The 1st line of this story gob smacked me "What The"
I am not to sure of the word "Revolution" pertaining to this situation and how come these kids that live in Bunbury..."don't go to the beach" You have to be kidding!

Beach a mystery to many schoolchildren
The West Australian November 4, 2010, 5:35 am

A South West primary school principal is leading a revolution in how kids play at school - after discovering many of his students had never been to the beach less than 1km away.

When Withers Primary School principal Stuart Cumming realized that many of his students had little freedom to play outside, he embarked on a Churchill Fellowship this year to study how schools in Britain helped students connect with nature.

Mr Cumming hopes to make Withers school, in Bunbury, the State's first "forest school" where children can discover the joys of the bush and the beach through more outside play.

Students have planted a vegetable garden and native plants, with hopes the school can one day become an extension of nearby bush.

The impetus came after a brief survey of students before school swimming lessons.

"I found a large number of our students had never been to a beach and when the beach is less than a kilometre away, it was a bit of an eye opener," he said.

"There is a concern there is a lot of danger out there and (some) parents are concerned to let their kids go out to the beach."

Mr Cumming visited 23 schools in Britain in June and July.

"When I was at a school in the Isle of Skye in Scotland, they had cut the oval in half and planted woodland on it," he said.
"The kids could go into that woodland at lunchtime and they were playing busily there."


ME
I find it extremely odd..that in my life I played in the bush at school during breaks
and in the sand dunes and beach after school and all holidays..and that was in good old windy rainy Esperance...(I know we did not have PC's..but is that just an excuse now?)

It's not like Bunbury is inland!

I think it is always nice to see the kids form the desert who are 10 y/o or so and they go to the beach for the very first time. They are just amazed.

We as adults should do that more often (appreciate it I mean, not sit on the beach looking at kids), but rather I tend to sit there and moan it is not windy enough instead of appreciating the beauty

Pretty amazing it takes a junket to the UK from WA to learn about getting kids to play outdoors. From reading the article Stuart's holiday in the UK just confirmed what he wanted anyway.

GypsyDrifter said...

Mark _australia said...

I think it is always nice to see the kids form the desert who are 10 y/o or so and they go to the beach for the very first time. They are just amazed.

We as adults should do that more often (appreciate it I mean, not sit on the beach looking at kids), but rather I tend to sit there and moan it is not windy enough instead of appreciating the beauty

In Broome...a few years ago now
A bus FULL of aboriginal kids from inland would arrive park on the beach and the
looks on their faces and the utter joy in the eyes and voices
was just GREAT!...clothes and all as they are very modest..
just running a muck...makes the heart feel good to see sights like that

I recon they would be good surfer if someone took the time to teach them, aboriginal kids have lots of natural balance and pick up skills quickly

we live 600kms from the beach and my kids love any opportunity to hit the water. even a little flash flood will have them jumping into the spoondrains.
any yabby dam will get swum in . if we go to the beach they will swim at any time of year.
It just comes down to how you bring em up , and how much time you spend with them.
Im off for a dip with the kids now

Carantoc said...

I have just done a quick informal survey before lunch of my work mates and found out many have never been overseas, probably due to their xenophobia.

I think somebody should now pay for me to go abroad for two months, probably Maui in June and July, to research ways to change the situation.






What a frigging con.

Yeah our taxpayer dollars at work. Next time someone in WA whinges about the state of public schools there, they should remember Stuart Cumming's junket to the UK.

The only possible explanation as to why someone from close to Perth would travel to the UK to find out about kids playing outdoors is Mr Cummins wanted to have a holiday there. He probably is a pom or his parents are.

This guy was given the opportunity from the

The Winston Churchill
Memorial Trust

The aim of the Churchill Trust is to give opportunity,
by the provision of financial support, to enable Australian Citizens
from all walks of life who, having exhausted opportunities within Australia,
desire to further their search for excellence overseas.
Benefit to Australia is a significant factor.

Selection of
Churchill Fellows
There are no prescribed qualifications,
academic or otherwise, for the award
of most Churchill Fellowships.
Merit is the primary test, whether based on past
achievements or demonstrated ability for future
achievement in any walk of life.
The value of an applicant's work to the community
and the extent to which it will be enhanced by the
applicant's overseas project are important criteria
taken into account in selecting Churchill Fellows.
Throughout Australia a short list of applicants is
compiled by each State and Territory. The short
lists are then submitted to the Trust's Board of
Directors for final consideration.
In July each year the Board of Directors announces
to whom Fellowships will be offered.
All Churchill Fellows are presented, at an
appropriate ceremony, with a certificate and badge
identifying them as such. These recognise that
the recipient has the prestige of being a Churchill
Fellow and while a Fellow is overseas, serve to
open many doors that would not otherwise be
opened to a private individual.
Applications are invited each year in
November and close on the last
business day of February.

A Churchill Fellowship can offer you:
?? The prestige of being a Churchill Fellow
?? The opportunity to enhance further work in
a particular field of interest
?? Overseas travel for approximately 4-8 weeks
?? Air travel expenses
?? A variable allowance for internal travel
?? A variable allowance to assist with living
expenses while overseas
?? Possible assistance with the cost of fees for
admission to and tuition at any institution
A number of sponsored Churchill Fellowships
are also offered each year, usually confined to
a particular field of endeavour.

Link to Churchill Fellowship info:- http://www.churchilltrust.com.au/site_media/publications/WCMT_AR_2010__.pdf

Link to his Blog:- withersprimary.blogspot.com/

I actually think He has done a GREAT job...
of what I have read so far...

^^^^ I always though the lack of wind is a good
one for the conspiracy terrorists

Cassa said...

Anybody remember Terry the b..ng , he was a great mate and an awsome surfer , won king of of the point , absolutly ripped , parents were Dutch and he had all the goodies, .(always got stopped by the coppers, maybe because not many aboriginals drove a porcshe)
He , we surfed trigg poiny long before hiiaries marina fkd the point up ,
A little off topic but have not seen him for years , anyone seen him?
Great guy

didnt know him well, but remember he took the porcshe up to morawa or somewhere similar to meet his people, that would have been different

he allways had a new surfboard and surfed well when he was younger

Here on the Northern beaches of Sydney we have Stewart House.
Its right on the beach at South Curl Curl where I grew up. They house kids from way out west to come and stay for a week or 2 to experience the beach and city life. You could always tell when a new bunch hit the beach, the cries of awe and wonder when they realised they had their feet in the the big Pacific Ocean were great to hear.
About half indigenous and white kids from places like Broken Hill, Wilcannia etc.
Also gave the parents a break
Dont know about the funding though.

lurch said...

Thats a blast from the past. We were cheeky groms at the point when Tez used to rip. Even got a ride in the Porsche a couple of times. Always remember him complaining about getting picked up by the cops regularly.
Wonder what happened to a few of the old point crew from the 70/ 80's.

I remember when I had my old single fin, my Dad would take me the point and we would allways see his car there.

I started on a 6'7" single fin Cordingley until I saved enough dough for my first Odyssey single fin with a blue fade out spray. Oh man.... I use to sleep with that board..., it was my precious!!! only 14 at the time though.
Still see a few of the older crew up here in Lano when Hole's good. Hog hannett still rips and theres a few crew with grey hair that give a knowing nod.

AAAghh I can't help myself.....
I think Terry was sponnoed by Murray when he was shaping boards in the shed in front of his house is Scarborough (its nots Scabs!)...
That was my second custom, a red 5'10" single fin made by the master before he moved to Churchlands.
When Murray had Hot Brewz in Churchlands, remember Devo, surfer, artist, had the paint shed and used to spray all the boards and create pop art on everyones sticks. He lived with me in Melbourne, then lost touch. Would be good to touch base sometime.. Darrin Howard, another point charger from back then....
A few crew got lost to the Hammer,Mick .. was the biggest charger..remember the Export ad of him surfing solid Margarets (its not f!!ken Margies). He passed a few years a go. Vale....
Better get another beer.......