Thirteen Charles Sturt University (CSU) students will have the ultimate cultural experience in teaching when they arrive in Vanuatu for three weeks of teaching practice in three schools around the nation’s capital, Port Vila. The students, in their third year of the Early Childhood / Primary School and Middle School Education degrees based at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst and Dubbo, will teach for one week in each of the schools, starting Saturday 22 October. CSU student Ms Samantha Whitehouse is keen to move out of her comfort zone and gain a more global perspective on culture. “By being open to cultural differences and different understandings of the world, I will be more sensitive to the needs of learners as individuals, which is important for a multicultural society such as Australia. I hope to gain some understanding of the local community, interact with the local people, and learn some of their customs and norms. I might even have time to smile, laugh and have some fun.”  The students are due to return to Australia on Saturday 12 November.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) senior lecturer in Human Movement Studies, Dr Deborah Clarke wishes NSW  students well in the Higher School Certificate (HSC) exams but knows that good luck has very little to do with the outcome. “It’s all about preparation and these students have spent the past year preparing for these exams in one way or another,” she says. “The ones that often do well are those who have done the extra work, using resources such as study groups, tuition in their weaker subjects and online services.” Dr Clarke has been involved in the continued development of online resource, NSW HSC Online. “This is a great preparation tool for students with practice exam papers and relevant study material for 61 HSC subjects.” Developed in collaboration with the NSW government through Education and Communities, NSW HSC Online provides access to quality education resources for all students, particularly those in rural and regional areas.

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic is spreading the message to schools for the need to conserve endangered habitats in the Murray-Darling Basin. Through new teaching resources primary schools in the Basin can follow the exploits of ‘Doctor Dave’, or Associate Professor David Watson from the School of Environmental Sciences at CSU. The video and audio package, reading book and worksheets for outdoor activities also involves pupils of Burrumbuttock Primary School in the southern Riverina. “The reading book follows the adventures of Murray, the Murray Darling Carpet Snake, Stanley, the Blue-tongue Lizard and Sammy, the Squirrel Glider. They are all endangered animals found in native yellow box grasslands, which once extended from southern Queensland, through western NSW and northern Victoria to eastern South Australia. These lands formed the basis for Australia’s eastern wheat-belt and were cleared for grazing and cropping. Now only five per cent of these woodlands remain untouched. The grasslands and the animals they house are threatened with extinction. It will be up to future land managers - the school children– to conserve the remaining examples of these precious habitats for future generations.”

A local group dedicated to improving educational and training opportunities for Indigenous people in Albury will meet for the first time at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga on Wednesday 19 October. President of the Albury Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG), Mr John Murray, said the meeting will allow educational leaders and community members to see CSU and what it might offer young Indigenous people. “For too long, many of our most capable people have not seen university as something they could do,” said Mr Murray. The group allows the local Aboriginal community to provide advice and discuss issues concerning the education and training of Aboriginal people. CSU Professor of Education, Bob Perry, said there were mutual benefits in holding the AECG meeting at the University.  “We already have many links through research and teaching with the local Aboriginal community and have a strong working relationship with the group. This event will also make Charles Sturt University more visible and attainable.” Around 25 people will attend the outdoor meeting in the David Mitchell Wetlands at CSU from 2pm on Wednesday 19 October, after a reception hosted by the Murray School of Education from1.30pm.

The impact of an increasing number of refugees on Australian communities will be discussed at a public forum being co-hosted by Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga on Wednesday 12 October. The forum, A Place to Call Home – The World’s Refugee Dilemma will hear from a number of experts, including representatives from the Refugee Council of Australia, the UN International Criminal Tribunal and World Vision Australia. They will speak on how to balance the needs of refugees and local communities, and recognise the skills refugees bring to these communities. They will also highlight the responsibilities of Australian citizens to refugees, and what we can do to help the global refugee problem. The speakers will address these issues at a public forum starting at 6pm in the Albury Entertainment Centre, Swift Street in Albury.

Educational ‘guru’ Mr Eric Frangenheim will aim to inspire local school teachers and education students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) to set up ‘thinking classrooms’ in their schools during two workshops being held today, Monday 10 October, at CSU. Based in Brisbane, Mr Frangenheim will bring over 25 years of teaching experience into the hands-on workshops which aim to introduce higher-order thinking into the classroom, especially for gifted and talented pupils. CSU education lecturer Dr Liisa Uusimaki first met Mr Frangenheim at a conference in Queensland, where she noted his hands on approach to helping teachers become better is “based on practical activities rather than traditional lectures. It is a real coup for CSU’s Murray School of Education to host Mr Frangenheim so he can pass on his knowledge, skills and experience to our first year middle school education students, as well as local teachers,” Dr Uusimaki said. Teachers guided by Mr Frangenheim have already implemented ‘thinking skills curricula’ in Australia, New Zealand, USA, the Republic of Nauru, Singapore and Papua New Guinea.

A morning tea to be held this morning, Friday 7 October, at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga will highlight how people can communicate their thoughts, needs and choices without speech. Speech pathology students in their second year of study at CSU will host the morning tea with a difference, where fellow students, staff and members of the public to learn how to communicate – and order scones, cakes, fruit and savouries - using simple sign language, cards, computers and even iPhones. Staged as part of International Alternative and Augmentative Awareness Month, the event coordinator and CSU lecturer, Ms Libby Clark, is encouraging people to join her students in the Gums Café on the Albury-Wodonga Campus between 11am and 12.30pm. “We wanted to hold a fun and practical event to expand the world of people who have little idea of how those with little or no speech communicate.  Often people are anxious when they meet someone who communicates differently.  We want people to know it’s not that difficult and to have some fun while they learn. You never know when this experience might come in handy,” Ms Clark said.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) students provided prevention as well as cure for competitors in the 2011 Tour de Timor bicycle race. Six final year physiotherapy students provided screening, treatment and advice on preventing injuries to the 58 Timorese competitors in the week leading up to the race, which this year ran over seven days and 600 kilometres of mountains and rough roads. Developed as part of students’ required practical experience for their profession, the students provided physiotherapy services each day in hot, dusty conditions to competitors and volunteers, with demand peaking at 130 patients in one day. “The students were fantastic. They remained energetic and enthusiastic throughout the two weeks, often working with limited sleep,” said Mr Tim Retchford, placement coordinator and academic with CSU’s School of Community Health, based in Albury-Wodonga. “Competitors, race organisers and doctors and nurses from the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre in Australia gave glowing praise for the quality of our students’ work. They were even formally recognised when they received an award from East Timor’s president the Hon. Jose Ramos-Horta.”

It is with sadness that Charles Sturt University (CSU) adds its condolences to the family of Mr Harold Mair, OAM, who recently passed away in Albury. As Mayor and a member of the NSW parliament, Mr Mair was a good friend and supporter of the University’s predecessor organisations, particularly during the establishment of the Albury-Wodonga campus. He received an honorary doctorate from CSU in recognition of “his energetic and effective advocacy towards the establishment and development of facilities in the Border region, including Charles Sturt University,” said the Acting Head of CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Mr Garry Taylor. The University’s central Albury campus was first established on its Olive Street site during Mr Mair’s time as the NSW Member for Albury. CSU only recently moved most of its research and teaching facilities to Thurgoona.