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| 15 August 2005 |
| Warrego Kids |
| Visit an exhibition of photographs by school kids from the desert who are learning to swim, and at the same time learning to enjoy being at school. |
GUY MCLEAN: They might live on the edge of the desert, but these kids can certainly swim. It's all thanks to a new school curriculum now combining good health with academic excellence. GUY MCLEAN: They've grown up at Warrego, an old mining community, on land about 50 km west of Tennant Creek. Swimming has not always come naturally to these children, neither has attending school, until Colin Baker took over as principal in 1999. By then the mine has closed down and the school was set to follow. COLIN BAKER: My immediate superior, the group school principal, said, "Well, look, run it through to the end of the year, and shut it, but, if you can get the Aboriginal children to come, you can keep it open", and THAT was the challenge. GUY MCLEAN: But, these kids are not just making waves in the pool. Their achievements have been recorded in a photographic exhibition launched this week in Darwin's Supreme Court, and the kids stole the show. JUSTICE DAVID ANGEL: I commend this exhibition to you all. I wish it well and I have great pleasure in declaring it open. GUY MCLEAN: There's a lot more to the Warrego School curriculum than just swimming. In their pursuit of academic excellence they also learn horsemanship, another key subject and just one more reason to go to school. COLIN BAKER: An old chap just got out of his car when I was riding my horse and said, "Can you teach the kids to ride, mister, we'd like to work cattle?", and if you can teach them to ride I'll make sure they come to school, and good as his word, he turned up next morning with 11 children. GUY MCLEAN: As they say the rest is history, a history which will now be passed on through the work of Melbourne photographer Josephine Kuperholz. She's compiled a 36-piece display, which will tour the country after it's shown in Darwin. Since the program was introduced, students have also joined the Tennant Creek Swimming Club, where they train three times every week. They also compete at carnivals, already producing one age group champion at Territory level. COLIN BAKER: I'd like to reach a stage where our children are reaching the same end points at various stages in their developments as other Australian children. We get some success in that but we'd be drawing a long bow if we said were as successful in that as we'd like. GUY MCLEAN: But there's no doubt these kids are surging well ahead of their own expectations. The challenge now is to keep the momentum rolling. |
story notes |
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making waves To make waves in a pool means to splash around in a pool.  But to make waves has other meanings as well. It means to attract attention, or to make people notice you. Example: She's making waves in the music scene. achievements An achievement is something very good but difficult that you have done successfully. stole the show If something stole the show, it was the best thing about an event. Example: She stole the show with her brilliant performance. drawing a long bow Drawing a long bow means to exaggerate or to make something seem bigger or better than it really is. Example: You'd be drawing a long bow to say that you sing like Pavarotti. It comes from using a bow and arrow. To draw a bow is to pull the bow back, when you're just about to shoot the arrow.  successful Successful is the adjective formed from the noun success. The suffix -ful is very common. It comes from the word full, but notice that it is always spelt with only one l when it's a suffix. The suffix -ful can mean full of, or having the quality of something. Example: She is beautiful and successful. more information: -ful suffix challenge A challenge is a test, or something that's difficult to do. momentum Momentum here means movement in the same direction.
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