Education – Page 3 – Northerly Aspects

Doris loves to help

Norlane local Doris Stewart has seen a lot of changes since arriving from Malta almost 50 years ago. She’s been living in Norlane since 1971.

But one thing that has never changed is her desire to help other people.

In 2011, Doris decided that she wanted to return to school and improve her English, so she joined the Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) program – a free, 800-hour program run by Wyndham Community & Education Centre at Corio’s Hendy Street Hall.

But Doris soon began to spend as much time helping in the classroom as she did learning.

“The teacher knew that I had lots of patience and understanding,” Doris said. “And the ones who were really struggling with their English said to me, ‘can you help me?’ And that’s how it started.”

Doris’ passion for helping English learners continued after finishing her SEE program, and now she’s at Hendy Street for up to four days a week, volunteering as a classroom tutor.

“I don’t want to be bored at home. Here it’s alive, I’m interacting with other people; they need me here because they can talk to me,” she said.

“Once you get the opportunity to volunteer, you never look back. You learn new things, and it’s fun. I enjoy every minute I’m here.”

The SEE program is available for people who want to improve their reading, writing and maths.

If you would like to join the program, or if you would like to be a volunteer classroom tutor, contact Wyndham CEC on 9742-4013. For more information, talk to your job active or Centrelink.

Focus on the future

The 3214 community and people beyond are being urged to invest in the future of education for Corio and Norlane children through the Northern Bay Challenge.

The challenge is an initiative of the Funds For The Future Board and aims to engage the entire community to support local education opportunities for young residents.

Northern Bay College Principal and Board member Fred Clarke said one of the key aims is to engage local families to support their children and the school. In return it will promise to do what it can to guide students towards tertiary education, apprenticeships or other work.

“We want local children to go to their local school and be proud of where they live, play sport and engage with the community,” he said. “We want families to value education.”

Mr Clarke said the college can provide support and make promises about future opportunities for students, but it requires effort by everyone to be successful. He said school leadership and staff are being challenged to make a difference and some key agencies are already helping with sponsorship of some students.

In what it believes is an Australian first, the college is calling on the community to sponsor all of its students. The Northern Bay Challenge is registered through the Geelong Community Foundation, which allows tax free donations to be made into the Northern Bay College Scholarship Fund.

Mr Clarke said donations have already been received from all over Australia and internationally. The aim is to establish a $10 million scholarship fund so that all children can be supported to stay at school.

“This really is a call to arms,” he said. “We’ve had quite a lot of media interest and some of the data we’ve quoted is quite confronting for some kids … but it’s their data. We just want people to care as a community and believe in us to deliver.”

To support the Northern Bay Challenge, contact Deborah Barclay, phone 5245-3501 or email [email protected].

Workshops and activities at Corio Library

Corio Library is continuing to present a range of information sessions and activities for residents.

The library, on the corner of Cox Road and Moa Street in Norlane, hosts English Conversation Club every Tuesday from 3.30 to 4.30pm during school terms. All ages are welcome to attend each week.

A free workshop about Resume Writing will be held on Wednesday, March 28 from 3pm to 4.30pm. It will be hosted by Proven Resume Results, an award-winning resume writing service. Participants will learn how to create the perfect resume and cover letter, discover some essential interview and key selection criteria tips and more.

On Wednesday, April 18, a special session will be presented by Dementia Australia. The session, called 8 Things About Dementia, will run from 3.30pm until 5pm and will provide information about dementia and services provided by Dementia Australia.

Decluttering will the topic of a presentation by Marion Ivermee-Villarosa, a professional organiser from A Place of Calm. It will be held on Wednesday, May 18 from 3.30 to 4.30pm and will present information on how clutter can affect us, and hints and tips on how to go about decluttering your house.

For information about any of the activities at the library, phone 5275-2388.

Scholarship for future leaders of the north

If you live in the northern suburbs and are interested in becoming a leader of your community, you could be eligible for a scholarship in an eight-week leadership program.

Lara-based development company Bisinella Developments is offering eight scholarship places this year to participate in the Committee for Geelong’s (CfG) Activate leadership program.

Confidence, courage and ability to cope with change are just some of the skills to be gained in Activate, developing you to become a leader in your home and community.

2017 Activate participant Bradley Ower said he would “thoroughly recommend the Activate course for anyone who is looking to grow as a leader, both within their business and for their local community.”

The first Activate program will run from May 3 untl June 21, with the second intake from July 26 to September 13.

For more information about the 2018 Activate program and the Bisinella scholarships, contact Janelle Meyes, Leadership Co-ordinator: [email protected] or 5227-8073.

STEAM hub at school

The Ford STEAM Hub is a new and exciting collaborative project involving Northern Bay College and the Ford Motor Company of Australia. Ford has been such an important employer in Geelong for many years and its engineers have been working with College students since 2015, supporting the Lego robotics program.

Last year, as Ford was closing its production line in Australia, in a gesture of support they contacted the college to set up a formal partnership in order to retain the Ford brand in Geelong, as well as support students in the development of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematical skills. Employment in STEAM, as is it commonly called, is the future for many younger people.

Ford provided funding from the sale of the last three vehicles off their production line to establish a Ford STEAM Hub at the Geelong Industry Trade Training Centre, which is hosted on the Goldsworthy Campus site.

The new partnership has also seen Ford employ a dedicated STEAM leader to work with Northern Bay and a school in Broadmeadows. It will provide engineers to mentor students at the Ford STEAM Hub, offer work experience to students at Ford, provide real world problems for students to work on, support student and staff excursions to Ford, allow access to the Ford makerspace and assist with the Formula One in Schools project.

Special books for families

The Smith Family has lead the way in providing specialised reading books for some of the area’s youngest students and their families.

The Smith Family’s ‘Let’s Read Program’ supports reading for pre-school children. Geelong Dimmicks Charitable Trust donated $1000 toward the Let’s Read program, which helped Northern Bay Family Centre and Early Learning Centre purchase special dual language books because of the growing number of non-English speaking families in the 3214 community.

As part of a program to provide reading material to the school, the Lions Club of Corio Norlane provided a similar amount to make sure that Prep children at the college could have dual language books too.

The wonderful stories are in English and also in another native language so that parents and child can read together. A library will be created at the Centre where kinder groups can come and do reading and where families can borrow the books and enjoy reading them together at home.

Special time for Dads

Bethany Community Support has started an exciting playgroup just for fathers and their children. The playgroup runs on Saturday mornings at William Hovell Kindergarten in Hendy Street, Corio.

Bethany runs 12 supported playgroups throughout Geelong; seven of them in the northern suburbs including Corio, Bell Post Hill and Norlane. The playgroups are run in schools, kindergartens and community centres and offer families with children aged up to five years a great opportunity to have fun, play and spend quality time with their kids.

The playgroups help children learn to play with others the same age, which is an important skill for kinder and school. At playgroup, parents meet other parents with young kids and can share ideas with each other, as well as receive helpful information from the Bethany facilitator.

The new playgroup for fathers and their children is held on Saturdays from 10am until 11.30am at William Hovell Kindergarten, 28 Hendy Street, Corio. It is just for fathers to enjoy some fun and special time with their children.

For more information about the Saturday Dads and Kids Playgroup, and all Bethany playgroups, contact Marieke, phone 0447-152-452 or Bethany Community Support, phone 5278-8122.

Focus on family fun

A new playgroup at Urban Seed in Norlane is providing a friendly venue for parents and their children who are aged up to six years.

The Long Room Bookworms Playgroup meets every Thursday during school terms, from 11am until noon. Each session includes facilitated activities, morning tea and free play.

The playgroup features a pop-up library and help for parents to read and interact with their children. There is also a focus on communication, fun, speaking and listening.

The Long Room Bookworms Playgroup is a good place to meet new families and play with your children in a supportive, friendly and child-focussed environment. The cost is a gold coin donation for each session.

Urban Seed is at 4 Spruhan Avenue in Norlane. For more information contact Hannah, 0417-574-115 or Shirley, 0452-116-709.

2018 opening in Hendy Street

Hendy Street Child and Family Centre is on track to be open in time for the 2018 pre-school year.

The City of Greater Geelong Administrators agreed to delegate the power to accept or reject tenders for the project to the Chief Executive Officer in September 2016, provided the tenders were within the allocated budget.

The City’s General Manager Strategy and Performance Will Tieppo said to avoid disruption to early childhood services, and to deliver a 2018 opening, it was necessary to award construction tenders by the end of 2016.

“The City is committed to the timely construction of the Hendy Street Child and Family Centre,” Mr Tieppo said.

“Delegating the powers and functions to accept or reject a tender and sign the contract documents to the CEO for the project’s construction and associated works, providing it falls within the adopted budget, will speed up the process and ensure the timelines are met.”

The City is funding the $5.4m Hendy Street Child and Family Centre, which will include a kindergarten, maternal and child health consulting rooms, outdoor playgrounds, consulting spaces for visiting support services, a multi-purpose playgroup/occasional care room, parent lounge, off-street car parking and reception/office space.

Baptcare project taking shape

Baptcare is excited at the significant progress made at the former primary school site in Robin Avenue, Norlane (on the corner of Eagle Parade).

When complete, the project will provide:

A community hub and café.
52 affordable rental houses.
A 120-bed residential aged care facility.

Stage 1 of the development is underway and it won’t be long until local residents see people starting to move into some of the affordable rental houses in Eagle Parade. This will happen around March.

Reference Group

The Baptcare Norlane Project Reference Group has been busy lately. Members of the reference group have been meeting regularly and making important decisions about the site.

Among the top priorities for the group has been choosing street names for the site.

The names chosen by the group are Swift Way, Kite Place and Faith Close.

For more information about the reference group, phone Simon Reeves on 0408-229-981.

Newsletter

Residents can sign up to receive a copy of the project newsletter by emailing [email protected].

The newsletter is an effective way of keeping up-to-date with the project. Updates will also be published in Northerly Aspects.

About Baptcare

Baptcare is a leading, faith-based not-for-profit organisation working across Victoria and Tasmania, providing residential and community care for older people, support to children, families and people with disability, financially disadvantaged people and people seeking asylum.