.

He is our walking miracle. Our cardiologists can still not comprehend why he is here, how he has survived or has no signs of brain injury resulting from being unresponsive to oxygen from birth to surgery on day two of his life.

After Archie was born, his diagnosis was still unidentified until surgical exploration of his chest.

After he was finally diagnosed, surgeons repaired a large right-sided pulmonary arteriovenous malformation connecting his right pulmonary artery with his right pulmonary veins.

In a nut shell, his oxygen would take an abnormal shortcut circulating around his heart, instead of circulating normally through his body.

After the birth all seemed well and celebrations began, until a nurse felt uneasy about Archie’s appearance and took him to be checked out in the special care nursery.

I thought he would return after that so I could begin our bonding experience.

The thought never crossed my mind that my baby might be ill or that any of the following events were possible.

When a paediatrician was called in to observe Archie I still thought things were going to be okay and couldn’t wait to settle into our room and start resting.

Following moments of silence while doctors examined Archie, we received the devastating news that something was critically wrong with him and he needed to be rushed to The Royal Children’s Hospital.

Our perfect world as it stood completely rested in our faith as we watched our baby boy taken by a team from the Newborn and Paediatric Emergency Transport Service off to the RCH. It was such a lonely night not knowing if my baby would survive and not having much time together.

I had two photos a nurse had taken for me by my bed to remind me of what our baby looked like.

The following afternoon I was trans-

ferred to the Royal Women’s and was able to see Archie for a few hours.

He was in a stable condition and moved from the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit up to the ward to hold off until day three for surgery.

Arriving on the ward into Archie’s room was an awakening into a completely different world.

There were six beds all with newborn infants with critical cardiac conditions completely covered with cords and hooked up to devices, others recovering from surgery or holding out like us.

I went back to the Women’s ready to rest for the night but then received a call saying Archie was moved back down to PICU. I rushed in and sat by him again watching his stats constantly hoping for them to improve.

My weak body after time forced me back to the Women’s, but I trusted he would be in the same condition when I returned the next morning.

After getting back to my hospital and settling in to rest, the phone began ringing with devastating news that Archie was unresponsive to treatments and he was rushed into emergency surgery.

He was seconds from passing away.

After three phone calls in a few hours, we received the news that surgery was successful but it didn’t mean we could begin to relax.

Archie was ventilated from surgery and the following days focussed on trying to get him to come off.

I was then transferred to a neonatal room in the RCH so I was able to spend most of my time with Archie in PICU. The walls of the hospital for me and The Ronald McDonald house for my husband became our world and everything in it was all that existed to us.

The devastating sight of a seriously ill infant within the PICU became a normal environment.

On day seven in the PICU we received news that pulled us into a meeting with the head of PICU and cardiology.

Archie with his mum Yolanda.

Things were not progressing and Archie’s condition was referred to neurology with a suspected extensive brain injury caused by prolonged periods of hypoxia.

It was three days from then that we were able to have an MRI that would either give us a sigh of relief or change our world completely.

We remained so strong and clinged to faith, praying for a miracle.

And we were heard.

Archie’s results came back completely clear of any brain injury and his condition turned within a day and he began being weaned off oxygen and was transferred to the ward.

It was a complete miracle.

One moment we were told Archie’s chances of survival were low and then he made a recovery.

Once on the ward it was a sense of celebration also, joining families we had met in PICU who had moved up previous to us.

After two weeks we were discharged and came home with only nerve damage to

Photo: BEC LAUNER

Archie’s right hand, resulting from multiple medical monitoring devices.

We were blessed to be accepted into a therapy program run by Kids Plus, which gave Archie weekly therapy for a year and a half and at no cost to us through fundraising.

The last two years have been intense with intervention to ensure Archie doesn’t fall behind.

Archie is now 2, has full use of his right hand, he meets all his development needs and is only now working with a speech pathologist to give him the boost he needs now with verbal communication.

Alongside other two year olds, Archie seems no different and is managing to keep up.

Each milestone Archie reaches is a celebration as it is unknown if some injury will show up unindicated.

But we have faith and it has proved itself with his continued progress.

Our family has recently welcomed our new precious baby girl, who has no medical complications or signs of a heart defect.

The Phoebe Foundation The Phoebe Foundation Inc. has just announced that tickets are available for its first annual fundraising event, The Phoebe Festival.

The Phoebe Festival is a weekend of great live music and fundraising this October 4 and 5 at Kilmore Trackside and will feature well-known acts including Tim Rogers, Cola Wars and Calling All Cars.

All proceeds from The Phoebe Festival will go to establish a new music and expanded play therapy program for children undergoing treatment for serious heart related illnesses at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.

The Phoebe Foundation‘s mission is to improve the quality of life for children suffering from broken hearts.

TPF was founded in October 2012 by Anthony and Julia Rolando, weeks after losing their threeyear-old daughter Phoebe to a severe congenital

Archie in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

heart defect.

Phoebe spent a third of her life in The Royal Children’s Hospital with most of it in the ICU, and The Rolando’s endeavoured to make her final months as positive as they could by engaging Phoebe with music and play therapy.

Music and play therapy has medically proven benefits for sick children, and can help children deal with non-medical issues such as anxiety, depression and pain management.

Tickets for The Phoebe Festival can be purchased online by visiting the foundation website at www.thephoebefoundation.com.au or by phoning Kilmore Trackside on 03 5783 0700.

All other enquiries regarding The Phoebe Festival should be directed to Anthony Rolando at anthony@thephoebefoundation.com.au or on 0411 401 383.

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R e a de r S t o ry

Branching out to help other Sharon Demopoulos and her husband John are the brainchild behind an organisation supporting families living with disability. Sharon tells how The Treehouse Geelong Autism Support Service all began and how it continues to offer support and friendship.

T 2013 Autism Walk

Happy faces at Lego Club

HE Treehouse Geelong is - quite simply - a group of parents, my husband John Demopoulos, myself, and eight wonderful volunteers who love bringing families together and offering support and friendship.

The Treehouse came to be a project of John and myself back in October 2010.

We have four beautiful children, including our 20-year-old son who has Aspergers and our adorable nine-year-old son who has autism.

We had been running a YMCA supported youth group called ‘Aspyre’ for teens with Aspergers since 2007 and were quite mindful that some of the guys were ready to leave school and would no longer be able to attend Aspyre.

Our concern was where would they go?

At the same time, we were starting to receive more phone calls from parents asking about social groups for primary school kids with Aspergers and general support.

I guess it all started as we were driving past an old school building in North Geelong years ago.

I remember saying to John that it would

be perfect to have as an open support house for families living with an ASD and I would call it “Autism House”.

That was the start! It was like a spark had been lit and it became my passion and focus and what we needed became so much clearer.

After speaking to the Chief Executive Officer of the YMCA about our idea, he offered to auspice us under the YMCA umbrella and provided us with free use of the YMCA gym to hold our meetings.

Yes, that is what we needed. It was getting clearer. We held our first meeting in January 2011 as The Treehouse Autism Support Service.

After that, we started to grow quite quickly.

Firstly, we introduced our new Young Adults social group. We started with a transition period where the guys who were 18 started moving away from Aspyre to Young Adults.

We had to do this gradually because some of these guys had been friends for a couple of years now.

They may not have all been the same age but all had one thing in common that a lot of our

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R e ad e r S t o ry

families living with disability mainstream ASD have; no friendship group.

They came from school where they didn’t feel as though they fit it and, at Aspyre, they found their place.

Now they had a new place at Young Adults run by Karen and Gayla.

Next, we introduced Clubhouse, a social group for primary school aged children with Aspergers.

We have been extremely fortunate to have had some wonderful people put their hands up to volunteer to run these groups, which means there is no cost to us, so there is no cost to the parents.

Vicki and Pam ran these from the YMCA on a monthly basis and the kids loved it.

The group is now run by Jane, Kellie Jane and their husbands and growing all the time.

In June we had another wonderful offer, this time from the manager of the Bendigo Bank Ryrie St, Tony Hamann.

His branch had a spare office area they weren’t using and offered it to us to use for free.

We were over the moon but we had to wait to see if the bank and the landlord agreed to his generous offer. They did and we moved in August.

We now had a base and quite a following on Facebook so we were able to get the word out and start looking for what people needed from us as a support group.

By now we had more fantastic volunteers; Anne has been running a coffee and chat support group every Tuesday since.

This was originally for ASD families but we

Aspyre Youth Group opened it to all parents who have kids with any additional needs.

If you have a child that is a little different, our experiences can all be quite similar so we can offer support to those who may not have a specific group of their own.

The wonderful offers of support kept coming and last year we were approached by two amazing friends of ours with a brilliant offer; a free family day for Geelong’s ASD

families. This was perfect.

Trish ran an events management course at LP Communications and Samantha was doing the course.

They were going to put on a free day for The Treehouse as part of the events course, give the guys some experience in planning events, fundraising, etc.

John and I didn’t have to do anything except provide ideas as to what we thought the kids may like.

It was a brilliant day. Watching the kids dancing and laughing while their parents watched on smiling was quite emotional and made us want to make it a yearly event.

This also helped us raise awareness for The Treehouse, which was great because although we had been running for almost two years, many of the families were not aware of us until they heard of the family day.

We will be doing it all again this year in October but, this time, we have extended the invitation to include families of all kids with special needs.

Like our Tuesday morning group, this day is no longer just ASD specific; again, everyone is welcome.

The wonderful guys who volunteered their time at the family day last year will all be returning to do it again for the kids; DJ Slav, Storyteller Lee Dy, Funky Mummies and Furry Menaces just to name a few will once again be a part of the action.

As part of The Treehouse, our Facebook page works as a wonderful support platform.

It enables us to let people know what is happening and it also gives parents a place to go to ask for ideas and suggestions regarding any issue they may be dealing with.

Social media is helping us bring together

everyone who may not have the ability, interest or need to attend any groups but still want to be in touch and up to date with what is going on in the ASD world.

Our Meetup.com webpage is wonderful as it is quite interactive, enabling us to list all our upcoming events and members receive email notifications when we list an activity and they can RSVP on there as well.

I am very proud of how far we have come in quite a short time.

We receive many calls from families who have been referred on to us from different organisations.

The first thing we say is that we are not professionals, we have no formal qualifications regarding ASD’s, we are parents living with ASD and want to bring families together to share experiences and knowledge.

Our main purpose of starting the Treehouse was, and still is, to provide social networks for families and their children. I believe these are what most of us need.

We now offer weekly support groups, monthly social groups for primary and secondary school kids with an ASD attending a mainstream school, dad’s social group, adults support/social group and Lego club for all special needs kids.

Over the last of couple of years we have seen the Geelong ASD community come together and show great support to each other.

The hard working guys dedicated to bringing an Autism Specific School to Geelong, the successful Autism Walk that Sue has organised the last two years - these are examples of what parents can do when working together.

I will finish with this version of a little quote I read once; I think it says it all.

“Autism Parents, if you think our hands are full, you should see our hearts”

Free Special Families Dance Party THE Treehouse Geelong Autism Support Group would like to invite you to their free Special Families Dance Party.

All Geelong families living with disability are welcome to a free afternoon of music and fun!

It’s on Saturday, October 12 from 1.30 to 4.00pm at Club Italia, Moolap.

There will be DJ Slav, The Funky Mummies, Furry

Menaces, storyteller Lee Dy, face painting, art and craft tables, free sausage sizzle and much more!

Woody, Elmo and Dorothy will also make a special appearence.

To register email Sharon and John Demopoulos at demops@aapt.net.au Alternatively, check out the event on their facebook page The Treehouse Geelong.

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Feature

Working to prevent homelessness The Geelong Project is an innovative project, led by Time for Youth with Barwon Youth and Swinburne University, which connects schools and community services to identify young people who are at a high-risk of becoming homeless.

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HE Geelong Project is a ground breaking early intervention program which connects schools and community services together to identify young people who are at a high-risk of becoming homeless.

Using a Youth Focused and Family Centred Approach, TGP provides help to prevent homelessness now and in the future.

The Youth Focused and Family Centred approach starts with the young person but rapidly and actively engages the family in the care planning and development process.

Workers explore the needs and wishes of young people and assist them to put their views to their families in a responsible and articulate way.

This often involves assisting families to actively listen to one another, and assist the family in coming to a consensus about family rules, expectations and responsibilities and diminishing the need for anger, resistance and aggression between parties.

The application of outreach and engagement strategies with the young person, family and schools will help in developing an integrated care plan which involves collaboration with other service providers.

This leads into our ‘No Wrong Door Approach’.

We want to ensure that every young person that knocks on our door gets access to the help he or she needs.

This project is underpinned by research and development that builds partnerships and

pathways between schools and community agencies, while developing common tools and approaches to assist school and community sector workers.

Research has shown that adolescence is a very important transition, where the decisions that young people make and the paths that they take can influence future opportunities, attitudes and behaviour, and affect the course of their lives.

The Geelong community will benefit directly as many young people who have issues at home and school will gain access to greater support from an interdisciplinary team of youth, family, education and employment, disability, mental health and drug and alcohol professionals.

The priority of TGP is to support young people who are experiencing issues making them at risk of running away from home and

leaving school.

The Student Needs Survey is a three-year longitudinal study which focuses on young people in school who may be experiencing a range of difficulties that puts them in a vulnerable state and at risk of becoming homeless.

A number of schools in the North Geelong and Bellarine Catchment areas participated in our first round of Student Needs Surveys and as a result we were able to identify and help many young people avoid homelessness.

The Geelong Project team are currently rolling out the second round of SNS. Alternatively, young people can be directly referred to us.

For information on how to refer a student or young person into the program, please contact Deb Barclay at tgpreferrals@timeforyouth.org.

A screening interview will be arranged and if applicable a referral into the program can be made.

The research component of The Geelong Project, involving the SNS and the follow up through the use of data management tools, will, for the first time, construct a dynamic whole of community picture of young people at-risk and young people interacting with the service system.

More information is available on T he Geelong Project website at www.thegeelongproject.com.au

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Goodstart Early Learning Newtown fill us in WE would like to share with you some things we have been doing in our 3-5 year old room over the past few months and also to let you know our future plans.

Something that we have implemented into the centre this year has been animals.

We are very lucky to have in our kinder room, two guinea pigs (Alvin and Wilber), rabbit (Frankie), puppy (George), bird (Chippy) and a fish (Barry).

The children have grown a strong bond with these animals and have been educated on how to care for them. (Some children even overcoming their fear of animals).

By providing the environment with animals for the kinder children this teaches them how to care for certain animals and how to respect each one individually.

Having these animals in the room full time allows lots of open ended discussion throughout the day.

Our kinder room is passionate on implementing sustainable practices. These practices include: Worm farm, reusing wasted water and watering our vegetable garden, recycled paper, using tree stumps as chairs rather than purchasing plastic chairs, signs are put up in the bathroom that the children have made about saving water and ensuring that the tap is turned off, vegetable and fruit scraps are fed to the centre animals and the lights go off at times during the day to save energy.

In our kinder room we understand how important our health is to us.

To extend on this our kinder room have introduced a vegetable garden.

Children began this journey by digging up the soil and planting seeds of their choice into the garden.

The children are encouraged daily to feed the vegetables with their left over water.

With the garden being so popular we have put together another large garden where we will be growing fruit and providing different herbs. We look forward to our new project.

A goal of ours in the centre by the beginning of 2014 is to have more of a natural environment by introducing glass, wooden pallets, tree stumps, pots and pans as sandpit toys and lots more.

Children, families and educators have been bringing in these items from home.

As part of discovering children’s interest through their play our educators have introduced cooking classes.

We have discussions with children on what they would like to cook in the room and these recipes are put together by the children and eaten for lunch or snack on the day.

We are fortunate enough to have some very talented parents from our kinder to come in and teach our children some new cooking skills.

These cooking classes hype up a lot of discussion on healthy eating.

Unfortunately at the time this article went to print, the kinder program was stopped, but the centre is looking forward to restarting it in the near future.

If you would like your kinder to appear in our ‘Schools In Focus’ section, send an article and photos to editor@kidsvoice.com.au

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Roslyn Primary School celebrate book week ROSLYN Primary School is a small school in Belmont, Geelong.

We have seven classes with 160 students. At Roslyn we have fantastic academic programs, but we also love to celebrate special events.

This week we celebrated Book Week!

Book Week is celebrated every year at Roslyn with a costume parade and special book-related activities.

This year we introduced the Great Roslyn Book Swap.

On Thursday 22nd August the entire school, both students and teachers, dressed up as book characters, TV show characters, computer game characters and cultural icons.

We gathered in our fantastic new BER building for the parade.

Parents, siblings and friends came to take part in the day and watch as their Roslyn kids showed the whole school their wonderful costumes.

Roslyn kids love a dress up day, and the effort put into costumes is fantastic!

After the parade we had the first ever Great Roslyn Book Swap.

Students brought in books that they were finished with, received tokens for those books, and got to choose new books to take home.

We had great support for the event, and plan to continue it annually.

We also celebrated Book Week with book-related activities.

Our prep-2s and 3-6s completed activities that were related to some of the Children’s Book Council of Australia Shortlisted Picture books and Early Childhood books.

To top off the week we had a visit from Dazzling Dan the Magic Man who led the students through a magical story about books.

At Roslyn we support many special events throughout the year that are focused on academic, physical and welfare outcomes.

The Book Week is particularly special because it develops a love of books, a discussion of different kinds of books, and an opportunity for students to demonstrate their individuality through costume.

If you would like your primary school to appear in our ‘Schools In Focus’ section, send an article and photos to editor@kidsvoice.com.au

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Saint Ignatius College endures ‘The Cage’

RECENTLY about 40 Year 12 students from Saint Ignatius College Geelong, Loyola College and Xavier College, the three Jesuit secondary colleges in Victoria, spent 24 hours at the three colleges in outdoor makeshift cages in order to highlight the plight of asylum seekers and the disadvantaged and marginalised in our society.

The cages represented the isolation and exclusion from society felt by these groups.

At Saint Ignatius College overnight the chill factor was high, the wind howled and the rain poured down while students attempted to get some sleep: not easy on thin mats on cold concrete.

Some of the students from each college travelled to the other colleges to show a united front in attempting to develop a consciousness of the despair suffered by those forced to live in isolation from their community.

During the long 24 hours consumption of only barley sugar and drink water was allowed.

At the end of the time students were cold, tired and “ starving” but all still happy and thankful to have been involved!

Classes visited during the afternoon and the following morning to find out more information about asylum seekers pursuing refuge in Australia.

Chris Lynch from Loyola College, Watsonia described,”The Cage is to raise awareness amongst these students’ peers, which then starts a conversation.

At Loyola College we use it as a focus for our Winter Food & Clothing Appeal.” Richard Bryant from Xavier College explained that, “the Cage develops an awareness in us all of the poor and marginalised in our society –left ‘outside’ with little.”

Paul Lewis, Deputy Principal, Saint Ignatius College also braved the elements overnight with the students and staff and was unwavering in his view of the value of this aware-

ness campaign to develop empathy and compassion for others less privileged.

Claire Hewitt from Saint Ignatius College described the night of discomfort experienced by the senior students and staff, and acknowledged the great sense of humility students felt by being able to appreciate something of the despair suffered by some in our world.

They were all moved by being able to portray to their fellow students the difficulties of isolation encountered which would have devastating affects on the well being and future of those in these situations.

The students were unanimous in their gratitude for the

opportunity “to sacrifice the privileges of food, technology and comfort for a 24 hour period by sleeping outside without food or drinks other than water.

As the cold and dampness settled in and the rain pelted down we could feel empathy towards those who have to deal with this discomfort and isolation on a daily basis.

We are doing this to educate society and raise awareness of the plight of others-the disadvantaged and marginalised such as refugees.”

Claire Hewitt Development Manager Saint Ignatius College Geelong

If you would like your secondary school to appear in our ‘Schools In Focus’ section, send an article and photos to editor@kidsvoice.com.au

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Isla and Angus having a good laugh

- Lauren Warren, Bell Park

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Amira Harry enjoying her cob of corn at dinner time!

- Leanne Harry, Lara

Riley and Emmerson Hynson - Narelle Hynson, Ocean Grove

This is Alec. He is six weeks old and just learnt to smile.

- Jo Lindsay, Geelong

Our grandchildren...

-Miffy and Steven Andrews, Barwon Heads Orlando and Giorgio having fun at the park!

- Nick and Corinna Maikantis, Grovedale

The Dunlop Kids!

- Shane Dunlop, Hamlyn Heights

Send your photos to editor@kidsvoice.com.au

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VO X P O P We asked Moolap Primary School students what they wanted to be when they were older?

POPPY - I want to be a hairdresser

JACOB - I want to play for the AFL

CONNOR - I want to be an architect

KAIDYN - I want to be a sports

RUBY - I want to be a vet because

TAYLA - I want to be an artist. I love

WILL - I want to be a cricket player

KYE - I want to be a paleontologist.

because I enjoy styling other people’s hair.

I love working with animals. I have dogs, cats and a turtle.

because I love the sport. My favourite player is Gary Ablett.

drawing cartoons and watching them.

because I love playing architecture games on the computer.

because I love the sport as it’s fun and competitive.

teacher. I help out with after school care and love teaching kids sport.

I love dinosaurs and I want to study everytime we go camping so I have a dig around.

Foster carers urgently needed GLASTONBURY Community Services’ vision is that all children, young people and families are happy, healthy and heard.

Glastonbury aims to achieve this by supporting and empowering children, young people and families to realise their full potential.

Services are delivered by Glastonbury across six municipalities: City of Greater Geelong, Surf Coast Shire, Colac Otway Shire, Golden Plains Shire, Borough of Queenscliff and Corangamite Shire.

On any single day in Victoria, about 5,000 children are unable to live at home with their families.

Foster carers provide much needed love and care to a child or young person within a home environment for a planned period of time in circumstances where they are unable to live at home with their parents or extended family for reasons of safety or family crisis.

Foster carers play an essential caring role in the community by providing overnight or emergency care, respite to parents or other foster carers once a month / fortnight, and short term and long term care.

Foster carers offer children and/or young people a safe and stable home environment and this plays a critical role in promoting a child and young person’s development and overall well-being, which is incredibly rewarding.

The demand for foster carers in the region is greater than their supply.

Glastonbury wants to ensure that any child or young person who is unable to live at home is able to be offered a loving home within their local community.

When children and young people are placed geographically far away from their usual locality, they often have to change school or sporting clubs and this can lead to them experiencing increased anxiety, instability and upheaval.

The need for the current recruitment campaign has arisen in response to three key factors: • growing numbers of children requiring foster care in the region, • increased number of children remaining in foster care for longer periods, and • a shortage of foster carers.

Glastonbury understands that

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

Submit letters to editor@kidsvoice.com.au

supporting foster carers in their roles and providing effective communication with them is paramount.

Importantly, this increases the likelihood of a happy, successful and enduring placement.

Glastonbury values and diligently provides support and ongoing education for foster carers.

“With Foster Care Week almost upon us, it is timely to appeal to the public to consider becoming a foster carer and the rewards that this has to offer on so many levels”, Mr Sandy Morrison, CEO, Glastonbury Community Services said.

He further added, “There is an urgent and significant need for foster carers. ‘‘We are a local agency, committed to the local community and strengthening our ongoing support of vulnerable children and young people. ‘‘We know that listening to carers, providing timely support and well informed advice ensures a successful care experience.”

For more information call 5222 6911 or email fostercare@ glastonbury.org.au.

Katie Fiorillo Photography

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Page 17

R e ad e r S t o ry

Little fighter has just a scar to show Angus Hanson was born with most of his bowel and part of his stomach out. But his mum Lauren, of Ocean Grove, tells of how her little fighter was able to leave hospital in just under three weeks, with only a tiny scar to show.

B

EN and I could not wait to become parents and when we found out we were pregnant we were so excited.

We decided not to get the 12 week testing, not sure why really, we just didn’t think it was necessary.

When I was 14 weeks, I felt like there was something not right with my baby.

I couldn’t sleep one night and I told Ben I wanted to get the second trimester test done.

The results came back that the baby had a one in six chance of having a Neural Tube Defect, which we didn’t know much about.

We were sent in for a scan and that’s when they confirmed it was gastroschisis.

We had no idea what that was as we had never heard of it.

I went through so many emotions that day, but I mainly felt scared and worried for my unborn child.

We were referred to the Royal Women’s Hospital.

Our first appointment with the obstetrician was very overwhelming.

After that we had to visit The Women’s every two weeks for a scan and check-up.

At each scan they couldn’t tell how much of the bowel was out and whether any other organs were out.

We also had meetings with paediatricians and a paediatric surgeon, from the Royal Children’s Hospital, as that is where the baby would be transferred to for care.

I didn’t fully understand the process of what would happen once our baby was born until I found an online support group.

This allowed me to get in touch with other mums going through the same thing.

I met and had coffee with one mum in Adelaide and continued contact. She was such a wonderful support.

The one thing that made me feel sad was the thought of not being able to hold my baby at birth and then being separated from him/her.

However, I’m a very positive person so I believed everything would work out ok and we had made a tough little person.

We were booked in for an induction on Wednesday, March 13 and were planning a natural labour, but he decided to come on his own.

On March 12, 2013, our gorgeous Angus Stephen Hanson entered the world via emergency C-section, weighing a healthy 6 pound 1 ounce, which is quite big for gastrochisis babies.

Angus was born with most of his bowel and part of his stomach out.

Not only did he have that to deal with, he had also inhaled meconium and had to be suctioned straight away. What a nice welcome to life he had!

As soon as he was born they took him into a room and stabilised him, covered his bowel and stomach with a plastic bag to reduce the chance of infection and to keep it moist.

The intensive care staff brought him to me just before they took him to the ICU at The Women’s.

I was still on the operating table so I could barely see him but I got to touch his little tiny hand - he was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

Ben was with him the whole time which made me feel better.

Angus was transferred to The Royal Children’s Hospital that afternoon and went into surgery at 5pm and was out by 7pm, with a primary closure.

Judging by the amount of bowel out I thought he would have a silo - a bag placed over the exposed organs and manually squeezed back into the abdominal cavity - and that can take up to a week.

We couldn’t believe the surgeons managed to put everything back in one operation. What an amazing surgeon we had!

To my surprise I was feeling great! I knew Angus was where he needed to be, in fantastic care, and everything would be ok.

I met my beautiful boy properly on the Wednesday morning at the NICU at the Children’s.

He was very puffy from all the fluids and fast asleep from all the medication he was on but he was just gorgeous!

He was taken off the ventilator on Friday (day three) and that was when we finally got to hold our precious little man. What a beautiful moment!

He finally opened his eyes when I was holding him and there were two big dark eyes staring straight at me.

What a beautiful moment, he just melted my heart.

Angus had a feeding tube through his nose which was draining the bile from his stomach.

In order for him to be able to start feeding, we had to wait for the bile to either be only a few mls a day or become a light green colour.

This was the hardest part of the process for me.

I would wake up each morning hoping that day would be the day that he could start feeding. Then we would be closer to knowing if his bowels were working.

He was exactly one week old when the doctors said we could start feeding him my milk (I had been expressing to get my milk supply up).

We were so excited! He started on a tiny 3.5mls every two hours, which we thought was so much. We fed him through a syringe.

He kept the milk down all day which was great. Ben and I stayed for his feed at 8pm that night, which I’m glad we did because as soon as we fed him he vomited it all back up plus green bile.

That wasn’t a good sign. It was so horrible to see, but the doctors confirmed that this was all part of the process. Two steps forward one step back.

The doctors decided to take him off feeds for 36 hours. I left at 10pm that night after lots of cuddles, feeling terrible.

The worst times were leaving him at night and that’s mainly when the tears came.

Thursday came around and because he hadn’t used his bowels the doctors decided to give him a suppository to help him along and once that worked we could start feeding again.

To my excitement, it worked straight away and I think the whole hospital heard my cry of joy!

From that moment on, they started feeding him 3.5ml again, which he took so well and kept it down.

After a successful 24 hours the doctors upped the amount to 7mls, which we fed him via a bottle and he fed very well and tolerated the increased amount.

Angus at four months.

From then on his milk intake kept increasing every 12-24 hours which was so exciting. The wonderful nursing staff shared our excitement.

Angus still had not done a poo on his own (they gave him another suppository on the Saturday which worked straight away).

We were assured this was quite normal but I wanted him to do it on his own so I knew his bowels were working properly.

Sunday night he was up to 32ml every three hours and he had a very bad night vomiting and crying.

When I arrived on Monday morning and he had very puffy eyes from crying so much I felt so sad because I wasn’t there to comfort him.

That’s when I decided I was going to be with him every night for his feeds.

At this stage we were staying at Ronald MacDonald House, which is about a seven minute walk (four minute run) from the hospital.

Looking back now I can’t believe I was brave enough to walk on my own 2-3 times during the night, but you do anything for your baby.

The night of his two-week birthday, he finally did a poo on his own!

Ben was there and we were so excited!

Of course as you can imagine it was a huge explosion. From then on, he has defintily had no trouble with using his bowels.

By this time he was up to 40ml and I had tried breast feeding which was such a wonderful experience.

We were on cloud 9! We were booked into ‘care by parents’ room for the Friday night, which are rooms at the hospital where you stay just with your baby before you go home, as you would after a normal birth.

It was such a surreal feeling. From not knowing how long we could be in hospital for to actually seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in less than three weeks, we couldn’t believe our good fortune and knew we had a little fighter on our hands.

Good Friday came around which was such an exciting day in the hospital.

Angus was off all his lines and we could actually walk around with him.

We were lucky enough to be interviewed on

Angus with his bowels out after birth.

Channel Seven for the Good Friday Appeal, which was exciting. We also had lots of visits from celebrities, we were very lucky.

Good Friday was our first night in ‘care by parent’ and it was such an emotional feeling.

Ben and I were so excited to have our little man in the room just with us.

Easter Sunday came and it was time to go home. One day after his actual due date!

What an overwhelming experience.

Angus was such a fighter-only spending just under three weeks in hospital when the paediatrician said to expect to be in hospital for at least four weeks to possibly six months.

He is just perfect. You wouldn’t even know he was born with this condition.

He has a tiny little scar next to his belly button. He only needs one more check up with the surgeon at six months. His bowels definitly work!

We would like to say a huge thank you to Angus’s surgeon Russel Taylor and his team.

All the paediatricians and nurses at the Royal Children’s Hospital and also Ronald MacDonald House.

And also a huge thank you to all our family and friends for their support, especially my mum, Bronny, for staying with me in hospital the whole time and being my rock.

If you or anyone that you know is going through this, we would love to offer our support.

Page 18

Health

Play in infancy and early childhood Through play, children have the opportunity to interact, share knowledge, participate in turn-taking and learn to co-operate with their peers and within their daily routines. Bellarine Community Health explains why play is so important.

P

LAY is the primary activity of children.

Before the age of 18 months, play is largely focused on sensory-motor play, where babies are exploring their environment, objects, different textures, and playing with their hands to get what they want/need.

It’s important to provide babies with opportunities to explore different textures, for example a furry mat, soft squeaky toys, toys which scrunch or make noises.

There are toys that have different textures such as bumps, and curves. Baby toys that have crinkly material, and other fabrics.

There also toys that have all this and lights and music to stimulate your babies sense of hearing and vision such as musical keyboards and sit to stand tables with spinning knobs and music.

Babies also really enjoy making noise during this time. Objects that they can bang, shake, press buttons to make music are often enjoyable. Examples are wooden spoons with mixing bowls or ice-cream containers, toy drums or cymbals.

Reading books to babies from an early age is encouraged in order to promote social and emotional connections. There are a range of stimulating books available with different colours, textures, flaps and large pages to turn.

After around one year of age babies may start to begin to copy actions from you. For example if you model feeding dolly a doll’s bottle, your baby may copy you by also feeding dolly or themselves.

Providing babies with the opportunity to copy actions such as the above encourages the early stages of pretend play.

order the sequence so that teddy is not put to bed before he has been fed as he would be hungry.

Pretend play in early childhood

Tips for facilitating play

Being able to enter play scenarios/games in social situations allows children to be independent, read and respond to the social cues of others and adapt to the ‘rules’ of the play.

Pretend play also involves the construction of narratives, sequencing of ideas and actions, organisation, personal/social boundaries, complex planning and well-developed language skills.

Symbolic play (being able to use an object to represent something else, e.g. a box for a ‘bed’) is important for children to develop their cognitive skills.

Symbolic play often starts occurring in children around the age of 2 years (e.g. children may use a tea towel to represent a blanket for dolly).

Symbolic play occurs when a child begins to use representative thought, or represents one object by using another.

Symbolic play helps to encourage logical, sequential thought, the ability to generalise and problem-solve.

It is an important pre-literacy skill. Cognitive skills are also a focus of learn to play, for example: when a child feeds a teddy and then puts teddy to bed, this involves the child seeing this process before or being involved in this action and requires the child to logically

• Provide children with objects that don’t have a distinct function (e.g. shoe boxes, empty milk cartons, tins, tea towels, tissues) and encourage them to use these objects to represent something else (e.g. “why don’t we pretend this is a blanket for the doll?” (Using the tea towel). This encourages cognitive skills and adaptability.

• Add problems to a child’s play so that they build on their sequencing and cognitive skills (e.g. the animal is escaping, the animal is thirsty, the person is lost, we have no food left, where can we buy food and what could we use as money?)

• Encourage the use of dress ups, here are some ideas: - Pirates (bottle top lids as treasure, toilet rolls as telescope) - Fireman: wrapping paper rolls as a hose - Doctors: old bandages, dolls, jacket for the ‘doctor’ • Social interaction and language: Model lots of positive social interaction and language.

You can do this by asking about what is happening in the story, supporting lots of talking between the play characters and asking how the characters are feeling in the play– is he happy? Or angry?

• Most importantly- have fun in play!

More play ideas Rescuing teddy Materials: teddy/doll/character, capes, pretend tree (or can use bookshelf or any object which is higher than the children’s eye level), characters to rescue ‘teddy’ (more dolls).

Roles: fire fighters, characters (dolls watching, helping the fire fighters, animals – birds flying over teddy) Vet Clinic Materials: soft animals, a play doctor kit, paper, clipboards, basket or box (for bed afterwards) appointment book, wall signs, magazines, animal charts Role play: Characters in the story – veterinarian, people, animals, vet assistant, receptionist.

Post Office: Materials: Boxes, letters, paper, pencils, envelopes, dress ups, telephones, stamps, pretend money Role play: Post office assistant, Postie, characters sending mail. Children required to write letters and post them.

The BCH Child Health and Development Team comprises a number of Allied Health Professionals and caters for children aged 0-12 years, with services free to children listed as dependents on a health care or pension card.

For appointments and enquiries phone 5258 0812.

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R e ad e r S t o ry

Bravehearts empowering children Bravehearts has a vision to make Australia the safest place in the world to raise a child.

The organisation is educating and empowering Geelong school children regarding childhood sexual abuse. Grandfather Brian, as he likes to be called, is involved with Bravehearts Geelong and wanted to share some poems he has written for his grandchildren, while also highlighting the important work the organisation does.

Childrens Dreams EACH night as a young lad lay down in his bed, the oddest of dreams came into his head He heard his door open then he looked up and saw, what he thought must be, a huge dinosaur It was different to those in a book that he’d seen, some parts were purple and some parts were green Its claws were striped blue, it had big silver teeth and it’s tummy was bright yellow, down underneath Kyle wasn’t frightened; he just started to giggle, cos when the dinosaur walked its big belly would jiggle It moved around the room with a bit of a stare, till its big orange eyes saw Kyle laying there The dinosaur said “could I sit for a bit?” Kyle said “there’s my chair, but I don’t think you’ll fit” The dinosaur just smiled, then sat on the chair and a loud snapping sound rose in the air The chair lay in splinters, Kyle’s face was quite sad, he thought to himself “bet Mum will be mad” But that’s in the morning, tonight this is fun, but he couldn’t stop looking at what the dinosaur had done “Try to be careful, you’re breaking my stuff, now I don’t mind sharing but you mustn’t be rough” The Dinosaur turned round, it’s face turning pale, then the wardrobe fell broken, being smashed by its tail The dinosaur cowered down its senses were reeling, when it jumped up in fear its head pushed through the ceiling The noise now quite deafening, the dinosaur took fright, it jumped through Kyle’s window and disappeared in the night When Kyle awoke, quickly looking around, expecting a mess but all, that he found Was sometimes, some things are not what they seem, thankfully the dinosaur had been just a dream So may all of your dreams be funny and good, let fantasy, take you to where fantasy should They are just make believe, fantastic and wild, just dreams as they should be, for every young child.

Bravehearts’ members comprise survivors, parents, friends, partners, professionals and nonabusive members of the community who share in the belief that child sexual assault must stop.

Bravehearts aims to empower, educate and protect by providing healing and support, engendering child sexual assault prevention and protection strategies; advocating for understanding and promoting increased education and research. Learn more at: www.bravehearts.org.au

Casey Lee YES I know Casey Lee you’re not ready yet to read So Poppa will do the talking, OK, we’ve both agreed Forgive me if I ramble on but these words come from my heart There’s so much that I should teach you, I wonder where to start I’ve saved lots of kisses, just for you, you’ll have no reason to even ask There’ll be cuddles too and special times cos that’s a Poppa’s task I’ll sit you up upon my knee and tales to you I’ll tell Of make believe and nursery rhymes and of fairies in the dell There’s knights of old, princesses, castles and kind old kings A world just filled with fantasy, of wishing and wonderings

Tales of little fairies good, of elves and nasty trolls Of enchanted forests, the goblin woods and rocky mountain knolls Stories of fabled unicorns and of magic carpet rides Of secret pirate islands where buried treasure hides If these stories should run out, I’ll fib as Poppa’s do But who will know we wont tell, It’ll just be me and you If I sneak you lollies and ice-cream your mummy we won’t tell If they make you sick, we’ll blame it on, some wicked witches spell Casey Lee, all I’m saying is, love for you there’ll always be You’re the daughter of my daughter you’re both special girls to me.

Page 20

SURFCOAST WHOLEFOODS Surfcoast Wholefoods is a unique organic food and health store in Torquay, that has just relaunched their cafĂŠ offerings.

Now offering a full breakfast and lunch menu, each item has been designed to be nutritious, wholesome and healthy, and made from the certified organic and local ingredients also available for sale. From the coconut oil used in cooking to the use of coconut nectar instead of sugar, every element has been considered.

There’s something for every member of the family, from gluten free to fructose friendly, from free range bacon & eggs to dairy free green smoothies. Surfcoast Wholefoods also host a growing number of workshops and demonstrations in store to encourage their customers and the wider community to eat and enjoy a healthy lifestyle. Sign up to their newsletter or follow their facebook page for regular updates and events, and access to their fantastic loyalty program and store discounts.

T e ch no l o gy

Page 21

Move over, here come kidpreneurs The director of Wonderful Websites, Shelley Gross, believes it’s important kids learn about money and where it comes from at a young age. She says it’s best they explore real-life situations when they happen.

E

ARLIER this year I was asked to speak at my son’s school about business and being an entrepreneur.

I was pleased to hear I was still classed as an entrepreneur, as it was one of the things I had been grappling with since turning 40 a few weeks earlier.

The school was learning about enterprise and business principles.

I don’t believe I was given the same exposure to business when I was at school.

This may have been because my chosen subjects were physics and chemistry rather than economics.

But scientists need business skills too. In fact business is something that everyone can benefit from, especially when it covers things such as managing finances, recruitment, organisational skills and marketing.

These are skills that our children can benefit from especially when applying for their first part time job or getting the most out of their hard earned pocket money.

Those small savings kids make today, might be all that is needed to start their own business when they are ready.

I refer to Doug Imbruce who, along with a partner, started Qwiki - a multimedia search engine which then was made available as a video-sharing app.

They then went on to sell their business to Yahoo - on Doug’s 32nd birthday - for

$54 million.

Would you believe there is actually a business for kiddy business?

It is called www.clubkidpreneur.com and is specifically for kids wanting to go into business.

It is a fun and inviting site that helps kids start a business in ‘3 easy steps’ and perhaps make some money along the way.

Move over entrepreneurs, here come the kidpreneurs. Kids are perhaps more open to hearing ideas and accepting criticism.

We can all agree that they are better at taking risks – just check out the hospital emergency waiting room.

Remember when you were a kid and anything seemed possible. Kids are great at dreaming big, and so this should be harvested.

Goals are great and it is important for kids to learn the skill of problem solving. Of course adult support is required.

Some techniques might be to allow your kids to help with the household budget.

There are plenty of online options out there such as www.mint.com and www. budgettracker.com.

Managing the budget might just be a chore that they enjoy, and hopefully will create money saving techniques.

I recently set my kids up with a project of managing a mock share portfolio. They

were each allocated a budget to invest and regularly track the progress using charts and graphs.

Not surprisingly, my six year old, who is known for his enthusiasm for gadgets, invested solely in tech shares such as Google, Apple and Facebook.

I must admit that their enthusiasm dies when the market slumps, but it is all part of the process of learning about investments.

My only concern is that we are not using real money if the market picks up!

While this might not be every parents or kids idea of fun, it is important to talk about finances and budgets as a family.

Make your children aware that there is always going to be a risk in investing and generally speaking, the higher the potential reward, the higher the risk of losing their money.

Kids need to know about money and where it comes from.

They often don’t know that you have to actually pay for what you charge to a credit card. Your kids should understand that it is your hard earned money that comes out of an ATM. And that there are other expenses that they don’t see such as the mortgage, insurances, taxes etc.

Lessons shouldn’t be taught in a single round table discussion, but better to explore real-life situations when they happen.

These examples demonstrate the mechanics of money, values and priorities.

They learn that they may have to sacrifice something they really want (read: horse riding lessons) for something else (read: holiday).

It’s about spending choices and learning about hard work. Or even better: working smarter not harder.

A great lesson for everyone. www.wonderfulwebsites.com.au

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R e ad e r S t o ry

Kids learn all about music a fun way Young children love acting out songs about monsters, penguins and chickens. Mum Kerstin Lindros explains how a music program is allowing kids to sing for fun, while gently teaching them technique and theory

P

ARENTS are leaving and the children, aged from prep to grade six, are sending a clap around the circle to connect.

Then they warm up. For their bodies they stretch, roll their shoulders and shake out arms and legs, and for their voices they poke their tongues out and make siren sounds.

Sue Hindle leads the one hour Acabellas Children singing and music program on Mondays at the Kalkee Hall in Thompson Street, Belmont, as well as one for younger children on Tuesdays in Geelong West.

Ms Hindle’s classes are based on the community singing model, where people come together to sing for fun, and technique and theory are gently embedded in the sessions.

Ms Hindle’s classes encompass a mix of vocal and body warm-ups, singing, movement, instrument use and musical games.

The children in her Monday group know each other well and it is obvious they enjoy coming together.

They wholeheartedly welcome Jasmine who is five years old and new to the group.

They chat and bounce around, excited about the upcoming concert where they will perform two songs.

However, Ms Hindle says there is no pressure to perform, which means each session is enjoyed in the moment, without a focus on a perfect result, which could feel stressful for many children.

Surprisingly, the children do not use lyric

sheets. Ms Hindle says song and movement go together—it is fun and also helps with learning the lyrics. ‘The actions represent words,’ she explains.

She chooses the songs carefully before each term starts, because ‘lyric content needs to be age appropriate and the tune easy enough for them to master confidently’.

‘I draw on a variety of material from the traditional, world and folk genre to popular music and songs that I have written especially for the group.’

The children clearly love singing and acting out the songs about monsters, penguins and chickens as well as burning fires, crashing waves and blowing hurricanes.

Scarlet, 10, says she loves the songs and the actions that go with them. Madison, six, and Kieran, 11, say they love learning new things.

Ms Hindle says children are sometimes more confident at particular things and therefore she

provides opportunities for all participants to shine.

Now Scarlet has an idea about where to position each singer, and Kieran wants to enhance the choreography of one of the concert songs.

Together they explain their ideas to the others.

Based on her experience with teaching music in primary schools and other groups, Ms Hindle knows that when singing and making music, children grow in confidence, improve motor skills, develop listening and recall abilities, build on social skills and creatively explore a sense of self.

She refers to studies that have shown that the act of singing and music making has a positive impact on our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.

Lisa Singline, another Acabellas community singing teacher with seven years of experience, agrees that singing and making music creates positive outcomes for children, including enhanced learning and academic achievements.

Ms Singline has been working with grade prep to six students and the choir at St Thomas Aquinas Primary School and with prep to grade two students at St Francis Xavier Primary School for the past two years.

‘There are many benefits. It gives children a chance to express themselves in different ways that they may not otherwise have opportunity to,’ she says.

‘Students who struggle in other areas of learning may have a chance to “shine” in new ways.

‘Making music as a class encourages students to work together as a team, take turns, share and listen to one another.’

Ms Singline plans her programs but believes it is important to remain flexible, because movement, actions, games and the use of some instruments are valuable tools for exploration and self-expression.

At the Kalkee Hall, the children are now selecting percussion instruments from a purple tub.

Ms Hindle guides them through rhythm exercises and provides opportunity for singing solo, which most young singers take up in this peaceful and inspiring atmosphere of mutual support and respect.

Then the chatter subsides as parents leave with their re-energised and happy children in tow. Ms Hindle is happy, too, because the children’s enthusiasm is inspiring and infectious.

C o m m u ni t y

Armstrong Creek gets a playgroup M OTORISTS travelling the commuter route between Geelong and the Surf Coast each morning and afternoon have been marvelling at the speed at which the new suburb of Armstrong Creek is springing up.

More new homes are apparent by the day, but there is also plenty going on behind the scenes.

The City of Greater Geelong’s Supported Playgroup Project has set up a new facilitated children’s group, the ‘Open Arms Playgroup’, for the first generation of Armstrong Creek children.

Cr Kylie Fisher, who holds Council’s Portfolio for Community Development, said growing numbers of young families were moving into the new suburb and had expressed their wish to have a local playgroup for their children.

She said there had been a very high level of inquiries from local families regarding the setting-up of a playgroup.

Cr Fisher said the Geelong Lutheran College in Burvilles Road, Armstrong Creek, had offered the use of its facilities to enable the new playgroup to be established.

She said playgroups such as ‘Open Arms’ helped young children to learn and de-

velop their life skills through the medium of play.

Cr Fisher said playgroups also created opportunities for young parents to meet in a safe and supported environment, to learn new skills and to develop their social linkages.

She said parents were charged a nominal fee of $3 per session for their children to attend the playgroup, with enrolments being carried out at the initial playgroup session to which the children were brought along.

Cr Fisher said that in order to participate in the new playgroup families needed to be residents in Armstrong Creek or have children attending the Lutheran College.

Sessions are held each Wednesday during school terms, between 10am and 11.30am.

Cr Andy Richards, who represents Buckley Ward, taking in Armstrong Creek, said a community hub to be built in the new suburb would eventually host the children’s playgroup, along with a wide range of other community-based activities. he said it was gratifying to see the suburb of Armstrong Creek taking shape, and to see the community developing along with the infrastructure in an orderly, wellplanned and cohesive manner.

Shaun and his daughter Lilly, 20 months

Page 24

F a t h e r ’s Da y

What does Father’s Day mean to me?

FIRST TIME DAD

DAD OF 44 YEARS

DAD OF 33 YEARS

Andrew Maslen, LARA

Barry De Kook, WANDANA HEIGHTS

WHILE my wife Lauren, was pregnant, I used to think about my own father, and what I used to do for him for Father’s day.

I would shudder and think I was a horrible son, all I bought him was a Mars Bar each year for about eight years in a row!

But as soon as Stella was born, it dawned on me, that’s what Father’s day was all about, I knew he liked Mars Bars and I bought him one.

What greater proof of love is there than knowing what someone else wants?

Most of the time he let me eat it anyway! Maybe that’s why Father’s Day was created, to remind us all that life is a miracle of which no one, not a preacher or a doctor can explain.

I will love my daughter for the rest of my life, no matter who she grows up to be, I will love her and any future little brothers or sisters she has.

In the end, Father’s Day to me probably means the same to every other father out there, it means that I am a father, and that in itself is the greatest gift.

THE day I became a father for the first time some 33 years ago, will always be a point in my life that can be summed up in one word. “Energising” Whatever switch that lays dormant in your make up, that suddenly turns on and change your awareness of the world and your place in it forever.

The first time you hold that child in the delivery room is a very special experience.

I can still close my eyes today and see that gorgeous little fragile girl’s face with those knowing eyes just staring into my heart and made me melt away.

That loving connection that is created is both emotional and forever binding.

With my daughter Gayle, the skies become bluer, the grass becomes greener and the Moo cows become wonderful parts of the world for Rose and me to explore with that new little person.

My next two daughters, Megan and Anita, whom came into Rose and my life over the following four years, also created the same level of connection that in many ways has made me the person I am today.

I can still remember my father sitting back in his garden chair, watching my daughters and I at play in his backyard with a level of joy and contentment that I am lucky enough today to be experiencing myself with my now five wonderful grandchildren; Maxx, Sam, Fynn, Olive and Stella.

There is no real set of rules or guide book that can make you the best, husband, father and grandfather.

The family I have today is a strong unit. It is made up of very different people with different life needs, hopes, ambitions and personal dreams.

I am not the head of this family; I am only someone I hope has been able to be there to give some form of consistency in their lives, who they can depend on when in need, be it as a helping hand, a listener, a playmate or just a focus of moral support and encouragement.

At 57, I am a very lucky young grandfather who still today has that energised sense of pride in this family of thirteen, that Rose and I have become an part of.

Today, I am really happy with who I am and how I have got here, and I am especially proud of this whole family, who all affectionately just call me “DA”.

Gary Burns, LEOPOLD FORTY four years ago I was blessed with the birth of my first daughter, Jodie, followed a year later by Nikki, then a year later by Ali, then six years later by Becky.

I was truly entrenched into fatherhood before I realised, what a journey it was to be.

Nobody told me how to be a father yet it was the best, to be one, to grow every day.

My children have been my greatest teachers and I was told as they became independent,”Please Dad, no more lectures”, so I reluctantly backed off, not in effort but in control.

Now I have evolved into a Grandfather, with Mia, Ruby, Zara, Issac, Korey and Tom racing toward me, arms outstretched. Priceless.

My catch cry to them is”No Laughing” to which, bucket loads of laughter erupts.

No regrets from this father/grandfather for a life rich in memories, still happening.

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F a t h e r ’s D ay

Miss Zoe and hubby Justin - Megan Brearley, Merideth Keegan with our children Herschelle and Jemma.

- Tiffany Carr, Corio

Dad Gary with his three daughters Meg, Lucy, and baby Zoe! - Sophia Fitzgibbon, Geelong

Col and Indy Duncan - Laura Duncan, Bannockburn

Chris and Christian van Ryswyk enjoying a lovely day in Torquay - Sune van Ryswyk, Torquay

Sharon, Cooper, Megan, Mikayla and hubby Mark - Sharon Frost, Lovely Banks Sebi and his daddy Adrian having fun swimming - Debbie Clark-Roberts, East Geelong

Mark with our son Archie - Jodie Thomson, Belmont

Tyler and his dad Joseph after they both had their haircut! - Sally Marange, Newcomb

Grandpa Max and grandson Finn - Sharee Mckee, Geelong

Nick always supports his boys... even if it means dressing up as Superman for a dress up with Giorgio, 5, and Orlando, 3.

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Page 27

L i t t l e A t h l e ti cs

A fun way to stay fit and healthy Three Geelong teenagers originally joined Little Athletic clubs because they wanted to develop new skills while having fun. Now the trio continue to improve in their specific events while breaking records

G

EELONG teenagers Jaimee van Leerdam, Tess Kirsopp-Cole and James Murrant are all members of the Geelong Little Athletics Centre.

They agree that athletics is a sport for everyone and is a great way to make friends, have fun and develop new skills.

Fifteen-year-old Jamie van Leerdam joined the Leopold Club when she was seven because she thought Little Athletics sounded like fun. Javelin, Shot Put and Triple Jump are her favourite events.

In recent years she has set two Geelong Javelin records, won medals at three Little Athletics and Athletics Victoria State Championships and a silver medal at the Australian Junior Championships in Sydney 2012. She hopes to qualify in Javelin for the IAAF World Juniors in 2016 and will continue to work towards future Commonwealth and Olympic Games.

Jaimee says “I love the friendships I have made and the skills that I have learnt along the way. I recommend Little Athletics because it is a great base for all sports – you are taught how to run, jump and throw. There is something for everyone; you don’t have to be the fastest runner or best high jumper. Every athlete can find that event that suits them best.”

Tees Kirsopp-Cole joined Geelong Guild Club because she loved running. Now 13, Tess enjoys the track events best and won the 200m and 400m at last year’s State Championships.

Tess Kirsopp-Cole

Jaimee van Leerdam

She has been a member of numerous successful Relay teams and has a grand total of thirteen State medals for this team event.

Tess’s immediate aims are to keep improving and to break some of the current Geelong records. Her long term goal is to qualify for the Olympics and compete against the world’s best runners.

Tess says “Little Athletics is a friendly, fun, and encouraging environment for kids between the age of five and 16 years.

It is a fun way to stay fit and healthy! Everyone is so friendly and inviting! And it’s all about the Fun! I have made some of my greatest friends at Little Aths. Everyone is so encouraging. It doesn’t matter if you’re not that good at running, jumping or throwing it’s all about learning new skills and trying your best!”

Grovedale athlete, Harvey Murrant started Little Athletics when he was eleven because he liked athletics at school and wanted to do more.

Now fourteen, Harvey’s favourite events are

Sprints, Hurdles, Long Jump and High Jump.

He currently holds the Under 14 Boys Long Jump record.

His all-round ability earned him a bronze medal in last year’s State Multi-Event Championships where he was required to contest six events.

Harvey is a talented junior footballer and his aim is to play football at as high a level as possible and to have a career in a sports related field.

He says “The great thing about Little Athletics is that it encourages personal improvement, is a lot of fun and keeps me fit for football.”

He recommends athletics to others because it is enjoyable, challenging and a good basis for other sports.

Little Athletics gives children from five to 16 the opportunity to participate in athletics in a safe, family oriented environment.

They are encouraged to compete for their own enjoyment and self-improvement. New members are welcome at either of the two Centres in our area – Geelong or Corio.

The Geelong Centre at Landy Field, South Geelong will start its Track and Field season at on Saturday, October 12. Contact the secretary, Judy Wilmshurst on 0432 871 243 for more information.

Corio Centre, based at Goldsworthy Road Athletics Track starts on October 5 and interested families should contact Nicole Hill on 0408 122 303.

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R e v i e ws TH E M O DE RN F A M I L Y

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.

S U RV I V A L G U I DE Nige l L at t a - R and o m ho us e

A handbook for stepparents, separated parents, grandparents raising grandchildren, and everyone in between. The shape of the modern family has changed hugely in the last twenty years. Once upon a time mum, dad, and three or four kids used to be the norm, but that type of family is almost an anomaly now. Stepfamilies, separated families, single parents, grandparents raising their children’s children, bitter family court battles, and complicated access arrangements… it’s a brave new world full of complicated family arrangements and conundrums. The Modern Family Survival Guide provides pragmatic and common sense answers to the myriad complex questions and dilemmas which arise from living in these brave new social times. Utilising both the best current research about stepfamilies and over two decades of clinical experience, this book will traverse the many and varied issues of modern family life.

NE V ER GO B AC K L e e Child - R a n dom ho us e ‘It’s said that a Jack Reacher novel is bought every four seconds somewhere in the world… Lee Child’s genius has been to create a tough guy hero that men will envy and women will adore’ Daily Express After an epic and interrupted journey all the way from the snows of South Dakota, Jack Reacher has finally made it to Virginia. His destination: a sturdy stone building a short bus ride from Washington D.C., the headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP. It was the closest thing to a home he ever had. Why? He wants to meet the new commanding officer, Major Susan Turner. He liked her voice on the phone. But the officer sitting behind Reacher’s old desk isn’t a woman. Why is Susan Turner not there? What Reacher doesn’t expect is what comes next. He himself is in big trouble, accused of a sixteen-year-old homicide. Will he be sorry he went back? Or – will someone else?

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.

S A U RU S S T RE E T N i ck Fal k an d To ny Fl o w e r s R and omho us e

Saurus Street is just like any other street . . . except for the dinosaurs!

A Plesiosaur Broke My Bathtub - Thomas’s grandparents house is ancient. There’s no electricity, and the toilet is a creaky old cabin outside. Thomas is terrified of that toilet. There’s something down there . . . And when Thomas gets too close and falls down the hole, he discovers a secret that will change Saurus Street forever. Plunging pterosaurs, squiggling squid and massive meteors are all part of the greatest adventure since the Cretaceous period!

Captain Saurus was a legendary pirate. He had a dinosaur-bone leg and a magic glass eye that could bring fossils to life!

A Diplodocus Trampled My Teepee - And when Jack and Toby find the magic eyeball while camping, they unleash an avalanche of dinosaurs of every shape and size.

To reverse the curse, the kids have to solve the Captain’s cunning clues. But time is running out!

BIERTVICS ES IT S

LLY

E

IA SPEC

UR O Y FOR SS! E N BUSI

Contact Shaun on 5255 3925 OR 0411 416 384 to discuss your requirements! www.bitsit.com.au

PL A NT S VS

Z OMB I ES 2 I t’ s a bout ti m e By P opC a p Plant vs. Zombies 2 is a tower (Home) defence that has a different, zany approach. To start off you are given a 9 long, 5 wide lawn, where you place your plants to defend your house, just like the first game. When you complete the first level, you collect a bottle of hot sauce, which Crazy Dave (Your Neighbour) squirts on his taco, which he then eats. He loves it so much, he goes back in time with his time machine car, to eat it again!

Unfortunately, he goes too far back and you and Crazy Dave go back to ancient Egypt which presents you with new challenges and new zombies, (and exciting new plants!).

There are also tombstones similar to graves.

These tombstones stand on random parts of your lawn and block any non-lobbed plants attacks. Luckily they can be destroyed if they take enough damage. One of my favourite new zombies is the Chicken zombie, a zombie who has chickens strapped to him with barbed wire. If you don’t kill him fast enough, he will send a hoard of chickens at you. The plants also look better and have smoother animations than the first game. There is also 3 power ups you can buy, Power Pinch, (When you pinch zombies, they instantly die) Power Toss (Swipe a zombie to toss it, then again to send it off the screen) and Power Zap (Hold your finger on a zombie to electrocute it) You can contact me at sushiphantom@gmail.com or play with me on steam at Sushiphantom.

Frag out for now! Callum Bedson

We provide a managed IT support p lan for: · IT Mainte nance

& Audits · Project Pla nning & Su pport · New Purc hases & Up grades · Network M onitoring · Data Back up · Broadban d, E-mail & Website Se · Anti-Virus tup , Malware & Spyware M onitoring

Page 29

R e v i e ws LEGO HE A D

A I R HOVER Hov er A ssul t Ej ec t - Funta sti c

S OR T E R Ta t es To y w o r l d

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

Decorate your home as you store your LEGO brick collection in this iconic minifigure head. Sorting you LEGO bricks is as easy as 1,2 ,3 – just tip bricks into the top compartment, shake gently, then simply lift each section to reveal sorted LEGO bricks. Your shaking action causes small, medium and large LEGO bricks to sort into their separate storage compartments. No mess, no hassle – and best of all, kids can do it themselves.

An essential gift for any avid builder, the ingenious LEGO Sort and Store is the storage solution that makes clean-up a breeze. Holds approximately 1000 LEGO pieces. Measures approximately 11” in diameter by 12” high. Tates Toyworld retails the LEGO Head Sorter for $39.99

MOV I E RE VI E W S Sponsored by

DRIVE – FLY – EJECT – FIRE! The Air Hogs Hover Assault Eject is a hybrid remote control that combines air and ground technology enabling it to jump, drive and fly, exploring terrains that no other vehicle can reach!

You can choose between full on fly-mode or bursts of flight. Speed across the ground before soaring into the air, with the new option of ejecting the wheel base for a more powerful take-off and flight. You can unleash 4 plastic missiles with the push of a button. The product is recommended for over 10 years of age and requires 6 AA batteries (not included).

GEELONG

P E RCY

TURBO

O F M ONS T ER S

School Holiday time again guys (Yay!) so it’s time to get the family into VILLAGE Cinemas and enjoy the many family films they will be hosting in those two short weeks!

J A CK S O N: S EA The second Percy Jackson novel to be adapted to the big screen is Sea of Monsters, following up from 2010’s superb Lightning Thief, the fantasy flick that ticked all the action, comedy and thrills boxes to be one of the family films of the year. Demi-god Percy Jackson and his comrades at Camp Half-Blood return for an all new adventure, entrusted to retrieve the legendary golden fleece from the sea of monsters, which is the only thing that will save the camp from the forces of darkness.

Since Harry Potter films are no more, get your fantasy fix this month with Percy Jackson; Sea of Monsters, the best film for teenagers this month... unless you’re a 1D fan! Out this September also is One Direction: This is Us, but if you were a fan, you already knew that didn’t you!

Our feature movie this month is TURBO, a high-velocity comedy about a snail who dares to dream big - and fast. After a freak accident infuses him with the power of super-speed, Turbo kicks into overdrive and embarks on an extraordinary journey to achieve the seemingly impossible: competing in the world’s fastest race, the Indy 500! With the help of his trickedout streetwise snail crew, this ultimate underdog puts his heart and shell on the line to prove that no dream is too big, and no dreamer too small. Recent studies have revealed snails reach a top speed of one metre per hour, so although it may be unlikely to come across a super speed snail, it makes for great viewing!

Rev ie w s by M a t t L a n ca st e r ( a k a t h e M ovie Guy)

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

ones c s l i a f Easy no

C r ea t i o ns These are so easy, my four-year-old can make them!

That, and they have never managed to flop. A perfect afternoon tea on a cold day, or an easy dessert treat with jam and cream, or just butter

METHOD: Preheat oven to 230C Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix them together.

Tip the dough out onto a floured board and roll out until its 1 ½ to 2 cm thick.

Using a 5cm round cookie cutter, cut scones out of the dough and place them onto a tray lined with baking paper.

Cook for 8 minutes. *Don’t worry if you don’t have a cookie cutter exactly 5cm in size. You can always use a bigger one, or even use the top of a glass or cup as a cookie cutter. You can always cook for a minute or two longer with bigger scones. *When you have mixed the ingredients in the bowl, the mix will be sticky, it wont be a dough ball. That’s how its meant to be, the floured board fixes that.

Ingredients:

3 cups self raising flo ur - 1 cup thickened 1 cup lemonade

cream

*Lastly, don’t feel like you have to knead the dough heaps. Just move it around enough to make it into a dough ball. If you work it too hard it will take the air out of it and make tough scones *keep dipping your cookie cutter in flour to stop it sticking to the dough

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

S ch o o l s

Students hope to adopt orangutan J UST writing to let you know how excited we are!

Following on from our Orangutan Day at Little River Primary School last term, we have been lucky enough to be presented with this gorgeous poster as a thank you for being part of an art exhibition, which helped to raise money to save the orangutans.

We also learnt a lot of interesting facts about orangutans!

We are now in the process adopting our very own orangutan through WWF (World Wildlife Fund) with the money we raised here at school by selling badges, cupcakes and having a dress up day.

By adopting an orangutan through WWF we are: • Achieving government agreements to conserve the Heart of Borneo • Creating and extending protected areas of rainforest • Enforcing existing restrictions on the trade in live orangutans and products such as palm oil • Promoting sustainable use of natural resources • Enabling local communities to manage protected areas” (www.wwf.org.au) We are really looking forward to receiving our adoption package and getting updates about the newest addition to our

school community.

It has been great to see that each and every one of us can have a positive effect on the lives of these amazing animals.

We are now so much more aware of why palm oil is so destructive and we can help our mums and dads make better choices when we go shopping at the supermarket.

JACKSON – “Interestingly, orangutans are grown up at six years old”.

RYAN – “My favourite fact about orangutans is that they are seven times as strong as humans”.

BILLIE – “We should protect orangutans because people are cutting down their trees and they are going to be extinct”.

FROM LEFT: Jackson, Mang (toy orangutan), Billie, and Ryan.

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

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

Business Oportunities

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

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.

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

MONDAYS: Food for fOrT, 4-6pm.

THURSDAYS: Movie Night, 4-7pm.

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

EVERY THURSDAY: 4-6pm at StudioMade, A unique opportunity for kids older than eight years, to free fall on art, allowing experimentation and exploration of clay, wood and other organic materials.

Visit geelongartstudio.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

T ra de

On

School Holidays FREE ACTIVITIES on offer in Central Geelong these school holidays from Saturday, September 21 to Sunday, October 6, 2013.

FREE activities include: Insect explorers treasure hunt, Butterfly adventures enclosure, Splendiferous art space, Wizard of Oz live show, Footy handball competition and more!

Be one of the first to find out what’s happening in Central Geelong by registering your child to receive a FREE Central Geelong School Holiday Fun Guide that includes information about all the FREE activities on offer and special discounts from participating businesses.

To get a copy of the Fun Guide visit www.centralgeelong.com.au or call 5272 4297.

D i re ct o ry

IT support

Schools CLIFTON SPRINGS PS has a transition program for its 2014 Preps. Dip into D.I.P. allows new Preps to participate in a Developmental Inquiry Program.

Dates are: Term 3 - Tuesday, August 20 - 2.15pm -3pm Wednesday, August 28 -9.15am -10am Thursday, September 5 - 2.15pm -3pm Term 4 Thursday, November 14 - 2pm -3pm Tuesday, November 26 - 2pm -3:30pm Tuesday, December 10 - 9.30am -1pm New preps, enrolled or soon to be, can come to one or more sessions.

Call the school on 52513581for more information. Orientation days are a great way to transition your child into their new school!

Fun Run ST ALOYSIUS PRIMARY SCHOOL is hosting the 100 Steps Fun Run on Sunday, September 15. 10am sign in, 11am start.

The run and walk is to help mark the Borough of Queenscliffe’s 150th year.

Events: 5km, 10km beach run and walk and a 1kn (children’s run) Venue: Citizen’s PArk, Queenscliff.

Register now at www.registernow.com.au

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

Parties

Cleaning

List your business in

Health

the Kids’ Voice trade directory.

Phone 0448 077 021 or email cath@kidsvoice.com.au

Toy library

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