[ 25 February, 2012; 9:30 am to 11:30 am. ] Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary needs carers! Meet or join the Friends Group. Sat 25 Feb 9:30am at the main gate.

There has been growing interest in the teepee floating in Lake Ginninderra.
It turns out it’s a protest by UC student William Woodridge against student accommodation provided by CLV (Campus Living Villages) Australia.
Jason Who has tumbled a lengthy piece about what’s going on:
So Bill was a lodger at student accomodation provided by CLV (Campus Living Villages) [...]

Wearing her Community Services hat Joy Burch has announced that all is sweetness and light in the world of childcare:
An ACT Government survey of childcare centres across Canberra has found there has been a net growth of childcare places in 2012, and minimal cost increases, with the implementation of the National Quality Framework.
The Community Services [...]

Hi I am currently looking for a course in silversmithing and enameling, the only people who seem to be running  these courses appears to be the ANU (I don’t want to do a degree) and people have told me to contact Warehouse Bilk. I have tried Bilk’s website which is not very helpful, I have [...]

I have been a long-time follower of RiotACT and I always enjoy reading the commentary of Canberrans (especially ‘the regulars’ who I feel bring a balanced outlook to some heady topics).
I noticed tonight that there is one topic that always get a very strong response and that is one that appears under “Education” and relates [...]

A friend posted this on facebook but I thought you lot could have some fun with it:
i need your help everyone! what is the laziest course offered within the ANU with no pre-req’s?
I’m sure some of you have some ideas.
While we’re at it what fits the bill at UC?

Has anyone here had to deal with this themselves or via their children?
Do bullies ever get expelled or transferred?
I am interested in people’s experiences.

The ABC has a piece on a 15 year old student at Copland College in hospital after being stabbed and a 16 year old helping police with their investigation.
That’s the school year off to a cracking start in Melba then.
UPDATE 08/02/12 17:16: This in from ACT Policing:
ACT Policing is currently investigating a disturbance and stabbing [...]

Territory and Municipal Services have the curious news that the Dickson Library knitting group are going to attempt knitting Canberra’s, nay the world’s, biggest bookmark.
“Libraries ACT and the Dickson Library knitting group are inviting all keen knitters to join them in their quest. They hope to create a bookmark that equals the distance between Dickson [...]

Students and parents would do well to note a new post on the new blog of the new ANU Vice Chancellor Ian Young talking about how the end to Government mandated university places will change admissions:
I believe the demand driven system will, however, ultimately change the way many students enter university. At present, the vast [...]

Does anyone know of good Russian language classes in the ACT?
I’ve checked the CIT short courses, and Russian isn’t offered, so where else could I look?

Territory and Municipal Services are apologising for losing Kingston Library:
Kingston Library is unable to open at the moment due to a power failure in the area.
Libraries ACT apologises for any inconvenience.
Kingston Library will re-open as soon as power is restored to the area
UPDATE 03/02/12 13:16: And they’re back open.

My 12 yo daughter is about to start year 7 at the public high school her sister also attends.  Whilst this school is brilliant for my older daughter, I’ve not been convinced it would be the right environment for my younger daughter who suffers from anxiety.  The fact that the public school does not have [...]

The Canberra Times brings word that the University of Canberra will be the front of jersey sponsor for the Brumbies this year.
Both sides are talking some serious hogwash. This from Vice-Chancellor Parker:
Professor Parker said while the sponsorship would boost the university’s profile as a ”sporting university”, the partnership could lead to the two groups [...]

The Productivity Commission has released their annual report on Government Services.
This has prompted a slew of media released from the Gallagher Government:
– EMERGENCY SERVICES CONTINUE TO PERFORM WELL
– DATA SHOWS PROPERTY CRIME DECREASING IN THE CAPITAL
– CHANGING TREND – CLEARANCE RATES IMPROVE IN SUPREME COURT
– Housing and homeless services help people in most need
– Education [...]

I have recently withdrawn my child from a certain childcare center in Canberra. I have since discovered that this childcare center has featured in a past article of the Canberra Times in relation to its negligent standards and abusive staff.
I have made a formal complaint with the relevant government bodies and today received a letter [...]

Education Minister Chris Bourke has announced two new schools will kick off construction this year:
The $64.4 million Bonner Primary School andthe $44.1 million Franklin Early Childhood School are set to open at the commencement of the 2013 school year, catering for enrolment growth in the east and north Gungahlin areas.
Bonner Primary School is scheduled to [...]

Here’s Apple’s presentation from the Guggenheim this morning.
The key points:

New eBook authoring software
Publishing to iTunes Bookstore is as easy as clicking a button
Apple has signed on a bunch of high-school textbook publishers already

There’s plenty of commentary about this event around the web. Will this have any impact on you? Do you have any experience to [...]

News media as far afield as the Sacramento Bee are excitedly picking up a CSIRO media release from last week in which Canberra’s CSIRO boffin Bryan Lessard has named a gold arsed horsefly after Beyonce.
According to the Australian National Insect Collection researcher responsible for officially ‘describing’ the fly as Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae, CSIRO’s Bryan Lessard, [...]

Territory And Municipal Services have announced the most popular books in the Library system last year:
The most requested books in 2011 were: Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver, The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal, All That I Am by Anna Funder, Sideshow: Dumbing Down Democracy by Lindsay Tanner, Caleb’s Crossing by [...]

Chief Minister Gallagher is praising the generosity (*cough*) of the Library users who chose to donate 3,500 kg of food over christmas in lieu of their fines:
“A total of 8,084 items were donated through Libraries ACT’s nine branches, with three of the libraries – Dickson, Gungahlin and Woden – each having well over 1,000 items [...]

Somehow we missed last year’s trouble for former Boys Grammar student Ryan Bowman “One-time high flying entrepeneur… who helped launch the GirlsGoneWild soft porn business in Australia”.
An upshot of the Bentley driving hit and run in LA which killed Lauren Ann Freeman was a year’s prison sentence.
Keen eyed readers have pointed out that the latest [...]

ANU are claiming to have the answers to transforming the Public Service!
The ANU Crawford School, the University of Canberra and the University of New South Wales have joined forces with the Australian Public Service Commission in a new project which will strengthen staff performance.
Together they will develop a strategy to build a high performance culture, [...]

An Andrew Seach has kicked off an e-petition to save the Japanese Language Program at the University of Canberra.
With many students in the middle of their degrees this cancellation would cause so much stress and many problems. Especially for the ones who decided to go to university to specifically learn the Japanese Language.
The [...]

Andrew Barr has announced that Canberra’s planning system isn’t up to approving an Early Childhood School so he’s calling it in:
I have used my call-in powers, as Acting Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, to approve the development which will see over 400 children benefitting from the new school.
The school includes a childcare centre for [...]

Chief Minister Gallagher has announced that you’re all ACT Ambassadors for the National Year of Reading .
OK, not really. But given the number of people named, the questionable literacy of some named, the dubious local nature of at least one of the entries, well personally I’m offended no-one asked if I wanted a go and [...]

Libraries ACT have announced the release of an updated eBook and eAudiobook website. Over 36 000 free eBooks are catalogued on the site.
The new look web presence has many features including:
– a more user-friendly look including ‘new’ and ‘recently returned’ titles listed on the front page;
– easy to identify icons labelling each title clearly;
– a [...]

Chris Bourke has announced that merging the University of Canberra and the Canberra Institute of Technology is too hard and instead of trimming down to one institution they’re going to create a third joint institution.
Minister for Education and Training, Dr Chris Bourke, MLA today announced a collaborative venture between the Canberra Institute of Technology [...]

The ANU has announced that they’ve reached an agreement with the Oxford University Press to let our local uni be the Oxford English Dicstionary’s final arbiter of our vernacular.
The agreement will see OUP continue to provide funding to the Australian National Dictionary Centre in the ANU College of Arts of Social Sciences, which conducts [...]

Our daughter is in yr 7 this year.  She has Asperger’s Syndrome.  She has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  She is extremely anxious.  She is very depressed.  She is very intellegent.  She is very mature in her thinking about bullying.  She helps protect others when they are getting bullied.  She is a really amazing young girl.  She [...]

Mosaic maker Kim Grant has sent through some info on what she’d been up to at Curtin Primary:
creating a mural with children at Curtin Primary. Support from the P&C committee as well as teachers at the school have meant that all students K-6 (approximately 400 children), have been able to participate in the fabrication, installation [...]

A new exhibition showcasing rare ANU fossils and 3-D modelling techniques opened at the Canberra Museum and Gallery on the third of December, and I wandered over today to have a quick look.
It’s a small but fascinating gallery, a collection of rare 400-million-year-old fish fossils showing the evolution of various features in both humans and [...]