Carly heads back to school
Barooga mum of three, Carly Marriott, is heading back to school full-time next year, as a classroom teacher at Cobram Secondary College.
Earlier this year, Carly met with principal Kimberley Tempest after her brother Stephen suggested she look at becoming a teacher due to a serious shortage, representing concern for schools throughout the state.
Going from a farmer with a Bachelor of Business to a secondary college teacher in 18 months — is it possible?
Well yes, it appears it is. Carly is studying online for a Masters of Teaching with La Trobe University while working two days each week at the school in education support.
Next year she will be a full-time classroom teacher alongside Stephen, also a teacher at CSC, and qualify for her Masters degree in June 2025.
Carly and husband Tom, a crop and sheep farmer, will have all three children at Barooga Public School next year, Kit (Year 3) Jemima (Year 1) and an excited Prep named Herbie, which will enable Carly to work full-time.
Over the past three years, Carly has been a councillor on the Berrigan Shire Council, a big job, yet one she thoroughly enjoyed.
“Having three young children at the time, aged from two to five, it was quite a challenge at times to organise everyone, but it brought me into my community,” she said.
“Using council facilities, you notice more and look at things differently.
“I loved it, and it was the right time to be involved with great people.
“You are part of a puzzle where you’re the bridge between two parties.
“I learnt a lot about what local council and the state government can do.”
Looking ahead to next year, the 39-year-old is excited about her new role as a teacher.
“I am looking forward to the challenge of getting to know young people and having a great experience with them,” she said.
“How best to teach students and help them to get on the path to success, and perhaps linking some to industry and agriculture as a career path for the future.”
Barooga Public School masterplan launched
A landscaping masterplan of proposed developments for Barooga Public School was launched recently, to the delight of its 99 students and the entire school community.
It’s an ambitious plan driven by the schools’ relatively new principal Matthew Collins and vice-principal Penny Jones, supported by an active parents’ and citizens’ association, which comprises 12 members.
Previously recognised as a sporting school, producing some very talented youngsters, today that is changing, and it now offers a greater focus on education reforms.
“Education is a changing space today. Our masterplan is about renewal and taking a three-pronged approach: Active, curiosity and learning,” Mr Collins said.
“Renewal also includes our curriculum.”
The Barooga school currently has a 16-week transition program for pre-school children looking to attend the following year.
It sees youngsters collected by a bus each week, bringing them to school.
It ensures a familiar and happy adjustment towards their first year of primary education.
A breakfast program is also offered by members of the community to ensure students have a sense of belonging, feel safe, and their access and nutrition needs are met, enabling them to be ready to learn.
Mr Collins said the landscaping masterplan would include a community garden, replacing trees, resurfacing multi-purpose courts, renewal of the beach volleyball court, construction of a mini-town play space, new fencing, enhancing school entries, irrigation and restoration of the outdoor amphitheatre.
“Our ability to fund projects is reliant on funding through the NSW Department of Education, fundraising efforts from the PCA, grant applications and local community support,” Mr Collins said.
“Yet nothing is impossible, and we remain confident we can achieve most of our projects.”
Aussie success in Paris
The past two weeks, watching the Paris Olympics, has been an amazing time for this sports enthusiast. The Games are Australia’s most successful Olympics campaign yet, producing some incredible results from its 460 athletes. But I seem to have missed out on quite a lot of shut-eye.
When you looked at the daily scoreboard, it was unbelievably difficult to comprehend that our country with a population of just 26.498 million people finished in fourth position on the medal leaderboard behind the US with a population of 345 million, China with a population of 1.419 billion and Japan with a population of 126.5 million. While the maths doesn’t quite add up, the Australian athletes' determination and hard-fought tenacity does.
| Bronze | Silver | Gold | |
| China | 24 | 27 | 40 |
| USA | 42 | 44 | 40 |
| Japan | 13 | 12 | 20 |
| Australia | 16 | 19 | 18 |
The 2024 Paralympics will begin in Paris on August 28 and run through until September 8, with 160 competitors competing in the green-and-gold for Australia.
Scrolling through the list of selected swimmers, I noticed a name I recalled from around the year 2000, when I met humanitarian Moira Kelly, who brought her two adopted sons with a disability with her to speak to a group of Rotarians in Tatura.
The boys had both been exposed to chemicals prior to their births and had been placed in an orphanage in Baghdad.
The young boys knew little English yet were happy despite their disabilities and a delight to be with.
Moira became a full-time mum and carer to Ahmed and Emmanuel, and both underwent many bouts of surgery to offer them a better life.
Moira also later brought to Australia conjoined twins Trishna and Krishna, who were separated while undergoing life-saving surgery by a talented medical team in Melbourne and returned home to their parents after staying with Ms Kelly for a lengthy period.
Ahmed will swim for Australia in the 150m individual medley in the SM3 category.
This is his third Olympic Games, and in 2020 he took home a silver medal. Yet, his desire to win a gold medal has never diminished, and perhaps this is his year at the age of 33 years.
Good luck Ahmed, I will be cheering for you.