The Northern Territory news Tue 3 May 2011
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2011-05-03
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English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Darwin
Copyright. Made available by the publisher under licence.
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/232482
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/662897
www.ntnews.com.au Tuesday, May 3, 2011. NT NEWS. 17 P U B : NTNE-WS-DA-TE:3-MGE:17 CO-LO-R: C-M Y-K Cultural lesson in old art form STUDENTS at a remote Territory school were treated to a very special lesson in art recently, after they were paid a visit by an indigenous art teacher. Bulla Camp Primary School, about 350km west of Katherine, played host to David Shield, an art teacher based at Barunga School. Mr Shield spent several days with the students, teaching them how to paint turtles and how to make their own didgeridoos from scratch. And by scratch, he taught the students how to find the right section of wood to use while it is still attached to the tree. It was great. Myself and the teachers at the school helped the students find, cut, clean out, remove the excess bark, sand, and paint their own didgeridoos, he said. It was all about getting the kids in contact with their own culture. Mr Shield said the best didgeridoo wood was from the woolybark tree, and that the indigenous people from all over the country used it. Its a very barky wood. When you see a nice straight section of the branch, you have to tap on it to try to see if its hollow, he said. If it is, you then cut it; then the process begins. First youve got to make sure the hole is round enough, then youve got to clear all the termites out of it by lightly tapping on it and letting the stuff fall out. Mr Shield said the next step was to sand it back, rub a wax of some description into the mouth end and paint it. The students did all of this themselves; it was really great to watch, he said. Mr Shield also taught students how to paint turtles. School Matters is produced by the Northern Territory News in partnership with the Northern Territory Department of Education and Training. with Damien McCartney schoolmatters@ntnews.com.au School Matters Ryan Blenkinship, 10, will be the youngest competitor at this years Arafura Games Picture: JUSTIN SANSON Games a stepping stone toOlympics You cant really train to be this quick . . . Its just pure talent THIS is the face of an international swimmer. Ten-year-old Ryan Blenkinship is set to be the youngest competitor at this years Arafura Games, which begin on May 7. The young swimmer, who specialises in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, and the 200m freestyle, has been swimming most of his life. We got him swimming in proper lessons when he was about three years old, but he could swim by himself when he was about one-and-a-half, said mum Nicky. He really loved swimming, he just took to it really well, she said. When he was about six, we noticed he was really quick so he started racing, and he did pretty well from the start. The Year 5 student at The Essington School said his dream was to win gold on the world stage. I really want to make it to the Olympics, he said. Brenton Rickard is my idol, and I would love to win gold like he has. I was lucky enough to meet him when I was competing at the Queensland state championships, and that was pretty cool. I can swim everything, but my three favourite races are the 50 and the 100 breaststroke, and the 200 freestyle, he said. Ryans coach at the Dar win Swimming Club at Parap Pool, Clare Labowitch said Ryan was a natural breaststroker. Hes the sort of kid who can really perform on the day; hes a really fierce competitor, she said. At his age, you cant really train to be this quick. Hes been swimming PBs (Personal Best) all season, so his form is good, too. Its just pure talent. Chatterboxwith Ludmilla Primary School:WHATS your favourite TV show and why? TOTAL DRAMA ISLANDBecause its really funny. They do challenges and sometimes they play games to get people eliminated. BRIDGETTEDAVIES,Year2 JUNIORMASTERCHEF Its a really good cooking show and I really like to cook. If I got the chance, I would love to try out. I cook desserts. ERINREYNOLDS,Year6 MYKITCHEN RULES I like the cooking challenges. I sometimes like to cook at home, and I love cheesecake its my favourite food. TIARAPURCELL,Year5 STARWARS THE CARTOON I really like the light sabres and the war scenes. I really like the planes that they fly too. DALEMUNUNGGULL,Year5 SPONGEBOB I watch it on Austar. I like the way he and his friend the starfish work at the Krusty Krab. Its really funny and they all live under water. TIALEE,Year4