NEWSLETTER - ICPA Northern Territory

Transcription

Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association
of the Northern Territory
NEWSLETTER
Issue 72 April 2016
Many thanks to the Connellan Trust and
Siba Ships for their generous support of the
NT ICPA ventures in 2016
Welcome to our New President, Tiani Cook
and farewell to Andi Bracey
Hi everyone, my name it Tiani Cook
and I live at Suplejack Downs Station
out on the Tanami. Our family run
cattle station is approximately half
way
between
Alice
Springs
Katherine, so our closest town is
some 730kms away.
It is my great pleasure to introduce to
you Tiani Cook and the new NT team,
please welcome and encourage them and
do your part to make sure NTICPA
continues to be a loud voice resounding
with our issues. I have handed over the
baton due to another door of influence that has opened to me and
which I hope will also be of benefit to NTICPA members.
I’m very excited to be representing NTICPA as State President
and would like to say a big thank you to Andi Bracey, Immediate
Past President for her foresight and support in encouraging me
into this role. I am so passionate about the paradox of our truly
amazing outback lives; finding that balance between the
incredible sunsets and limited internet data, give me this lifestyle
any day!
I would like to thank each and every one that managed to come to
our latest ‘Red Dust and Dreams’ Conference, please know that if
you were not able to make it you were missed, and for those that
did come we left truly inspired and encouraged knowing that
together our cup runs over. We heard from Jan Heaslip our
NTICPA Patron, Arthur Townsend Executive Director of
Schools South, Rosanna Larcocia from NBN, Brian from SPERA
with a report from our sponsorship recipient Rory Quirk, The
Remote Indigenous Parents Association (RIPA) and then wound
up with songs, stories and inspiration from the lovely Holy Tapp.
Finalising the event was a Katherine Gorge boat cruise and Tree
Top Dinner convened by Katherine Branch. It is the sort of thing
great memories are made of, and many thanks to the Convening
Committee headed up by Helen Harding, it was truly
unforgettable.
I have 4 children aged 13yrs, 15yrs, 17yrs and 19yrs and we have
been a part of the distance education family on and off for the
last 13 years. At present my eldest daughter Telia is studying a
Batchelor of Human Resources at The University of Southern
Queensland (USQ) in Toowoomba Qld and like so many of our
bush kids in the city, she works 3 jobs to support herself. Jesse,
my 17 year old son, putting his Building Apprenticeship on hold
to peruse his passion for Rodeo, in particular Bull Riding, is
currently in Townsville with Australian Bull Riding Champion,
Troy Dunn. My second youngest daughter Shannai is in grade 10
at NTOEC (Northern Territory Open Education Centre Darwin)
and youngest daughter Kiralee is in grade 7 at ASSOA (Alice
Springs School of the Air).
Thanks for a great year NTICPA and as I sign off with some
great productive and exceptional NTICPA women ...Helen
Harding, Ruth Woerle and Sue Shotton who have given their all
and are making way for the next generation take the baton and
run with it, on behalf of us all to the new committee we say - Go
for it! Over and out
On the 6th & 7th April, our NT State Conference “Red Dust and
Dreams” was held at Knotts Crossing in Katherine and I’d like to
thank the Katherine Branch for their wonderful organisation of
the event. It was a wonderful, whirlwind couple of days, fantastic
and informative; not to mention socially entertaining with
brilliant networking. I met many of you and look forward to
getting to know those of you who didn’t make it. I believe as
parents and families living rurally and remotely we all have the
best interests of our children’s education very close to our hearts
and together we’ll strive for equity of access to education for our
NT Kids.
Blessings, Andi
Thanks to Felix Baker for the photographs of the conference in this issue
including the front cover image of Amber Driver, from the Alice Springs
Branch.
Editor: Ruth Woerle [email protected]
Katherine Branch
Personal Development Grants
Thank you Tiani.
Katherine Branch members interested in applying for a Personal
Development Grant please remember they are due in on
Monday 20th June 2016
(one week before Inschool)
NTICPA has signed on to the Quickbeds, Grassroots
Fundraising Program.
When you need accommodation just go to the Quickbeds
website and book - NTICPA will receive funds for the
Association. You don't have to be an ICPA member to use
our club code so forward this information on to family and
friends so they can help raise funds for ICPA too. Our
code is 1614.
These grants are to assist families with costs associated with
activities related to Sport, Music, Drama, Art
and any other activity, including Excursions,
which encourages children’s Personal Development.
They are available to pre-primary children and all students (primary, middle
school, secondary, tertiary, etc.)
of current members of at least one year membership.
Grants are of up to $200 (dependent on number of applications and Grant
pool amount) and applications are to be sent to the grant coordinator.
Successful applicants will be issued with a Certificate and cheque/cash to be
presented at an ICPA or KSA event where possible or mailed.
CODE 1614
For applications to be eligible, a cover sheet and application form must
be completed - which have been emailed to all members recently
– or contact Helen Harding [email protected] ASAP.
“DOWN THE TRACK” ntIcpa newsletter
2
APRIL 2016
Postal Address; PO Box 8346, Alice Springs 0871
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.nt.icpa.com.au
PRESIDENT
& PUBLICITY OFFICER
TREASURER, PUBLIC OFFICER
& LONE MEMBER OFFICER
Ms Tiani Cook
Suplejack Downs Station
PMB 42
Alice Springs NT 0872
08 8956 8764
[email protected]
Sarah Measey
Ceres Downs
PMB 271
Winnellie NT 0822
08 8978 2155
[email protected]
VICE PRESIDENT
NTICPA STATE
COMMITTEE
Sally Sullivan
Cave Creek Station
PO Box 4009
Mataranka NT 0852
08 8975 4321
[email protected]
NT WEB MASTER
Sue Shotton
Douglas Daly Research Farm
PMB 105
Winnellie NT 0822
08 8978 2705
[email protected]
ARCHIVES &
DOWN THE TRACK
NEWSLETTER
Ruth Woerle
PO Box 728
Palmerston NT 0832
0404 479534
[email protected]
Andi Bracey
PO Box 2128
Katherine NT 0851
08 8934 8010
[email protected]
Leza Cook
PMB 42
08 8956 8764
[email protected]
SECRETARY
Alethea Nicolle
Mulga Park Station
PMB 17
08 8956 2902
[email protected]
HOME TUTOR REGISTER
COORDINATOR
Linda Bowman
Willeroo Station
PO Box 442
Katherine NT 0851
08 8975 0711
Fax: 08 8975 0340
[email protected]
NTICPA STATE PATRON
Mrs Jan Heaslip
NTICPA State Life Member
Bond Springs Station
PO Box 4
08 8952 9810
[email protected]
Mrs Kerrie Scott
Mountain Valley Station
PMB 124
Katherine NT 0852
08 8975 4064
[email protected]
Mrs Julie Richter
VRD Station
PMB 19
Katherine NT 0852
08 89750795
[email protected]
LIFE MEMBERS
Jan Heaslip…….…...8952 9810
Pat Elliott……..….…8971 2116
Chrissie Holt.…..….…Deceased
Deneise Edwards .……………..
Del Harlan ……….0417 835504
Kate Schubert…….....9305 5857
PORTFOLIO POSITIONS
Allowances - J ulie Richter
Boarding - Alethea Nicolle
Communications & Technology - Tiani Cook
Curriculum - Leza Cook
Distance Ed - J ulie Richter
Early Childhood - Ker r ie Scott
Rural/Remote Schools - Sarah Measey
Special Needs - Andi Br acey
Tertiary - Sally Sullivan
Training - Sally Sullivan
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APRIL 2016
Red Dust and Dreams
th
upcoming commercial release of Sky Muster and the education
port that will be available with the installation. Plans for the
education port will be sold separately from the normal plan and
there will be up to 50GB / month per child up to three children
available. In the NT families with children doing distance
education WILL NOT have to worry about purchasing any
plans to use the education port as this will be covered by
Education Department and if the home school room has more
than 3 students then this will also be covered by the Education
Department. So the only thing that members need to do is to
register NOW in preparation for the commercial release and
you only have to register for a personal plan.
The 34 Northern Territory Isolated Children’s
Parents’ Association State Conference was held in
Katherine on April 6th & 7th with a good
representation from both Alice Springs and Katherine
Branches.
The Annual General Meeting was held on the 6th prior to
conference and the new council are as follows:
President: Tiani Cook (Alice Springs)
Secretary: Alethea Nicolle (Alice Springs)
Treasurer: Sarah Measey (Katherine)
Immediate Past President: Andi Bracey (Katherine)
Committee: Sally Sullivan (Katherine)
Leza Cook (Alice Springs)
Kerri Scott (Katherine)
Julie Richter (Katherine)
Federal ICPA President, Wendy Hick, informed those present
what has been happening on the Federal arena and there was
quite a bit of information. Her report and other reports from
conference will be available for download from:
http://nt.icpa.com.au.
The AGM was followed by the Conference Procedures
workshop which was attended by most delegates who found it
to be beneficial. This was followed by a networking social get
together around the pool and even the sprinkle of some rain
didn’t damper the enthusiastic chatter.
Other presenters on the day included Brian O’Neill, (above,
left) President of the Society for the Provision of Education in
Rural Australia (SPERA), Remote Indigenous Parents’
Association (RIPA) (above, right) and a lovely session from
our own NT Grown, Holly Tapp, below.
The conference on Thursday 7 th started with the National
Anthem being sung by all, under the guidance of Holly Tapp.
NT State Life Member and NTICPA Patron, Jan Heaslip, OAM
then opened the conference.
Arthur Townsend, Executive Director Schools South, discussed
the Distance Education review and his involvement which has
a major focus on improving rural and indigenous education
outcomes. Delegates heard that Distance Education provision
and needs will be aligned, based on a global school budget
model. A reference group of end users will be formed and
ICPA will be invited to join the review and test any model that
is formed. Arthur also covered the restructure of the Northern
Territory Open Education Centre. This will involve a change
of name to better reflect the services of this school as well as
doing a restructure of staffing. There will be a loss of 14 staff
due to enrolments decreasing by 50%.
We also heard from Sheri Fogarty (above, centre) on behalf of
her daughter Ellie Fogarty who was the 2015 Post secondary
recipient.
The Branches shared what has been happening over the past
year in the Katherine and Alice Springs regions, and the Home
Tutor Register (HTR) report was also delivered. All motions
presented at conference, including four floor motions, were
carried.
The conference concluded with a most enjoyable cruise up the
Katherine Gorge as far as the second gorge, followed by a
sunset buffet dinner at the Katherine Gorge Visitor’s Centre.
Congratulations to convenor, Helen Harding, and the Katherine
Branch on another great conference.
Rosanna Lacorcia, National Stakeholder Relations Manager for Sue Shotton
the National Broadband Network (NBN), spoke about the
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APRIL 2016
A Thank You from the
Conference Convenor
State Conference Raffle Winners
On behalf of the ICPA Katherine Branch,
I would like to sincerely thank all of our
sponsors and the following people for
their assistance with the 34th NT ICPA
State Conference in Katherine:
Kerrie Scott for organising a great raffle
which made close to $800.
Congratulations to:
1st Prize, NT HOLIDAY PACKAGE:
Jan Heaslip
Litchfield Tourist Park 1 night Family
accommodation
Bachelor
Butterfly
Farm
Bachelor Butterfly Farm 1 night Family
accommodation,
Sally Sullivan for her skill at making
laptops and projectors talk to each other.
Family Entry to the Farm and Family
meal
KICS ladies; Mandy Tootell, Kate and
Chelsea for setting up the KICS van for
families to use during the Conference.
Coomalie Air Litchfield Scenic Flight
2nd Prize, AURORA KAKADU
RESORT:
Megan Boote
KSA, Sharni Wilson for offering us the
use of their photocopier and Shirley for
her assistance.
2 nights accommodation for 2
Felix Baker for photography, and IT
skills that kept everything running
smoothly on the day.
including cooked breakfast both days
3rd Prize,Paspaley:
Amber Driver
And last but definitely not least, the
Convening Committee (image below) of
Courtney Liebeck, Kimberley Thomas
and my daughter Kate for their assistance
right from the beginning to the very end!
They have been a great team to work with
and the support was much appreciated.
The Katherine Branch hopes all attendees
enjoyed the Conference and I look
forward to our Web-conference in 2017.
Cheers, Helen Harding
Beautiful Umbrella and Mother of Pearl
Shell
Clare Wine Co and Associates:
Wine Pack: Leza Cook
Jones’ Meat Mart:
Leg of lamb or ham: Andi Bracey
Murranjai
Mangoes
Olssons:
BBQ Pack: Sarah Measey
OP Therapy:
Natural Beauty Pack: Michael Wilson
Best sellers Book Pack:
Brian O’Neill
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APRIL 2016
President Report – Andi Bracey 2016
Ruth Woerle has continued to do an amazing job as Editor of our
magazine, Down the Track, with three issues distributed to
members in 2015 we have continued to publish larger editions with
the next edition due out shortly after conference, up to 350 copies
of each issue are printed at a time.
We have had a very busy year on the
NTICPA front which started off with
delegations to Chief Executive Ken Davies
office in May where we met with Susan
Bowden, Marion Guppy and also Marcia
Harvey Principal of NTOEC, we also
attended the launch of RIPA the Remote
Indigenous Parents Association through
Boarding Australia held in Darwin.
This past year with Sue Shotton and the federal web team
launched our NTICPA website and then most recently Twitter, and
our Facebook page also has a significant following. I would like
to encourage you to send through your photos to Sue Shotton as
We look forward to including RIPA in our delegations this coming regular updates to the webpage with photos from members make it
more enjoyable to visit and media opportunity is a great tool to
year as our voices resound a lot louder together and NTICPA
bring change.
encourages strong relationships and networking across the bush.
We also need to organise a data-base of people who are willing to
NTICPA Council has offered Bursaries again this year the Siba
Wellard Bridging the Gap bursary and the Post-Secondary Bursary speak to Media in regards to our issues. Federal ICPA are
contacted regularly by media needing people on the ground who
and also the Zoetis Australia Pastoral Industry Student Grant.
are ready to speak; media exposure brings great opportunity which
Our constitution was updated on the 22nd April 2015.
can lead to great change - if you are willing to speak to media on a
Federal Conference - In August 2015, three delegates from ICPA
particular issue please let the new NTICPA council know and they
NT State Council attended the annual Federal Conference in
can begin to put a NT data-base together for Federal ICPA.
Brisbane, with another five delegates attending from the Katherine
Federal Conference will be hosted by the Territory 2017 with dates
and Alice Springs Branches. This was one of the greatest
and location to be discussed at a post conference meeting.
representations from the NT in attendance at Federal Conference.
This year it would also be great to have a NT representative on
We continue to press through it all and together we make a
Federal Council if anyone is interested please let us know.
difference - something that I would like to see the new State
Council run with would be in regards to the ‘In Home Care’ and
With the support of NT ICPA and other state councils, Federal
‘Pilot Nanny Scheme' it came to light recently and most
ICPA was successful in securing the removal of the Family Assets
prominently in Canberra F2F meetings that both of the schemes
Test and the Family Actual Means Test from rural and regional
seem to be significantly hindered by the current legislation they are
Youth Allowance eligibility tests – which will enable more rural
under, this is one of our desperate needs of Outback families students to access affordable tertiary education.
we need help to educate our children; national members statistics
indicate that 80% of Mothers are responsible for the education of
NTICPA Council sponsored Rory Quirk to attend the SPERA
conference in Victoria and I was privileged to sit on the SPERA
their children and out of this 80% figure, a further 84% have said
selection panel to assist in choosing Rory as the recipient who
that because of their responsibility in the classroom for the
ticked all of our boxes in that he was both from the bush and
education of their children, they are unable to participate in paid
employment or fill a role in their own businesses. Currently the NT
wanted to take his teaching degree out to the bush, he is also a
highly skilled musician and this excited us, as where music has
has a total of 223 children who are represented through NTICPA
been implemented in remote school settings student attendance has membership belonging to either Alice, Katherine or Lones Branch,
risen dramatically.
and I would propose to the new Council that they begin to lobby
accordingly for either a Policy or a Legislation change for our
Four NT State Council teleconferences were held during the year,
families to facilitate and create a new programme that will
as well as face-to face meetings pre- and post-conference in Alice
actually work, aimed at the direct needs of people in the bush,
Springs in April.
created by people in the bush - not city folk - and give our
The Face to face meetings held recently in Canberra were
families the support they need to educate their children once and
for all!
organised by Federal ICPA; we took your issues on including
testimonies from Katherine Branch on the ‘Pilot Nanny Scheme’
On another note…When I took on this position I always said it
and ‘In home Care’ where there was acknowledgement from Greta
would only be for a year and what an amazing year it has been,
Doherty that these Schemes are not working, however it was
thank you all very much it has truly been my privilege. NTICPA
mentioned by Greta to keep using the Pilot Nanny web site as they
you are truly some of the greatest people I have met on the earth. I
collect data on who has visited the site to measure how many
still hope to work in the closest capacity to NTICPA that you
people who have entered it and actually carry through to the final
would have me, as Immediate Past President and I am also in the
process, this gathering of information gives them the data they
process of walking through what I believe to be a greater door of
need to implement change, albeit very slowly.
influence which I believe will help to bring great change together,
working alongside with NTICPA for our members and our outback
Meetings were held not only between Federal and State ICPA
and remote families.
members but we also met with NBN Lalla Mackenzie National
Stakeholders Relations Senior Manager who calmed our storms
I would like to encourage Tiani Cook and the new State Council in
particularly around the past years technologies issues and the news
their pursuit of equity for our members and wish you all the very
that Qantas was going to take our Sky Muster data by offering free
best and just keep pressing forward because one day we will get
Wi-Fi on flights as soon as the Sky Muster satellite was launched just the breakthrough we need.
and we look forward to the new release of data and technology and
Remember that our cup is not half empty but together
the dedicated education port. We also heard from Andrew
our cup runs over.
Firestone who spoke on the Schools Funding Policy.
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APRIL 2016
Elle Fogarty 2015 Post Secondary Bursary
Home Tutor Register Report 2016
My name is Elle Fogarty and I was the 2015 recipient of the NT
ICPA Post Secondary Bursary.
The Home Tutor Register has been much slower this year than
previously. I have had less families or enquiries for the year in
general.
To begin, I would like to say a huge thank you to the ICPA and
their generosity. This generosity has allowed myself, like many
others, to have the opportunity to achieve my highest potential
academically.
I have had 7 families on the register since the last report (March
2015).
Of the 7 families, three of those families were on the register a
number of times over the 12 months.
The financial support that I had received has allowed my final
year of university to be one of great success. Last year I
completed my Bachelor of Education (Primary) Degree, at the
university of New England with a distinction average.
The families were evenly placed from the southern part of the
Territory and the northern.
Whilst most families find their own Home Tutor themselves in the
end, they all say that the service is very useful and think the
register is worthwhile. Only one family was successful in finding
a Home Tutor through the Home Tutor Register. It is time
consuming keeping in touch with the families as they tend to not
communicate with how they are going regarding filling their
positions. Some families I do not hear from at all after the initial
application forms are filled in, despite numerous emails sent to
them and on some occasions I call them.
The Home Tutor Register is currently a member of, and advertises
through the Governess Australia website and advertises through
Gumtree, although that is becoming more difficult with Gumtree’s
rules and regulations regarding farming/station work. There are
many things that must be said, or must not be said before they will
accept and post an advertisement, especially around rate of pay.
Most families use the internet to advertise for themselves and are
usually more successful with that. They tend to use the Register
as a back-up of sorts.
I usually receive an updated list from GA about every month,
sometimes earlier if there are lots of applications to GA. Once I
receive the updated resume list from GA I then forward that to
any families that I have on the register. Governess Australia
resume lists were very thin this year. I wonder if that is because
social media is so available now that families and home tutors are
finding their own way to fill positions. Facebook also now has a
page where families and home tutors can advertise for positions. I
sometimes post an ad there too.
Whilst I am happy to continue in the role of the Home Tutor
Register Co-Ordinator, the position has become time consuming
for very little outcome achievement. I believe that with the easy
and favourable use of social media, the role is becoming
redundant.
Part of my university requirements was to complete a ten week
practicum. I was fortunate to have placement in a well
respected catholic school in Walcha, New South Wales,
teaching a combined year 3 and 4 class. The $2000 supported
my accommodation, food and fuel expenses for this ten-week
period. The financial support received allowed myself to give
full attention and effort to my placement. This placement
assisted in the professional success I have achieved today.
Whilst on placement, I was assessed on my teaching by the
university of New England. From this assessment I
demonstrated I was achieving above expectations for a pre –
service teachers. From the results of this assessment I was
invited to part take in a research project call ‘It’s Part of my
Life’.
Being one of five students participating, I had the
opportunity to demonstrate my mathematics teaching skills in a
year six classroom. Whilst teaching, educational professionals
were able to gather data by filming myself teaching, and
recording my personal evaluations. From the data collected they
concluded that I was a highly proficient teacher and one which
is to be recommended.
Once I had completed the research task I began looking for a
full time teaching position. From the great feedback I had
gained, I was offered a full-time years contract at St
Philomena’s Catholic School, Moree. It was very exciting to be
offered a full time contract, as according to The Herald, there
are over 44, 000 teachers in New South Wale still waiting to
receive full time employment. To add, only 40 percent of new
graduate teachers receive a full time position in their first year
of teaching.
This year I have been faced with numerous challenges being a
first year teacher, however, I have also learnt the importance of
a supportive work environment. The staffing team at St
Philomena’s is one that truly cares about their students and their
learning. As it is seen as a team effort, the challenges I have are
resolved as a team.
Linda Bowman
Co-ordinator
Home Tutor Register
This type of support has been demonstrated through the
Northern Territory ICPA committee. The work that they do,
demonstrates to young people like myself, the attitude and
support rural and remote people have. I believe there is nothing
stronger as it creates the
foundation for success.
So once again I would
like
to
thank
the
committee and for their
continuous support they
show every year.
Kerrie Scott (below) Katherine Branch President, organised the raffles
raising almost $800 on the day of the Conference.
Thanks to all our wonderful sponsors for their generous donations and
support of the conference.
Elle Fogarty.
Elle’s report was
presented by her very
proud Mum, Sheri
Fogarty.
7
APRIL 2016
PORTFOLIO REPORTS - State Conference 2016
Allowances
Sally Sullivan
Boarding
Sarah Measey
In the NT, the Allowances Portfolio has been fairly quiet in 2015.
Several queries have been fielded during the year about the
availability of and eligibility for student assistance in the NT. The
Student Assistance Scheme administered by the Department of
Education is probably being under-utilised as some eligible families
still consider the evidential requirements of applying and claiming are
prohibitive. This is particularly the case for those schooling interstate
who are still eligible to claim travel to and from their point of exit
from the NT. A few years ago, NTICPA was instrumental in the
Department’s simplification of applications, and particularly for
renewals in subsequent years. Further improvements are unlikely as
the Department is justified in requiring a certain amount of evidence
to substantiate applications and claims. Application and claim
processing times continue to be excessive (not a reflection of the
efficiency of current staff, more probably a paucity of staff at peak
times).
Last year at the NT State Conference there was one motion put
forward in the Boarding Portfolio and that was to lobby the Federal
Council to lobby the major airlines for concessional rates for students
at boarding schools. This motion was then taken to Brisbane and put
forward at the Federal Conference, however a positive outcome has
not yet been reached and the lobbying is ongoing.
The NT boarding motion was one of seventeen motions in the
Boarding Portfolio that was put forward at the Federal Conference. As
a result the Federal Council have been very active in this area.
Ten of the seventeen Boarding Motions were regarding the Assistance
for Isolated Children (AIC) scheme. As a result the Federal Council
conducted a Boarding Schools Survey which closed on the 6 th of
March to collect information from members. They received 1034
responses, a response rate of 41% of eligible participants. Once the
results are collated a report will be distributed to all members and
ICPA (Aust) will have concrete information to strengthen their lobby
to have the AIC Boarding Allowance increased to more accurately
reflect the cost of educating our rural and remote students. The
Australian Boarding Schools Association is going to assist ICPA
(Aust) by enquiring about boarding and tuition fees for all Australian
boarding schools when they do their next data collection and once the
information is collated share it with ICPA (Aust).
NTICPA has recently supplied heads of boarding facilities in the NT
with NT Student Assistance Scheme information to distribute to
parents. The NT Student Travel and Mid-Term Travel assistance and
the Supplementary Boarding Allowances are of particular interest to
remote families of boarders who are ineligible for Abstudy. Outside
ICPA (and through association, Schools of the Air), dissemination of
information about the NT Student Assistance Scheme appears to be
scant. The department no longer prints hard copies of the scheme
handbook which has not been updated since 2009 and does not include
conveyance subsidy and correspondence site allowances for
preschoolers. Nor does it reflect the undertaking from the (previous)
Chief Executive that families can attach a letter addressed to the CE to
applications justifying decisions to school interstate in order to be
considered on a case-by-case basis for the Supplementary Boarding
Allowance. Further, the Student Assistance Scheme Handbook on the
Department of Education website still has not been formatted for
sensible printing (currently 40 pages long). NTICPA has flagged these
shortcomings and will have to continue to do so.
During the recent face to face meetings in Canberra the AIC campaign
was on the agenda for the meetings in Parliament House with the
politicians. The Federal Council gained media attention, radio,
newspaper and television, following their media release regarding the
AIC issue and Northern Territory ICPA families were asked to speak
out about their experiences.
In the Federal arena:
The Federal Council have asked each State ICPA for information on
any state/territory funding available for boarding students in addition
to the AIC. The preliminary results indicate that the Northern
Territory funding is considerably lower than most states in Australia.
Further information regarding allowances for boarding students can be
found in the NT ICPA Allowances Portfolio report.

Other boarding related news includes:
http://www.education.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/7125/
student_assistance_schemes_handbook.pdf




NTICPA continues to support ICPA (Aust) in lobbying the
Federal Government for the AIC Distance Education
Allowance to be extended to include all pre-compulsory
school students enrolled in a distance education programme.
Standards Australia developed a National Boarding Standards for
Australian Schools (AS5725) which was released in July 2015. Whilst
the standards are voluntary and have not been included in legislation
they are industry standards for boarding facilities that will be
recognized internationally.
NTICPA continues to support ICPA (Aust) in lobbying the
Federal Government for a Distance Education Tutor
Allowance and thanks and commends ICPA (Aust) for their
efforts and media around this lobby.
In January the Northern Territory Government announced a new
boarding facility is to be built in Nhulunbuy. In stage one of the
facility, to be opened in 2017, there will be 40 boarding positions
available with the plan to extend it to 80 positions in stage two. This
will become the second Northern Territory Department of Education
run boarding facilities in the Northern Territory, the other being
Callistemon House in Katherine.
ICPA (Aust) had a major breakthrough for regional students
claiming Youth Allowance. From the ICPA (Aust) media
release in Nov 2015: After many, many years of lobbying by
ICPA Australia the Family Assets Test for Youth Allowance
has been lifted!! … We anticipate many more … students,
who are underrepresented at university will now fulfil their
ambitions, knowing they do not have to overcome the
complex parental means tests for Youth Allowance when
they are applying for financial support.
Communications and Technology
Jodie Solczaniuk
The Communications portfolio has indeed been a busy one federally
ICPA (Aust) is advocating for an increase in the Assistance for and across Branches over the past twelve months, that is for certain.
Isolated Children (AIC) Boarding Allowance to reflect the
As we all patiently wait until the start of April, with NBN promising
rising costs of education (The costs of education rise at rates
that they will then be starting to knock on our doors to install our new
far exceeding the CPI)
dishes; in real terms this may mean some of us are waiting much
longer than April. There is information overload out there from
ICPA (Aust) is advocating for a Tertiary Access Allowance
Facebook to emails, to all the Telcos sprouting their opinions as well,
for students who want to participate in tertiary education and
there is hope for better speeds but still not the data plans and value as
must live away from home to do so, but do not receive any
our city counterparts.
assistance to relocate.
It would appear that we have made some head way with NBN as there
has been increased communication with our Federal counterparts and
we can only hope that this keeps us in good stead in our future
endeavours in getting equality for our bush connections and
ultimately our children’s education.
8
APRIL 2016
Curriculum
Helen Harding
KSA ar e using the Austr alian Cur r iculum (AC) (Units
of Work and Online Units) across the school Transition to
Year 9 in line with the Northern Territory Board of Studies timelines
for use of Australian Curriculum: English (since 2013), Maths (since
2013), Science (since 2014), History (since 2014), and Geography
(since 2015).
The time frame for implementing Key Learning Areas of the national
curriculum has now passed and Australian Curriculum and Reporting
Authority (ACARA) is now focused on improving testing, reporting
and streamlining the curriculum following a number of reviews having
taken place in the last couple of years.
They have some ARTS materials (Visual Arts) for Y3-9 and have
developed a scope and Sequence for Health and PE. Digital
The final report of the Review of the Australian Curriculum focused
Technologies are also available for students in Middle Years.
on addressing the overcrowding in the current curriculum and
rebalancing it to ensure that what children learn in school reflects a
Teachers have moved from the NTCF and are using the AC to review
range of views.
Health and PE and The Arts lessons on IDL and at face to face
activities such as camps and residential schools. NTCF materials is
From the first year of schooling to year 10, students will learn from
still used by some students as they continue to develop the remainder
eight areas:
of the material.
English, Math, Science, Health and Physical Education, Humanities
and Social Sciences, The Arts, Technologies and Languages.
ASSOA, up to 2013, wer e using sets (units of wor k) that wer e
purchased from WA. Once the Australian Curriculum (AC) began to
Across all subjects are the “general capabilities” (skills and abilities
needed to work in the 21st century): Literacy, Numeracy, Information be developed and rolled out they found the need to phase out the use
of sets as they were not aligned to the AC.
and Communication Technology (ICT), Critical and Creative
Thinking, Personal and Social Capacity, Ethical Understanding and
In 2013 they introduced Envision Maths as the Maths program which
Intercultural Understanding.
has proven to be a very effective resource. In 2014 they introduced
another successful program called Soundwaves to teach spelling/
For more information, ACARA has released a suite of materials
phonics and began to write English units of work. During both these
designed for parents. Seven fact sheets, written in plain English,
describe what is typically taught in each learning area at different year years the use of sets by teachers greatly reduced. During 2015 to the
present day ASSOA are using the AC for all learning areas across the
bands throughout school.
school Transition to Year 9 and sets are no longer in use.
Go to: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources-and-support/
parent-information/introduction Examples of students’ work that show At present there are no Curriculum Motions from the NT, but we will
expected learning at each year level are also available.
keep our attention on the issues of access and delivery for our students
and I encourage all members to please contact State Council or your
branch if you are experiencing issues or concerns.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Consultation is underway with states and territories to improve
access for students with disabilities.

Phonic/phonemic awareness has become a major focus in the
curriculum.

The Australian Government has committed to developing
resources that promote agriculture in education. The materials
showcase the diversity and economic importance of food and
fibre production in Australia and are aligned to Australian
Curriculum learning areas including science and geography.

There has been a substantial reduction to volume of content.
Rural and Remote Schools
Sarah Measey
It has been an extremely quiet year in the Rural and Remote Schools
portfolio this year.
The NT Rural and Remote Schools portfolio falls under the federal
portfolio for Rural School and School Travel. At the federal
conference in Brisbane there were two motions, one being from the
Katherine Branch, both of which were concerning lobbying airlines
for concessional rates for school travel, thus don’t carry through to the
NT Rural and Remote portfolio. There were also no motions for this
profile put forward at the NT conference in Alice Springs last year.
In general rural and remote schools news: It appears that schools are
managing to cope with the changes brought about by the Global
In February 2016, Dr Fiona Mueller was appointed to ACARA
School Budget however the extra administration pressure being placed
as Director, Curriculum. She replaces Dr Phil Lambert PSM.
on rural and remote school principals remains a concern. NT Council
of Government School Organisations (COGSO) has been actively
assisting school councils with governance and financial training to
MYSCHOOL WEBSITE
help with understanding the new system. During 2016 COGSO aims
to provide Finance and ndustrial Relations training to all regions twice
Two new features have been introduced this year: the first was the
throughout the year and I encourage all rural and remote schools to
Principal’s portal and the second relates to new attendance definition
make use of this offer.
and twice‐yearly reporting.

NAPLAN
COGSO have expressed concern that not all families are receiving the
pareNT newsletter that is sent out each term to all school families
within the NT, please ask your school about it if you are not receiving
it.
In 2016 NAPLAN will be aligned to the Australian Curriculum.
Online testing begins on an opt-in basis from 2017.
ACARA is researching specific studies of devices, scoring, writing
essays online, and students across populations, including those with
disabilities. By 2019 it is expected that all schools will be conducting
NAPLAN online.
The Northern Territory Government has announced changes have
been made to the Remote Sport Voucher Scheme but have not yet
released the new policy. Apparently every school age child in the NT
will still have access to $200 worth of Sport Voucher funding annually
to participate in a sport, recreation or cultural activities however it
remains unclear exactly how children in rural and remote areas will be
able to access this scheme as they will no longer be able to use the
vouchers for school coordinated programs.
Jurisdictions will do their own readiness assessments. Readiness has
two factors: technology and human factors. Students who complete
the online test will get their results in 2-3 weeks, significantly faster
than those who take a paper-based test.
Did you know?
“In the Territory 73 per cent of our government schools are located
in remote and very remote areas and 47 per cent of our students are
enrolled in these schools.” (COGSO media release, 17 November
2015)
DISTANCE EDUCATION SCHOOLS
(Thanks to Kate Haddow, Senior Teacher KSA and Mel Phillips,
Principal ASSOA for their feedback in regards to Distance Education
schools and the Australian Curriculum implementation.)
9
APRIL 2016
Specific or Specialised Needs Portfolio
Andi Bracey
NTICPA continues to lobby as a strong voice for equity for those
children and families of Specific or Special Needs Children who in
particular suffer discrimination due to these needs, the isolation of
living remote compounds these situations 100 fold and this needs to be
recognised. The situation if not hard enough can be even worse when
children remain undiagnosed and as autism diagnosis is increasing,
every 7 hours in Australia a child is being diagnosed with autism.
Numbers are doubling every 5 years - it is important for members to
see a professional should they have any concerns in regards to their
own children as many support options are available for diagnosed
children and families through NT providers such as NDIS National
Disability Insurance Scheme which is currently on trial throughout the
NT and Australia, other options can be for care support through
organizations such as Life Without Barriers which has offices
throughout the NT, often it is the family having a break knowing that
your child is in good hands that can make all the difference and
therefore effect their education for better good of all involved.
'Special Need' and particularly students who suffer in their education
because of an eyesight problem need to have access to whatever extra
education or/and help available to ensure that their education is
fulfilled at the recognised and desired level for one age/year level.
Below is the current motion in regards to recognition of children and
families with Specific or Special Needs who need to have access to
Patient Assistance Travel to see the required Specialists needed for
their wellbeing. This motion has been included, as the wellbeing of
remote children who come under this banner of Specialised Needs
need to be supported at every level to achieve an education.
Katherine Branch
That NTICPA lobbies the Department of Health in regards to
PATS (Patient Assistance Travel Scheme) to subsidize
accommodation and travel for children with diagnosed specific or
special needs to attend appointments with qualified specialists.
Explanation
Currently PATS provides subsidised accommodation and travel for
remote families travelling in excess of 200km to visit doctors at the
Katherine hospital. Parents of diagnosed specific or Special Needs
children have no coverage or subsidy at all when travelling the same
distance to see qualified Specialists in the Special Needs sector which
causes them to not only travel huge distances to see these Specialists

Human rights are protected under the Commonwealth
with the ongoing stress of having to deal with a Specific Needs Child
Discrimination Act 1992 which declares that people are
whilst living in an isolated area but causes them also to have to put
allowed to live and work in our communities without
forth their own finances for such trips to see specialists making it also
experiencing discrimination because they have a disability.
very expensive. NTICPA lobbies that the Patient Assistance Travel
This year the boundaries were pushed a little further in regards Scheme that includes subsidised travel and accommodation include
to what is considered to be a disability as we included eyesight diagnosed children requiring to see Specialists in this field of Specific
in our submission below.
or Special Needs wherever they choose to hold their clinics outside of
the hospital and not to be contained to operating out of the hospital
building alone.

It is also important to remember The Discrimination Act
overrides all State and Territory Legislation.
NTICPA is pleased to acknowledge that K.S.A (Katherine School of
the Air) has implemented a Sensory Learning back pack for Specific
and Special Needs Children which can be taken home for children to
On the Federal ICPA level some of the things that Federal have
enjoy.
been involved in regards to the Federal Specific Needs Portfolio:

Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child, Australia agreed to ensure that all children can access
education and training to assist them to achieve their full
potential.

An ICPA (Aust) submission to the Australian Government
Department of Health for the Medicare Benefits Schedule
Review Taskforce consultation was forwarded in November.
In this submission ICPA (Aust) has recommended that an
equivalent Medicare rebate be provided to families in rural and
remote locations who need to use telehealth clinicians for
children with developmental difficulties under the ‘Chronic
Diseases Management Scheme’ and similar item numbers, to
those who have in-person consultations. ICPA (Aust) has also
raised this recommendation with the Minister for Health and
with other relevant authorities, including National Rural
Health Alliance (NRHA) of which ICPA (Aust) is a member.
NRHA has also raised this issue.

ICPA (Aust) has completed a submission to the Senate
Standing Committees on Education and Employment on the
current levels of access and attainment for students with
disability in the school system and the impact on students and
families associated with inadequate levels of support. ICPA
(Aust) recommendations for access to improved learning
opportunities are included in this submission which can be
accessed on the ICPA webpage:
Below is the piece in NTICPA’s submission to the Reform of the
Education Act submitted 2015 included was this segment to do with
children who suffer in regards to their learning due to eyesight
problems.
Special learning needs: NTICPA would comment that the
resourcing of special education in schools is notoriously poor
especially in distance education and rural/remote areas. Any support
the Act could lend to improving the allocation of trained staff to assist
students with learning difficulties would be greatly appreciated.
NTICPA believes that eyesight problems should be recognised as a
Tertiary
Sue Shotton
In 2015 we had a motion at the Federal ICPA conference in Brisbane
asking that a Tertiary Access Allowance be automatically available for
all remote and very remote students. This has not come to fruition as
yet but there has been plenty of action in the Tertiary arena.
ICPA Federal Council wrote letters to the Federal Government to
request that aspects of youth allowance, including rural and remote
students who have to relocate be classified as independent and eligible
for the relocation scholarship and the age threshold for automatic
youth allowance eligibility be reduced, be considered. Correspondence
from the Minister for Education and the Department of Social Services
on behalf of the Minister for Social Services gave explanations for the
current services criteria. ICPA (Aust) will continue to lobby for these
issues.
I would like to congratulate ICPA Federal Council members, old and
new, in their big win in 2015, around the area of asset testing for
dependent youth allowance. 2015 saw the passage of the Social
Services Legislation Amendment (More Generous Means Testing for
Youth Payments) Bill 2015 with measures including the removal of the
Family Assets Test and Family Actual Means Test from January 1,
2016. This will see more rural and remote students eligible for
dependent youth allowance and subsequently qualify for relocation
scholarships.
From January 1, 2016, the Student Start-up Scholarship became a
voluntary income contingent loan for new applicants of youth
allowance. Students already in receipt of the scholarship, will continue
to receive it as a scholarship, provided they have not had a break in
payment.
10
APRIL 2016
Secretary’s Report 2016
Alethea Nicolle
NT ICPA Web-Master Report
Sue Shotton
On behalf of NTICPA, I would like to thank Ruth Woerle who has
been doing a wonderful job for many years as Editor of our quarterly
magazine, Down the Track. The magazine does rely on contributions
and I would urge all of our members, friends and associates to
contribute. We also thank Ruth for filling our co-opted archivist
position.
What an exciting year it has been for all NT ICPA
members. Finally we have our own ICPA website, which
can be found at http://nt.icpa.com.au/
This website is solely for use by the Northern Territory ICPA and its
members and we encourage branches to utilise this website to
promote ICPA work and achievement. It is also a fantastic tool to
promote what ICPA is about and to attract new members.
At present, NTICPA organises three major Bursaries: Firstly, ‘Siba
Wellard Bridging the Gap’ Grant, made possible by the generous
donation from Siba-Ships Wellard Rural Exports. The successful
applicant this year is Donal Sullivan who will use the $1500 to assist
her in attaining her commercial helicopter pilot’s license. Thanks to
Val Prior, Jackie Harvey and Denise Broad for judging the four
applications.
The homepage of the website is an interactive page to keep members
up to date with things of importance. This is done by three areas on
the page: the Facebook feed; What’s New and Events.
The Facebook feed gives members most current information so if
members are having internet download issues then viewing the feed
from the NT homepage will help minimise this as only the most
current posts are visible and the associated advertising with a full
Facebook page is not there chewing up your data.
Secondly, and for the first time, we have been able to offer the Zoetis
Australia ‘Pastoral Industry’ Student Grant. This was made possible
by the donation of $1500 from Zoetis Australia. The three
applications were judged by Pat Elliott, our Federal Life member and
Ross Wheelhouse from Zoetis and we thank them for their time. The
successful applicant is Eric Wilson. Eric is studying a Bachelor of
Agribusiness through UNE in Armidale.
‘What’s New’ section can be used to show media releases as well as
news at a Federal, State or Branch level. This is a great spot to
interact with your members and encourage new members. It is hoped
that both Katherine and Alice Springs branches will use this section
to promote what is happening in their part of the NT.
Thirdly, NTICPA provides funding for the Post-secondary Bursary,
valued at $2000. This year we had two applicants and we thank Jan
Heaslip and Nancy Gorey for judging. I am pleased to announce that
the worthy recipient in 2016 is Peta Stockwell from Sunday Creek
Station. Peta will be studying agricultural science at Queensland
University.
The Events section can be utilised to inform your branch members of
when things are happening or when important things are needed.
Once again this can be utilised by all branches and state council to
promote events and deadlines for things.
Other tabs on the homepage will take you to important documents,
contact details, branch information, Down the Track, Assistance and
the About page showing information about your elected State
Council and the NT ICPA branches.
Also this year, as in previous years, NTICPA organized the FRRR
Back To School Program made possible by the generous sponsorship
of FRRR and their supporters. We distributed one hundred $50 Target
vouchers to our rural and remote students, who applied by sending in
stories, poems and/or pictures around the theme of ‘My Dreams, My
Future’ and many of the entries are on display at the 2016 State
Conference.
Branch page is where your branch can highlight themselves and the
information found here is supplied by the branch. It can be updated
at any time and can be linked to third party pages such as video,
audio or anything else you may want to promote of an ICPA nature.
This is my first report as Secretary and I would like to take this
opportunity to thank the State Council who have offered support and
encouragement and have been a great group of ladies to work with. I
would especially like to thank to Helen who has guided me through
this first year and has done a fantastic job before me! Although I am
not sure that I can fill her shoes it has been a pleasure to be involved
with the NT ICPA. I would like to encourage members to join
The Assistance tab is an important tab to visit and you will find
information on the following areas: Grants & Bursaries; Home Tutor
Register; Helpful Links; Membership and Supporting NTICPA.
The website has the ability to be very interactive but will only be as
interactive as the information supplied allows it to be. It is
encouraged that all branches and members use the new website and
continually supply up to date information to keep all our members
and future members informed.
State Council and help contribute to greater educational
opportunities for our kids.
Alethea Nicholle (right) is our hard
working State Secretary who sat
upfront at the Conference, doing a
great job of keeping proceedings
running smoothly.
Sue Shotton has done an amazing job of getting our web-page up and
running and now keeping it current. Check it out on:
http://nt.icpa.com.au/
‘Northern Territory Isolated Children's
Parents Association’
Tertiary Report Continued…
The HECS‑HELP scheme is both a student loan and a student
discount. Eligible students may access a HECS‑HELP loan to pay
their student contribution amounts, or receive a 10% discount (known
as the HECS-HELP discount) on upfront payments of $500 or more.
This upfront discount will be removed from 1 January 2017 so no
further incentive will be in place to pay your HECS fees upfront.
nursing or midwifery; or Early childhood education and fit the listed
criteria as found at http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/
payingbackmyloan/hecs-help-benefit/pages/hecshelpbenefit.
Please note that you may be eligible for more than one type of benefit.
For example, an early childhood education teacher working in a rural/
remote area may be eligible for both the Early Childhood Education
HECS-HELP Benefit as well as the Education HECS-HELP Benefit.
The HECS-HELP Benefit provides an incentive for graduates of
particular courses to take up related occupations or work in specified
locations by reducing their compulsory HELP repayments. You may
be eligible for the HECS‑HELP Benefit if you have graduated in one
of the following fields (Mathematics, statistics or science; Education,
Applicants need to lodge a separate application with the ATO for each
benefit. More information can be found at https://www.ato.gov.au/
Individuals/Study-and-training-support-loans/Bonuses,-benefits-anddiscounts.
11
APRIL 2016
Alice Springs Branch Report
On behalf of the Alice Springs Branch of the ICPA I would like to thank the
Katherine Branch for convening the 2016 State Conference. It looks like it’s
going to be a great one.
Today I thought I would quickly touch on a few highlights from our branch
for 2015.
Last year the Alice Springs Branch hosted the Northern Territory State
Conference. It was a chilly but interesting couple of days in the Red Centre
and thanks to the fantastic effort from the organising committee the
conference was a great success.
Also last year four of our members attended the 44 th Annual Federal
Conference in Brisbane. I’m sure the others will agree with me that this was
an amazing experience. It’s very reassuring to be surrounded by people who
are in the same situation as you and facing the same struggles. It makes you
remember that you are not alone. The Federal Conference was amazing to
be a part of and I am eagerly awaiting this year’s conference in Perth.
Leza Cook (Alice Branch President) and
Tiani Cook (State President)
Harts Range canteen was once again our major fundraising event for the
branch and again it proved very successful. I would like to thank everyone
involved for their time and hard work before, during and after the weekend.
The monies raised from Harts Range provides the vital funds needed for the
bursaries we offer students.
Last year the following bursaries were awarded: Junior Personal
Development Bursary was received by Jake Auricht, the Secondary
Education Bursary was received William Weir, the ASSOA Bursary was
received by Cameron Dunbar and the St Phillips College Bursary recipient
was Jordan Nicole. On behalf of the branch I would like to once again
congratulate all the recipients and wish them all the best for futures.
Lastly I would like this opportunity to thank the Alice Springs Branch
members for their continued support of the branch and I look forward to
another productive year.
Thank you,
Leza Cook, ICPA Alice Springs Branch President 2016
Alice Springs Branch members in attendance at State Conference: Amee Porter - Branch Secretary, Jan Heaslip - State Life Member and
State Patron, Alethea Nicolle - NTICPA Secretary, Sheri Fogarty, Leza Cook - Alice Springs Branch President and State Committee
member, Amber Driver and Tiani Cook -NTICPA State President.
12
APRIL 2016
Katherine Branch President Report
Earlier this year I accompanied Andi Bracey to the
Federal Face to Face Meeting in Canberra with
Federal and State Council members. We were
Welcome everyone to Katherine for the 2016 34th Annual NT
fortunate enough to attend Question Time in Parliament House,
ICPA State Conference.
what a spectacle! And it certainly set the scene for an amazing few
days… from being escorted though the inner sanctum of
Having only been in the position of Branch President for a
Parliament house to Senator James McGraths’ office, to meetings
relatively short time, I am truly honoured to be able to deliver this
with representatives from the Department of Education and NBN
report on the Katherine Branch activities during the past 12
in the conference room of the National Farmers Federation
months. Firstly though, I would like to thank Helen Harding, Andi
Headquarters. To say that being in the presence of these amazing
Bracey and the Convening committee for all of their hard work in
ICPA representatives from across Australia, who work tirelessly
putting together such a fantastic event. Also much appreciation
for equity in education for our remote children was inspiring,
goes to our Immediate Past President, Annemarie Skerrett, for all
would be an understatement. The professionalism and manner in
of her hard work during the year and continuing support.
which the ICPA present themselves and our cause in such an
During the past year our branch membership has continued to
intense political arena was a true credit to those incredibly
grow and we have several members on State Council. This
dedicated women and proves that they deserve the high regard
they are held with. Rest assured that we are part of an
support has enabled us to have a number of Motions accepted by
State/Federal ICPA. And allowed valuable networking and
organisation that even the most hardened Pollies in Canberra sit up
representation of the branch by delegates attending the Federal
straight and put their listening ears on when the ICPA is in town!
Council Conference in Brisbane, State Conference and the Federal
Thank you to the members that provided feedback on the In Home
Face To Face in Canberra. A big thank you to members that have
Care and Nanny Pilot Programs, as during these meetings I was
taken the time to attend these events.
able to provide this feedback directly to the people that need to
Our fundraising efforts were well rewarded with the Sundowner
hear it, and I was personally chuffed that it was the Katherine
Landmark Auction raising over $20,000 and the Carol Armstrong Branch members that they were listening to. This just reiterates
Memorial Cancer Council Biggest Morning Tea raising $150 for
that involvement by members, on any level, does make a
the Cancer Council. Along with our valued sponsorship from
difference, and how important our networking platforms are for
Bendigo Bank, this enabled us to assist in the excursion expenses learning, growing and achieving as an effective association.
and sports medals for KSA. The Foundation for Rural and
We can’t ever underestimate the uniqueness of the obstacles we
Regional Renewal also once again sponsored Back to School
face educating our children in the Northern Territory. If anything,
Target vouchers for members..
this trip cemented my opinion of how important the NTICPA is as
Once again we offered the ICPA Landmark Bursaries,
an organisation, by giving our Territory children a voice and above
administered ICPA Personal Development Grants, Roylene Hill
all,….opportunity.
Art Awards and the Val Utley Memorial Incentive Award. We
Kerrie Scott, Katherine Branch President.
look forward to continuing and improving on our success through
2016.
13
APRIL 2016
77 Years in 30 Minutes by Jan Heaslip
Jan Heaslip is a founding member of NTICPA since
its inception in 1978. She is a State Life Member and
became our Patron in 2012, continuing to give
tremendous support and encouragement. At the recent
‘Red Dust and Dreams’ Conference in Katherine, Jan gave the
opening address, entertaining us with her story and sharing her
passion for the Territory.
My early years were spent in the small country town, Orroroo, in the
Flinders Ranges in S.A. In 1957, when I was 18 years old, I applied
for an office job with Elders in their Alice Springs store, which was a
large grocery and general store. My mother nervously waved me
goodbye as I climbed aboard a TAA DC3 aircraft, as it was called
then, to wing my way to Alice Springs. The plane landed at Leigh
Creek, Oodnadatta and on to Alice. It was a hot day and bumpy all the
way. On landing I was totally mesmerised by the landscape, the
ranges and the dry desert.
After a stint in the office at Elders I was longing to experience life in
the bush, so I took on the position of governess for the Prior family at
Hamilton Downs Station. This was a totally new life, which I loved. I
quickly became immersed in station life. They treated me as one of
their own and I soon felt part this wonderful family. Close to the
homestead was a camp of Aboriginal people. The children played with
the Prior children, two girls worked in the house, the men in the
mustering camp while the oldies raked the garden and everyone had
billy tea and bread and jam under the athel pine trees for smoko. I
loved the life!
mustered the few cattle that were left in the hills and made our first
sale. It was onwards and upwards from there! A further joy was the
arrival of our 4th child, a new baby boy to join our family. The cycle
of weather continued. The rain stopped, the grass was long and in the
hot summer months, the bushfires started. Looking back over the
years, the harsh weather conditions were to dictate our life and
continue to do so. All this without 240 electricity, air-conditioners,
telephone, TV and only 2 way radio as contact with the outside world!
Over the years we learnt to diversify. My husband Grant is a keen
visionary. We focused on introducing a line of Poll Hereford cattle,
sourced from the Heatherdale stud in South Australia to develop our
herd.
The beef depression of the mid 70’s forced us to create, with a local
group of pastoralists, ‘Wamboden’ abattoirs, which was built on Bond
Springs. This allowed us to develop our business ‘Bond Beef’ a
wholesale meat outlet, which had outlets in Alice Springs, Tennant
Creek, Katherine, Darwin and Gove.
Increased staff meant that my work-load was enormous. Along with
cooking for the stock-camp I also cooked endless meals for hungry
meat workers and cleaned and washed their ‘bloody’ meat coats on a
daily basis. They were busy years, nevertheless we always had time
for visitors from all corners of the globe and this somewhat fulfilled
my love of creative cooking as opposed to mass production.
In early 1970s we also purchased Singleton Station just south of
Tennant Creek with a partner, Malcolm Roberts. Shortly afterwards
Gary and David were my students and like most bush kids, they would we purchased Wauchope Well Roadhouse because it was on
Singleton.
rather have been in the stock camp than at school. So part of my day
was spent leg–roping them into the school room! I loved the entire
Our 4 children’s primary schooling was done through the Alice
family and we have had a special relationship ever since.
Springs School of the Air. As each child completed their primary
school, they left for boarding school in Adelaide. I was grief stricken
Since my early teens in South Australia, I had been friendly with a
having to farewell my children one by one; it was traumatic for us all.
young man called Grant Heaslip. We wrote to each other throughout
In those days we had no telephone, only the HF radio, so our only
this time and on a holiday south, visiting my family, we met again.
contact was a weekly letter. We all suffered. The year our eldest,
Grant and I realised that the spark was still there and growing
Tanya, went to boarding school, I felt I had completely lost her. When
stronger, despite the distance. However I missed the Territory, the
the others went away, the feeling was the same, except I understood
bush, the people and the unique lifestyle. Country SA now felt too
conservative. I went back to Alice and back to work, but Grant and I better how to handle it.
were missing each other. The rest is history; we got engaged, married, When I was asked to represent Bush people on the advisory council of
had 3 babies in 3 short years and still I longed for the Territory. I
St Philip’s College I seized the opportunity. It wasn’t long before I
persuaded my husband how good life would be in the NT.
was appointed Chairman of the College Advisory Council.
We piled worldly goods and 3 babies on and in the car, and set off on
the long dusty journey to our wonderful new life. The old south road
via William Creek and Oodnadatta was a huge challenge to our station
wagon and nothing like the sealed road we have today. My dad came
with us to lend a helping hand. He was also keen to see the country
that had lured his only daughter away! It took us three long days,
driving late into each night to reach Bond Springs Station. It was a
huge adventure, Grant and I were young and full of hope and
enthusiasm. My Dad now understood my love for Central Australia.
The reason why I became so involved with St Philip’s College, was to
give families a strong educational choice of where to school their
children. If families did not wish to send their children interstate, this
could be, and was, and definitely still is, another option.
Therein began a passionate commitment and the beginnings of what
became a major focus in my life. I remained Chairman of the College
Council, for over 22 years.
I just loved Bond Springs from the arrival. I saw past the very large
and neglected house, with many, many louvered windows, which
didn’t close properly because of impregnated dust and also a lack of a
garden. Not a problem I thought, I can soon get the garden going! I
didn’t know about the very harsh bore water, and that not much grew,
except for athel pine trees and pepper trees.
In 1985, as Chairman, I led three members of council to Victoria to
interview various applicants for the position of new Principal for our
college. Among the many people we interviewed were Chris Tudor
and his wife Jill. They were outstanding applicants. Under Chris’s
guiding hand and through his enormous contribution and commitment,
St. Philip’s has grown from a hostel to a school with over 700
students. Working with Chris Tudor was always inspirational. How
We had arrived in the middle of a very harsh and devastating 8- year
drought. Dust storms were part of life and after a particularly huge one fortunate we have been to have had Chris as Headmaster all these
during one night I got up to see the dusty outline of my little children years. This year we will celebrate the remarkable legacy he leaves as
lying on the sheets. I said, enough is enough, we need to put windows he retires.
in this house. Years later that became a reality.
After retiring as Chairman, I was appointed Life Governor of St
There were very few cattle left on the property. All the dams were dry
and the few bores of salty water kept us busy with constant pumping.
It didn’t rain for a further 3 years. When it did rain what joy! We
Philip’s College. It has been many years of involvement and hard
work. All very rewarding and fulfilling – to see children and their
families, now able to experience educational choice of the highest
14
APRIL 2016
77 Years in 30 Minutes
standard in Alice Springs. St Philip’s College is also a member of the body of ICPA in the NT. We were now united!
International Round Square Schools, which offers amazing
In an ongoing way, ICPA has worked hard with the Dept
opportunities for students.
of Education and members of the Government ensuring
education of bush children is well supported. Their
As well as my involvement with St Philip’s, I have always had a
knowledge in those days of educating children in the bush was
strong connection and commitment to ICPA. Before ICPA began,
absolutely zilch. So we set about working with them, which we did
families in the Katherine and Alice Springs regions were working on
very successfully. Today, all of you great and committed people are
their own, trying to develop stronger educational opportunities for
carrying on this important work
their children. The NT Education Department held discussions with
Katherine and Alice Springs people, all of whom were beginning to
ICPA....Australia wide; it is so important for people who are educating
look at ICPA as a stepping stone to unite and strengthen education in
their children in the Bush. It is mostly the women of ICPA who are
the Bush. 'Become united', the NT Department of Education said.
undertaking this enormously important role. It is always very hard for
these women to get away from their responsibilities at home, where
The 2 regions needed to combine so as to establish a Northern
ever they live in Australia, to attend meetings. Being away means
Territory Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association. ICPA began in
children’s school work can also suffer. It is difficult, I understand.
Katherine in 1978 and Alice Springs in 1979. The group from Alice
However if you can be involved and take a part in ICPA not only are
attended the 1981 Federal ICPA conference in Bourke. They were
you working to benefit bush children’s education, but it is an
able to convince Federal council that the Alice Springs people, who
opportunity to get together with like minded people in this important
had just started the new branch, could easily host the next Federal
work. The effort has been and will always be, well worth it.
conference. “Piece of cake” they said!
After ICPA many women have the confidence to take an active role
in many aspects of life in their district or community.
These four ladies arrived home and announced to the rest of us what
was happening and yes, Jan, you will be the convenor! Daunted but
undeterred we successfully hosted the 1982 10th Federal conference.
At this conference in Alice Springs we needed to be a united.
Amalgamating the 2 branches was not an easy process due to distance
and lack of communication facilities. Women at each end of the
Territory didn’t know each other, but in common was the life style
everyone experienced and the desire to create better educational
opportunities for our children. 2 days before the conference, despite
the many hurdles, the 2 branches were joined and we became united as
the Northern Territory ICPA.
This is how it happened - Prior to the conference, a bus load of
wonderful women from the Top End arrived in Alice Springs. The 2
branches met for the first time at St Philip’s college where the Alice
Springs members had beautiful food waiting for them. Each side was
nervous. Could we make this work? It was a big step. The Katherine
women had been driving for many hours. As I looked into the travel
weary eyes of these women, I thought - yes we are all the same! Our
purpose is to ensure our children from all over the Territory are well
represented. We will all make this work, our goal was our children’s
education. And we did make it work. We have a strong, cohesive
organisation. We have become a strong lobby group as the voice of
remote Australia. Close and enduring friendships developed and
remain so today.
I have really loved my years of involvement with ICPA. I started as a
young mother, became the first NT President, now have moved on
through busy times and have been lucky enough to be appointed
Patron of this very important and significant organisation. It is a very
great honour for me.
The close proximity of Bond Springs to Alice Springs, the historical
aspects of the homestead and the facilities available, led me to open
the doors to tourism in the late 1980’s. The income generated from
this venture enabled me to continually develop the business. Early
days saw me restoring various rooms and two cottages. It was hugely
busy, and I found it very exciting; meeting people from all around the
world. My son Ben was in charge of all the station tours and evening
bush bbq’s. As tourist numbers grew, the cooking and creativity in
providing a 5 star outback experience became more intense and all
consuming. I loved and valued opening up my world to many visitors.
However, after some years it was time for me to hand over the reins
over to my son Ben and daughter in law, Laura, who are still offering
accommodation at Bond Springs. We have run this successful
business for many years.
Grant and I have 4 children, Tanya, M’Lis, Brett and Ben. We have
two son in laws, Chris and Steve. 2 daughter in laws, Fiona and
Laura. We have 8 grandchildren and one great grandson.
As the years have rolled by, my family have all organised their lives
and spread their wings. My big interest now, alongside ICPA and St
Philip’s College, is the historical side of Bond Springs. We are
fortunate to have some of the original old buildings still standing
which Grant and I have taken care to preserve and maintain over the
We managed to secure the Chief Minister of the day, Paul
years. We have the original homestead built in 1875, the Blacksmith
Everingham, to open the conference. We also managed to get the
Shop built in 1910 by Sir Sidney Kidman, and the second homestead
Minister of Education and various Education Department personnel to
also built by Kidman. It is a good representation of life in the late
attend. As their knowledge of ICPA and Bush Education was limited,
1800s through well into the 1900s. The Kidman homestead, I have
it was an opportunity for developing their understanding of what we
filled with great memorabilia and it is now a two bedroom cottage as
were all about, at NT level and Federal level.
would have been in that era!! I have also put together a History room
with photos and information from early Bond Springs until present
While the days were full of planning educational opportunities and
formalities, the evenings were fun, where friendships were developed time and the old school room has been put together with photos and
and we played and partied hard. The conference not only fulfilled our information, including original work books by my children. The
focused goals but was an opportunity to bring together people living in Heritage work takes much time and I thoroughly enjoy working in that
area. We have had an open day for the past 3 years, where people from
isolated areas, who wouldn’t normally have met. The evening
activities and the conference in general gave us all a reprieve from the Alice Springs can come and view the heritage aspect of Bond Springs.
harshness of day to day bush life.
I feel as though I have come full circle; I am still involved with St
It was the day before this conference that all Northern Territory ICPA Philip’s College as a Life Governor and I keep in touch with ICPA as
branches amalgamated into one Combined Council. It was beneficial Patron. I am still able to enjoy Bond Springs, with all its diverse
activities and changing directions.
to us all, especially when dealing with Government. We were a state
Because the conference was in Central Australia, and we were a new
branch, we attracted Delegates from all around W.A, S.A, Queensland
and NSW. As I recall there were over 200 delegates, family and
friends attending.
15
APRIL 2016
Parenting Ideas
How Does ICPA communicate with Members?
Every parent should know these
Sue Shotton
With the modern age of technology ICPA branches, State
Councils and Federal Council can keep members up to date with
important information regarding educational issues affecting
them and their children.
It is important that this communication is a two way street and
members keep their branch and State Councils informed of any
developing issues and how existing issues are progressing.
‘Children with healthy self-esteem and self-confidence learn
more, achieve more and are generally happier than those with
low confidence levels. However building children’s and young
people’s confidence is complex. Great confidence-builders use
a number of approaches that impact on how kids’ think, how
they feel and what they can do.’
Here are 5 practical strategies that you can use to build real self
-confidence in kids of all ages:
NT website – http://nt.icpa.com.au
1. Model confident thinking
Keep an eye on this website as news items, media releases
and events will be posted regularly. If your branch has
something important to let other NT members know then
please email it to the [email protected] and, if
appropriate, it will be displayed. This also includes
Branch activities.
Kids soak up the language, thinking and behaviour of those
closest to them in their environment. Parents and teachers play
a part in modelling confident thinking and behaviour especially
when it comes to tackling new activities. In particular, let kids
hear positive self-talk when you tackle something new. They
should hear something like “I’ll have a go at this. If I don’t do
so well then I can try again tomorrow.” This is far more
effective than “I’m no good at this. I’ll probably stuff it up.”
What story are you creating that your children will copy and
pass on?
This website will also allow access to other state and
federal websites which may have more information that
you might be seeking.
NT Branch pages
2. Focus on effort & improvement
These pages are housed on the Federal website but can be
viewed on both the NT website and the Federal website
under the tab – Branches. These pages contain your
branch executive contacts as well as information about
your branch. It is hoped that important branch
information will be housed either here or on the NT
homepage.
Current thinking shows that people who believe that they can
increase their intelligence through effort and challenge actually
get smarter and do better over time in school, work, and life.
One way to develop this 'growth mindset' is to focus your
language on effort and improvement rather than on the results
of what kids do. By linking success with effort you are
teaching them success comes from something other than pure
ability, talents or smarts.
3. Praise their strategies
NT facebook page
While effort is key for achievement, it's not the be all and end
all. Kids need a broad repertoire of approaches – not just sheer
effort – to learn and improve. Focus your language on better
and smarter ways of improving. Comments such as “That was
a smart idea to tackle the hardest task while you were fresh!”
and “You recognised the first few steps were the most
important but then after that you were right” are descriptive
statements that have significant instructional value for kids.
https://www.facebook.com/Northern-Territory-IsolatedChildrens-Parents-Association-205533949459933/
On the NT webpage homepage is a facebook feed which
allows you to view the NT facebook page without the
added burden of increased data due to the ads. Click on
this feed and you will go directly to the facebook page.
This is another great tool to see what is happening around
the NT and you can also have input HERE.
_______________________________________________
4. Develop self-help skills from an early age
A child’s self-esteem comes as a result of his or her successes
and accomplishments. The most important competencies to
build confidence are basic self-help skills. These form the
building blocks upon which other competencies such as
organisational skills and many social skills are formed.
Twitter -- @NTICPA
Down The Track
This publication is a member’s publication and contains
useful and informative information on what is happening
around the NT. Please help and contribute articles to this
brilliant publication. This is just another ICPA
communication’s tool.
5. Give them real responsibility
From a young age, start giving children responsibility for some
aspects of their lives. By giving kids responsibility we are
sending a powerful message that we think they are capable.
Also they are learning the skills necessary to be independent.
So, what now? I have a piece of information I would like
to show other members. Where do I put it? If in doubt
email it to either DTT ([email protected]) or
[email protected] and they will direct it into the
right direction.
Most importantly, great parents and teachers have a knack of
communicating confidence in kids. They find ways to let kids
know that they believe in them – that they know their kids will
perform and succeed, that they have faith that they can deal
with life’s challenges and know that they can become more
independent. – www.parentingideas.com.au
16
APRIL 2016
Isolated Children’s Parents Association
Northern Territory State Council Incorporated
SIBA SHIPS–WELLARD RURAL EXPORTS
‘BRIDGING THE GAP’ GRANTS PROGRAM
A donation from Siba Ships and the Wellard Rural Export group has allowed NT ICPA
to offer the ‘Bridging the Gap' Grants program.
WHAT ARE THEY?
These grants shall be awarded in February and August each year to assist in the costs associated for a child to attend an
educationally based activity, purchase materials, which are relevant to their current studies or chosen career path or
undertake personal development activities.
They are intended to cover course costs, books, equipment, travel and study aids. This is also extended to include activities
that relate to student’s study course or personal development: leadership skills, information gathering, networking with
peers, and course extension activities.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
1. The applicant's family must be geographically isolated and have been a Branch or Lone Member
within the NT for at least two years.
2. The applicant must be aged between 15 to 22 years at the 1st January in the year of application.
Applicants do not have to be enrolled in fulltime study.
CONDITIONS OF APPLICATIONS
As part of the claim the applicant must provide a 500 word (approx) application which would include:
How are you or your family isolated
Details of family membership with the ICPA in the NT
Details of costs and how the activity or materials that you are applying for will benefit you and what is its relevance to
the course you are studying; or your career pathway; or personal development.
Payment will be made in the form of a cheque payable to the successful recipient or guardian, once the application has been
deemed successful or alternatively, when a receipt or invoice has been presented to the NTICPA Treasurer, pertaining to the
activity or materials from the educational body.
Retrospective applications can be made for an activity or cost associated that has occurred within the previous semester.
The successful applicants will be required to provide a brief written report outlining the content and achievements obtained, for
inclusion in the following NTICPA ‘Down the Track’ Newsletter. (photographs encouraged)
A successful applicant may not apply for consecutive bursaries.
SELECTION PROCESS
All applications will be strictly confidential. The names of the applicants will only be known to the current State Council
Assistant Secretary, who will not be eligible to sit on the selection panel.
If in the opinion of the selection panel no suitable application is received, grants will not be awarded and the budgeted amount
rolled over into the next semester. Amounts awarded each semester will be decided by the panel, ensuring that any single
payment is not under $750 and with the annual amount available to the grants being reviewed and allocated after each AGM.
The decision of the selection panel will be final. Parents of applicants shall not be eligible to sit on the panel.
CLOSING DATES
January 31st July 30th each year.
The application must be received by the Returning Officer by C.O.B. on the closing dates. Please forward the application
along with your current address, email and contact phone number to:
NTICPA Secretary: Helen Harding
Gorrie Station
RSD MS 1953
Katherine NT 0852
T: 8975 9965
E: [email protected]
Note: As this mailing address is in a remote location, please allow plenty of time for delivery - email is preferred.
It is advisable that you ring to ensure that the application has been received.
If sending by email, please ensure you have a ‘read receipt’ on your outgoing message
and that your email is confirmed as received.
17
APRIL 2016
St Philips College Farewell’s Chris Tudor
After 30 years as Headmaster of St Philip’s College, Chris
Tudor AM, will retire at the end of Term 2. A multi-faceted
man, vitally interested in people and passionate about
education. It is a momentous occasion for Chris, the College,
Alice Springs and Outback Australia.
Chris’s early childhood in
Broken Hill, NSW, provided
him with his first contact with
the Outback. Upon moving
to Melbourne, Chris
completed his secondary
education at Melbourne
Grammar, where he was a
student leader. It was during
these years that Chris
resolved not only to become a
teacher but to pursue his
career in the country.
connected to 140 schools around the world through its
membership of Round Square… and is arguably the only
school in Australia to offer boat building as a Year 12 subject.
Chris has also raised funds for, and overseen the building of,
extensive school facilities
for the growth in
enrolments - 147 in 1989
to 720 today - a
remarkable achievement in
itself.
His determination to
encourage Indigenous
students to embrace
education, includes
personally tutoring a group
of students who failed to
access the school’s
Bridging classes.
Chris was talked into taking
the position of Principal of
the then Residential College
by Mrs Jan Heaslip of Bond
Springs Station, who held the
position of Chairman of the
College Council for 22 years
during which time, Jan
worked tirelessly with Chris to make the day school a reality.
As Principal, Chris soon found himself in the position of
being able to consolidate his original career goal: to ensure
that young people living in isolation be given access to a first
class education and opportunities to broaden their perspective,
beyond their town, their state, even their country and to think
globally. His determination to achieve this goal has never
wavered in 30 years, despite ill health in recent years. St
Philip’s is recognised in the NT and across Australia & is
St Philip’s College Boarders 2016
It’s been a hot, yet busy, term at St Philip’s College and the swimming pool has been well-used. As always, in Term 1 we welcomed a number
of new boarders, and it’s a pleasure to see the ”old hands” being so accepting and showing the newcomers the ropes. It can be a bit
overwhelming for new students learning the expectations and routines of both the day school and the boarding houses, but the support they
receive always helps them cope. A busy social program at the weekend also eases the transition. Many social activities have included both
boarding houses, and the giant water fight was particularly popular on a hot Saturday night.
For the first time ever, the two live-in staff members in the girls’ wing are ex-boarders, which means they have a particular empathy with the
girls. It only seems like yesterday that Margo and Danica were Year 12 students, but they are excited about their new roles within the College
and they were welcomed back with open arms.
18
APRIL 2016
Play the Ball!
By Linda Bowman, Willeroo Station
Around 10 years ago I attended the state ICPA conference in
Katherine. It was the first one I had been to and I did not know very
many people there. One of the first activities that the group had to do
was to go around the room, introduce themselves and name a passion
of theirs. So, around the room we went and one lady said her name
and that her passion was netball. She travelled over 400klm each
week to play netball in Katherine. I thought to myself….I need to
meet this lady!
Later on, towards the end of the conference, we were sitting around
the pool and that lady was sunning on one of the deck chairs, so I
plucked up the courage to go and introduce myself to her. We are
now great friends and we have been playing netball together for about
9 years. We have a reasonably stable team and have won the social
ladies comp a few times in those years.
The first time I stepped onto the court I was quite nervous. I hadn’t
played in 12 years and my kids were on the sideline. My youngest
would have been maybe 2 years old. When I stepped off the court, I
thought to myself “I haven’t thought about my kids, my work or my
life for one hour. I’m coming back to play again.” This was my time,
‘me time’. A new concept for me!
Over the years, I would take my girls in to play net-set-go and then
onto age comp. They played for Mataranka from under 10’s through
to under 15’s until they went off to boarding school. My youngest,
my son, also played for Mataranka under 10’s. Yes, he was a boy.
Yes, netball is traditionally a girls game, but hey, I was not going to
drive into town more often so he could play a ‘boys’ game. He was
still learning ball skills, team play, sportsmanship etc. What was
wrong with that?
What do I do? I bring him in to play football, that’s what. Rugby
League at that!
So, last year we made a change to our patterned life. We travelled in
to play netball and have football training on Thursday afternoons/
evenings, stayed in town at a very generous friend’s house and waited
for Jack to play Under 12’s Junior Rugby League football on Friday
night before then driving home.
Jack loved it, loved every minute of it! He converted his own try in his
first game. Luckily the girls were home from boarding school and got
to watch (and video) him scoring. I lost count how many tries and
conversions he scored over the season. His team won the grand final
and Jack received the Coaches Choice award. He was a very happy
boy.
Now comes this year. Jack is very keen to play football again. I see a
notice about the Katherine Region School Sports Rugby League
tryouts. I ring and make some inquiries. They had already had one of
the tryouts, we missed that one! The next tryout was at a time not
suited for me to get into town (although I would have made the effort).
I was then told that they are playing a school comp called the ‘Luke
Kelly Cup’ named after Luke Kelly who is a Katherine kid that plays
for the Parramatta Eels. Jack was invited to play for one of the
schools competing (as KSA were not included in the Cup). The team
did not win the cup, but Jack received one of the Most Valued Player
medals. Part of this Cup was also for Jack to be seen by the regional
selectors. Fingers crossed. We now had to wait a week to be notified
if he was successful.
A week later, Jack is pictured and written about in the Katherine
Times newspaper regarding his efforts on the field for the Luke Kelly
Then….the girls went to boarding school. Lucky for them they had a Cup. Then, I receive the email. Jack was picked for the Katherine
skill to take with them: Netball. They both play for their school and in Region School Sports Rugby League squad….Yeah!!! Go Boy!!
Driving the 250klm round trip to get him to those games was worth it.
the local comp. I am pleased that they are able to do this. Being
They play in Alice Springs in May. Jack has to prove himself at
isolated kids, I wanted them to be exposed to as many things as
training and school before the final team is selected to travel to Alice
possible before they went to boarding school so they wouldn’t be
‘myall’ kids who were naive to the world around them. I think netball Springs.
has contributed to that.
If Jack makes the final regional team and plays in Alice, then the NT
But…what do I do with my son who is still doing Katherine School of team is selected from all the players of the regional teams and they
then travel to Canberra later in the year to compete.
the Air. He doesn’t want to play netball anymore. I don’t want to
give up netball either.
We now have a number of trips to
town for training, but as a mother, I
could not disadvantage my kids
because of distance. If Jack has the
skills to represent Katherine in the
regional team, then I’ll support him
and travel him in as much as I need
to.
Go boy, and go all those isolated
parents out there that do what they
can to bring up centred, responsible,
capable and grounded kids to take on
the next generation.
Jack Bowman (left) with
Trent Gorrie, Game
Development Officer,
NTRL (Northern Territory
Rugby League)
19
APRIL 2016
Andi and Sally—Happy faces all around!
“Red Dust and Dreams”
Beautiful Holly Tapp entertained us with
her story and her music
‘Let's stir up the dust and keep
the momentum of change going
so that our rural and remote
children are able to realize their
dreams’
~ Wendy Hick
ICPA Federal President
LtoR Federal Secretary Jane Morton, NT Secretary Alethea Nicolle, NT President Tiani Cook,
Federal President Wendy Hick, NT Treasurer Sarah Measey.
VISE
Volunteers for Isolated Student’s Education
Tutors are available to volunteer
their time in assisting you and your children in
the home classroom.
Inquiries and applications to:
Thankyou from
William Weir on
winning the
Alice Springs
Branch
Secondary
Bursary in
December
Ruth Woerle
VISE NT Coordinator
[email protected] - Ph: 0404479534
www.vise.org.au
20
APRIL
The want to achieve
By Sandy Bauer
I’ve always been the girl to say ‘you can learn so much
more outside of a classroom with more hands on practical
skills.’ I think this frustrated Mum who at the time was
my home tutor, during class hours I would sit staring out
the glass door trying to work out what the station hands
were doing on that particular
day.
Having this particular attitude
during my schooling years made
choosing what I wanted to save and
study for- so much easier! Due to
distance education I was able to
finish year twelve three months
earlier. Which I then decided to
take up working on the station until
the start of the year which allowed
me to save approx. $5,000 to be
able to travel to Melbourne to
participate in a course in Equine
Myofascial Release.
My classes were based around the connective tissue ‘Fascia.’ And
how we as practitioners can help release problems within the equine
body by using techniques and time. I must admit being taught by Ruth
Mitchell-Golladay who everyone classifies as the world’s finest
teacher, was amazing!
Myofascial Release is a mild
and gentle form of stretching
which has a lasting effect on
body tissue. Fascia is a
continuous sheet of
connective tissue which
extends uninterrupted from
the top of the head to the
hoof.
The course teaches us all
about Fascia and the science
behind it. Than we spend
most of our time doing
practicals where we learn all
our techniques and how to
read horses reactions – right
down to how to assess a horse’s composition and gaits.
Even though I saved every bit I
could, what I had saved covered the course cost… but no thought on
my behalf was put into food, travel and whatever else Melbourne
would have to offer!
I then looked for grants such as ‘Aim for the Stars’ and other highly
sought after trusts. However I was lucky enough to win a $1500 grant
through the Connellan Airways Trust – a fund that really allows rural
people to achieve their dreams. The grant covered travel and
accommodation, so through hard work and amazing help.
I was on my way to the big smoke!
Now that I have completed the practical side of things I have four
months to do my externship – than if I pass I can call myself a
Myofascial Release Therapist.
So if you’re stuck at school this year, focus on what you enjoy and
then expand from there. And if your rural and have goals you really
want to achieve but have no idea how you’re going to afford it –
Consider The Connellan Airways Trust.
Callistemon House News - Chance Dixon really is the Class Clown!
Their objective is empowering young people through dynamic
creative arts.
Adam has been working with a group of students including Chance
for some time now and put it to Chance if he would be interested in
signing up for the
Melbourne International
Comedy Festival Class
Clown Competition.
Chance jumped at the
opportunity and is now one
of the NT finalists who will
be going to Melbourne in
April to compete against
other young comedians.
Chance came to Callistemon in 2015, at 13 years old and from the
remote Community of Borroloola. We were expecting a shy young
man to arrive, instead we were pleased to meet a polite caring and
helpful student. Chance would and still does, go out of his way to
make sure those around him
are taken care of. Chance
has a wicked sense of
humour a love of music,
dancing, art and acting.
Chance has fitted easily into
life at Callistemon House
and is currently in year 10 at
Katherine High School. This
is not to say that Chance
does not miss family life at
home in Borroloola. Home
sickness can be a
frightening time for students
and a great way to get
through this time is by
storytelling.
Through the Class Clown
workshops Chance has
been given the opportunity
to tell his stories. This has
also given Chance the
opportunity to gain more
confidence, to gain writing
and performance skills and
enable him to work and
learn with professionals.
Corrugated Iron Youth Arts
has been involved with
Callistemon House for some years now. Adam Drake is the Drama
Program Manager, Adam is an actor, director and workshop artist
who has several projects going in remote communities throughout the ** We are very excited to say that Chance was placed runner-up in the
Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Class Clowns competition with
NT.
his routine about family life in remote Australia..
21
APRIL 2016
Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association
NORTHERN TERRITORY MEMBERSHIP FORM FOR 2016
DUE JANUARY 1ST EACH YEAR.






MEMBERSHIP TO YOUR LOCAL BRANCH IS ONLY $50/FAMILY/YEAR
Entitles you to branch meeting voting, minutes and branch bursaries qualification.
State and Federal conference voting rights and attendance (paid for by your branch or the lone members).
Free access to the NTICPA run Home Tutor Register.
Qualification for the NT ICPA State Council Bursaries.
Free subscription to Publications- NTICPA ‘Down the Track’ and Federal ICPA ‘Pedals’ magazines.
A voice in your children’s education.
If you’re not receiving these publications regularly, check with your treasurer– you may not be a financial member for 2016.
If you still want to keep in touch, but not be associated with a particular branch, then Lone Members is for you!
————————————————————————————————————
Please fill in this form and forward with a cheque, to one of the below treasurers.
Make it payable to the “Branch (e.g. Alice Springs) ICPA” or “NT ICPA” for Lone Members.
If paying by Direct Deposit method, please use your first initial and surname with the word ‘Membership’ as the
reference to help the treasurer. (e.g. ‘J Bloggs Membership’) and fax, post or email your family details.
These are important to use for bursary qualifications and for ICPA lobbying purposes.
ALICE SPRINGS
Treasurer: Jodie Solczaniuk
Ross River Resort
PO Box 3271
Home 08 8956 9711
Fax: 08 8956 9823
Westpac
KATHERINE
Treasurer: Helen Harding
Gorrie Station
RSD MS 1953
Katherine NT 0852
Ph: (08) 8975 9965
Fax: (08) 8975 9906
ANZ
BSB: 015 884
Acct#: 410 247 444
ANZ
BSB: 015 884
Acct#: 480 960 835
BSB: 035 303
Acct#: 510446
LONE MEMBERS
Treasurer: Sarah Measey
Ceres Downs
PMB 271
Winnellie NT 0822
Ph: 08 89782155
BRANCH:
TITLE:
FIRST NAME :
SURNAME:
ADDRESS:
PH:
FAX:
EMAIL:
Please advise your Branch Secretary and Treasurer of your change of postal or email address
Your children’s details
(this information is retained by the Branch and State Council Treasurers and Secretaries and used for Bursary qualifications and lobbying purposes )
Names (of Children)
Age (turning Year Level
School/University/College Attending
I give ICPA permission to use photographs of my children for use in ICPA Publications and
Newsletters, including the NTICPA Facebook Page  Please 
22
APRIL 2016
ALICE SPRINGS
LONE MEMBERS
KATHERINE
President
Lone Member Officer
President
Leza Cook
PMB 42
08 8956 8764
[email protected]
Sarah Measey
Ceres Downs
PMB 271
Winnellie NT 0822
08 8978 2155
Kerrie Scott
Mountain Valley Station,
PMB 124,
Katherine NT 0852
08 8975 4064
[email protected]
[email protected]
Vice President
Vice President
Amber Driver
Elkedra Station
08 8956 9889
[email protected]
NT ICPA Lone Members
This is a group who wish to be informed
of ICPA issues, but do not wish to belong to a
Julie Richter
VRD Station, PMB 19
Katherine NT 0852
08 8975 0795
[email protected]
‘branch’, as such. Anyone who lives anywhere
can be an NT Lone Member.
Secretary
Amy Porter
Curtain Springs
Lasseter Highway
Via Alice Springs NT0872
08 8956 2906
[email protected]
The Lone members do not hold meetings, but they
do hold two votes at conferences (State &
Federal). If you would like to join the Lone
Members, and receive regular publications from
state council ‘Down the Track’ and Federal
Council ‘Pedals’
Treasurer
Jodie Solczaniuk
Ross River Resort
08 8956 9711 Fax: 08 8956 9823
[email protected]
Secretary
Courtney Liebeck
Larizona Station
RSD MD 1953
Katherine NT 0852
08 8975 0579
Email: [email protected]
Treasurer
BARKLY BRANCH
Members who reside in the Barkly area and wish
to be a member of the NT ICPA are welcome to
join the Lone Members Branch, the Katherine
Helen Harding
Gorrie Station
RSD 1953
Katherine NT 0852
08 89759965 Fax: 08 8975 9906
[email protected]
Branch or the Alice Springs Branch.
Publicity Officer
Ley Kurnoth
Utopia
PO Box 2680
08 8956 9171
[email protected]
Publicity Officer
Barkly residents may form their own committee to
commitment to the branch.
Emma Miller
Margaret Downs Station
RSD 1953
Katherine NT 0852
08 8975 0723 Fax: 08 8975 0686
[email protected]
Alice Springs Branch Life Members
Barkly Branch Life Members
Katherine Branch Life Members
Denise Broad
Wendy Ohlsen
Bev Seidel
Carmel Wagstaff
Ros Andrews
Jackie Harvey
Merrial Lawrie
Martha Swart
Patricia Elliot
Royelene Hill
Janelle and Blue Pugh
take over the Barkly Branch operations once again,
however State Council would appreciate a
guarantee of longevity in those memberships and
Robyn Peatling
23
APRIL 2016
Old friends enjoyed
catching up during
the sunset cruise on
Nitmiluk Gorge and
dinner;
Merriel Lawrie,
Royelene Hill, and Pat
Elliot - all Katherine
Life Members
Jan Heaslip - our
Patron and State Life
Member.
Kate Schubert
NT State Life Member
“Red Dust and Dreams”
Northern Territory Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association
34th State Conference - 6th & 7th April 2016
Above: Federal Secretary Jane Morton with
Brian O'Neill President SPERA and Arthur
Townsend Executive Director Schools South,
NT Department of Education, joined with
members and friends for a sunset cruise on the
gorge followed by dinner at the restaurant on
return. A perfect end to a successful conference.
Above: Federal President Wendy Hick
preparing to board the boat to cruise the
spectacular Nitmiluk Gorge.
We enjoyed a short walk and
breathtaking views between the first and
second gorge.

NEWSLETTER - ICPA Northern Territory

Transcription

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