Literacy educators and parents in Albury-Wodonga and surrounding areas need to note two events and dates relevant to children's development of literacy and writing skills.The Riverina-Murray Local Council of the Australian Literacy Educators' Association (ALEA) has recently relocated to Albury-Wodonga and will hold events for teachers in Albury-Wodonga on Wednesday 18 October and for parents/guardians at 7pm to 8.30pm on Wednesday 1 November.The president of the new local council of ALEA Riverina Murray, Dr Noella Mackenzie (pictured), who is also senior lecturer in the School of Education in Albury-Wodonga, said the event on Wednesday 18 October is to launch the ALEA Riverina-Murray council. The launch will be at the Albury Library Museum from 4.30pm to 5.30pm, and this workshop is for primary and secondary teachers.The free parent forum titled 'Helping young children to draw and write' will be held at Wodonga Primary School from 7pm to 8.30pm on Wednesday 1 November.As a literacy development researcher, Dr Mackenzie will discuss the important drawing and writing milestones for children; the links between early drawing, writing and reading; some of the issues of writing in modern times such as hand writing and keyboarding; and ways for parents to support children as they learn to draw and write.Dr Mackenzie said, "The teaching of writing and approaches to support children's development, have changed over time, reflecting shifts in theoretical models and perspectives of teaching and learning."Young children begin their writing journey creating meaning by combining talking, drawing, singing and role-playing, long before they engage in the mature written forms of their culture."If children see an advantage in being able to write, they will apply the same focused attention to learning how to write that they applied to learning to be oral language users."If we encourage and value drawing and talking, we can build a bridge between children's prior-to-school experiences, current systems of meaning-making, and the new system of writing. In this way, writing becomes a parallel means of meaning-making rather than a replacement for the drawing and talking they already do so well when they arrive at school."Children who are encouraged to draw, talk, write and share become confident, flexible writers who create more complex texts than when they are restricted to just writing," Dr Mackenzie said.Dr Mackenzie explained that teaching handwriting and keyboarding has changed dramatically in the last decade with the rise of 'keyboarding', and it is this topic that she will discuss with teachers on Wednesday."Twenty or perhaps only ten years ago, learning to write by hand was an important milestone associated with starting school," she said. "Handwriting instruction began with pencils and printing (manuscript), with children graduating to pen and cursive script as they moved into the fourth year of school."According to the Australian Curriculum (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, ACARA, 2016a) this is still the expectation of Australian schools."But in the last five or so years things have changed rapidly, as tablets and smart phones have become commonplace in many homes, with computers more visible in early childhood education settings and early years classrooms, and with the curriculum increasingly crowded. The accountability agenda that has resulted from high-stakes testing has also impacted what teachers in schools prioritise."However, to be literate in 21st century society requires the ability to flexibly create and interpret both print and digital texts. Most people use both keyboarding and handwriting at some stage throughout their day, as well as texting on their phone and/or using a touch screen on a digital tablet."

Academics at Charles Sturt University (CSU) and high school teachers at Denison College will launch The Hub project at the Kelso High School campus in Bathurst at 1pm on Wednesday 18 October.Sub Dean for Workplace Learning and Associate Head of the CSU School of Teacher Education in Bathurst Dr Matt Winslade said The Hub initiative aimed to provide CSU initial teacher education students with the most practical experience and perspectives on current and future classroom practice."This is all about bridging the theory-practice gap for our students" Dr Winslade said."We appreciate the opportunity to work so closely with teaching colleagues at the two campuses of Denison College in Bathurst, and aim to ensure an enhanced learning experience for our students."HT Teacher Mentor at Denison College Ms Jacqui Hood said, "By building a collaborative partnership between Charles Sturt University and Denison College, we are in a stronger position to be preparing our teachers of the future for success."The Hub launch will be held in the library at the Kelso High Campus, Boyd Street, Bathurst, at 1pm on Wednesday 18 October. CSU practicum students will be teaching a Year 8 class.CSU academics will speak about partnerships, stronger connections, process improvement, communications, change in course structures, best practice, reflection, improving graduate success. Senior Denison College educators will be available for interview, including the principal of Kelso High Mr Mick Sloan who will discuss the CSU Mentor Program. The principal of Bathurst High School Mr Ken Barwick who will discuss 'Great Teaching Inspired Learning' (GTIL), professional teaching standards, modules, professional learning, staffing schools, improving future teachers state-wide.

Final-year acting students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga will present the stage and screen showcase (SASS) of their productions at the CSU Riverina Playhouse from Wednesday 11 to Saturday 21 October.Dr Robert Lewis, lecturer in acting for stage and screen in the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries Wagga Wagga, explained that in this 'Illuminate the Stage' festival of one act wonders', every third-year actor directs and acts in a one act play."With 17 plays presented in four 'seasons' over two weeks, this is a wonderful exercise for our graduating acting students to showcase their talent and skills as they enter the professional industry," Dr Lewis said."It is one of the highlights of students' three-year Bachelor of Stage and Screen (Acting), Design, and Production degrees. Acting students direct their own one-act stage production, from script selection, casting, design, production, and publicity. Each show will be revealed, and directors will have an opportunity to introduce their play."This exciting event in Wagga's theatre scene will bring local audiences plays from local, national and international playwrights, from Tennessee Williams to Van Badham, from David Williamson to Alex Broun."Seventeen plays will be performed in four seasons from Wednesday 11 to Saturday 21 October at the CSU Riverina Playhouse, with the season launch by the Mayor of Wagga Wagga at 7pm on Friday 6 October:Season 1: Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 OctoberSeason 2: Friday 13 and Saturday 14 OctoberSeason 3: Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 OctoberSeason 4: Friday 20 and Saturday 21 OctoberFor booking information contact the CSU Riverina Playhouse on 6926 9688 or www.civictheatre.com.au.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) has recognised the contributions of the Indigenous and wider community in Bathurst to its law, justice and policing degrees during a ceremony in September.During a presentation to staff, community members, and Indigenous Elders, the Head of the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security and the Centre for Law and Justice, Associate Professor Nick O'Brien, presented awards for excellence in teaching, research, leadership, community engagement, and impact at CSU in Bathurst.Representing local Elders, Uncle Brian Grant (pictured left) and also known as 'Maliyan' (Eagle) in Wiradjuri, accepted the awards from Professor O'Brien."I've been with this program for two years," Uncle Brian said."It's an opportunity to work with Charles Sturt University students who are going to work for NSW Police and NSW Department of Community Services (DOCS)."We give them an Aboriginal community perspective, while we can also let them know about how we function as a community."I have worked for the police force and for DOCS, so I have a good background. I think students like to get that insider information, that bit of foresight of what they are going to encounter later in their careers."Both the students and we Elders benefit through our community involvement, so from our point of view, we want to continue the program."The Bathurst Wiradjuri Elders received their Teaching Excellence Award for their leadership and delivery of content to courses in the University's Centre for Law and Justice in Bathurst.Centre Director, Associate Professor Alison Gerard, regards the awards as a practical demonstration of the University's commitment to forging links with the local community and in recognising the teaching expertise of Indigenous Elders."We wanted our students to learn from the Aboriginal Elders in our community, to provide them with the experience needed to work effectively within communities in their chosen professions," Professor Gerard said."Hearing directly from the Elders helps students understand the richness and resilience of Indigenous knowledge. This can only strengthen the Charles Sturt University law and criminal justice degrees."

Charles Sturt University (CSU) students are hosting a silent morning tea to highlight what it might be like in a world without speech and using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods.The students, enrolled in the CSU Bachelor of Speech and Language Pathology degree based in Albury-Wodonga, will host the morning tea from 10am to 12pm on Friday 6 October at Junction Square in Wodonga as part of International AAC Awareness Month during October."Communication can take many forms; a word, a glance, a picture, a gesture," said Mrs Stacey Fisher, a speech pathology lecturer with the CSU School of Community Health."We have to find the best way to communicate with people who find speech difficult, including people with developmental disabilities like cerebral palsy, or an acquired disability, like brain injury and stroke."During our morning tea, the students and I want to show what it can be like to use alternative communication to communicate with others, and how we can make our community more accessible for people with a communication disability."CSU speech pathology student Ms Alana Cameron said the morning tea was a great way to demonstrate technologies and methods available to people with disabilities for communicating with others."We have studied AAC in theory and practice in our course, and this is an opportunity to show the community what communication is possible in a real life situation," Ms Cameron said."By adopting simple communication strategies and raising awareness, we hope to make our community more accessible to those living with little to no speech."The morning tea is free to the public and will commence at 10 am tomorrow, Friday 6 October.

An art exhibition by a former leading Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic has opened at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery and runs until Sunday 3 December.The new exhibition, David Green: Revisiting yesterday, arriving tomorrow, is an unprecedented survey of the works of acclaimed artist and CSU Emeritus Professor, David Green.Professor Green was formerly Sub Dean of the CSU Faculty of Arts from 1993 to 2009, and Chair of Academic Senate at CSU. Since 1990 he was the inaugural Professor of Visual Arts at CSU, as well as Head of Campus of CSU in Wagga Wagga, and the Head of the School of Visual and Performing Arts at CSU in Wagga Wagga from 1985-92.The exhibition is curated by Dr Neill Overton, lecturer in art history and visual culture in the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries in Wagga Wagga, and reveals the extraordinary creative scope of Professor Green as a pivotal figure in the visual and textile arts of Australia. It showcases Professor Green's career as a designer, painter, embroiderer, drawer and illustrative artist of sleeping surrealisms.Dr Overton said, "Throughout his extensive career David Green has held over a dozen solo exhibitions and participated in over fifty group shows nationally and around the world. His work is held in numerous public and private collections including the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston, and the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery."Describing his work, Professor Green said, "Being an artist is a bit like being a bricklayer, each experience and emotion is a new brick. Building upwards and outwards, row on row, towards a future merely glimpsed, the foundation is yesterday, the creation is today, the new reality is tomorrow."The exhibition David Green: Revisiting yesterday, arriving tomorrow was officially opened at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery at 6pm on Friday 22 September by exhibition curator Dr Neill Overton. It is on display until Sunday 3 December 2017. For more information please contact the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery on (02) 6926 9660.

Paramedicine students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) will have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in assessing and managing trauma patients during a practical exercise involving the State Emergency Service (SES) in Bathurst on Friday 29 September.The exercise, which runs from 11am to 1pm outside building 1455 on Ordnance Road, involves extricating several patients from a car following a simulated road traffic accident."This extrication exercise forms part of the simulated learning activities for first year paramedic students in fundamental subject in clinical practice," said CSU lecturer Ms Clare Sutton."This exercise provides an invaluable opportunity for the students to experience working alongside other emergency service operators as part of an interagency team."During the exercise, the students have to identify potential hazards on scene before assessing each of the casualties to determine which patients are a priority and then formulate an extraction plan based on those priorities.This information is conveyed to the SES Rescue team who will use various rescue techniques to extricate each of the patients according to individual clinical needs as identified by the student paramedics. "The exercise will give the students the opportunity to practice their skills of assessment and management when presented with multi-trauma casualties," Ms Sutton said."These will be vitally important skills for the students to master in preparation for their future role as a front line paramedic given the requirement to work collaboratively with colleagues from other emergency services in order to achieve the best outcome for the patient."We are very fortunate, in the paramedic team to have such a close working relationship with the local SES unit as this provides many fantastic opportunities for our students to experience working as part of an interagency team in high fidelity simulations."It's always a very popular day with the students as they all get a chance to experience some of the challenges involved with these type of incidents from both the paramedics' and patients' perspectives."The Bachelor of Paramedicine is available through the School of Biomedical Sciences at CSU in Bathurst and Port Macquarie and CSU online.

It's not five star dining but Charles Sturt University (CSU) scientists are calling on people to put their taste buds to work for research into beef eating quality.Researchers from the Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation are running consumer sensory analysis sessions, or taste testing, of beef products in Wagga Wagga.CSU lecturer in farming systems, Mr Michael Campbell said, "The Graham Centre has various projects investigating how different management, feeding regimes, breed and meat storage affects the eating quality of beef. While some factors affecting eating quality can be measured in the laboratory we need consumers to be part of the next phase of our research, to taste some of these beef products."One of the things being put to the taste test is research examining the eating quality of Holstein meat.CSU Bachelor of Animal Science (Honours) student Ms Veronika Vicic's research will compare the carcass performance and eating quality of meat from Holstein steers with British breed beef steers fed a common diet."The Australian dairy industry slaughters more than 500 000 male calves per year, most are marketed as veal with carcasses ranging between 50 to 150 kilograms, and they are generally regarded as a low-value product," said Ms Vicic (pictured left)."There's potential to grow these steers out to higher weights, providing an opportunity for dairy farmers to expand and integrate their enterprise into the beef market."Commercial feedlot data from America indicates that Holstein steers consume less feed and can exceed performance and grading of traditional beef breeds, although their dressing percentage is lower.  There's also limited information about what consumers think about the meat and my research aims to provide some baseline data."Ms Vicic's research has been approved by CSU's Human Ethics Research Committee and is supported by a Graham Centre Honours research scholarship.One consumer sensory analysis session has already been run in September with more planned for October.

International students enrolled in courses at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Port Macquarie will be presented with scholarships on Wednesday 20 September.CSU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrew Vann, will present seven students from as far as Denmark, India, Nepal and Zimbabwe with scholarships each worth $10 000 to assist them with their tuition fees while they study at CSU in Port Macquarie.The students are currently enrolled in masters and undergraduate courses in accounting and information technology."These scholarships will be awarded to students who have demonstrated experience in community involvement and a strong desire to join the exciting and supportive Port Macquarie community," said Ms Delphine Swat, Associate Director, Marketing and Student Recruitment (International and VET)."They are also a testament of the University's commitment to growing a diverse student body on Charles Sturt University's newest campus."The presentation will be held at 12noon on Wednesday 20 September in room 1026 at CSU, Major Innes Road, Port Macquarie.