Thursday 29 December 2011

Season's Greetings!

To all our loyal blog readers, the RSPCA NSW Education Team just want to say thank you for following our amazing journey throughout 2011 and just you wait until 2021 hits- the Team has got some awesome things lined up for NSW!

We hope you've had a fantastic Christmas with your family, friends and animals and have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Remember to keep the pets indoors during those fireworks displays!


Go Team Education!

Wednesday 21 December 2011

It's HERE!

YEAH to the official start of the School Holidays today! And the excitement for the RSPCA NSW School Holiday Program is building with one date completely booked out!

Don't miss out on this amazing opportunity to go behind the scenes at the largest animal shelter in the Southern Hemipshere!

Book your place today by calling 9782 4460 or email us at education@rspcansw.org.au

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Curious in Campsie

The RSPCA NSW Education Team is just brimming with knowledge about almost every animal welfare issue you can imagine, so when Education Officer, Eva, met with a group of very curious kids in Campsie today, you can guess that it was a match made in heaven!

A discussion of dog safety brought up many stories from the kids when they encountered unknown dogs and they were glad to know what their plan of action is for next time it happens.

When the topic moved onto responsible pet ownership, the knowledge about identification for our cats and dogs were certainly lacking but after a demonstration of where a microchip is located amongst various other information, the kids were adamant they would find out whether their own pets were equipped with the correct identification!

If you think you know that you don't know something, then book the RSPCA NSW Education Team in to fill in the gaps! Contact us on 9782 4460 or education@rspcansw.org.au

If  I'm lost, will you know how to find me?
Kids in Campsie do!

Monday 19 December 2011

Our reach out to Blacktown

Remember when we said the RSPCA NSW Education can be anywhere, at anytime? Well should you have passed Blacktown last Thursday night, you would have witnessed a fantastic celebration of youth, community and animal welfare. The Youth Off The Streets Blacktown Outreach Program has now had an 8 month relationship with the RSPCA NSW Education Team so it was a great opportunity to celebrate this milestone.

Community Education Manager, Claire and Education Officers, Steph and Eva, went along to mingle with the youth of Blacktown and discuss all things animal-related!

A special mention to Sharon, the mother of two teenagers, who successfully completed her Certificate II in Animal Studies and is moving onto Certificate III next year! Congratulations!

We'll see you next year Leah and Sharon
and all the YOTS kids!

Friday 16 December 2011

Save the fun for 'Save the Children'!

The RSPCA NSW Education Team has already hit the Inner City Save the Children Christmas Party this week and what a success it was! But more fun was had on Wednesday in Villawood at the Inner West get together.

Community Education Manager, Claire, and Education Officer, Eva, brought animal-themed Christmas cheer to the parents and kids in the way of hand-drawn animal Christmas cards and posters for the kids to go colour crazy! Max, the Education mascot, was again the star attraction and everyone that approached him learned the best way to meet a dog for the first time.

Not to be outshined by Max, cute critters from the Taronga Zoo Mobile Bus were on hand to educate the crowd on the secret lives of some of our native wildlife. Claire practically fell in love with Duke the Tortoise (see their candid shot below).

RSPCA NSW Education Team has visited the playgroups run by Save the Children Mobile Playbus throughout the year and brought responsible pet care and dog safety to the young'uns through interactive activities and playtime props, so this was a great chance to celebrate the upcoming festive season and remind everyone to give their pets some extra love and care!


Claire couldn't be any happier to be with Duke!

Thursday 15 December 2011

The peak of fundraising

All fundraising efforts are greatly appreciated by RSPCA NSW and as a non-government funded charity we rely heavily on the support of the community. So our biggest thanks go to Peakhurst Public School for running a fundraising event for RSPCA NSW!

But what is fundraising without knowledge of how it helps, so Peakhurst Public organised a whole school asssembly to learn this exact information and Education Officer, Eva, went along to enlighten them.

You may be surprised to learn that in the 2010/2011 financial year, it cost RSPCA NSW over $39 million just to run!

If you would like to know what services and programs we provide to the community that require such a significant amount of funds, why not book in a talk from our Education Team and be in the know about RSPCA! Contact us on 9782 4460 or education@rspcansw.org.au


Thanks to the Peakhurst SRC for choosing RSPCA NSW!
Also thanks to Jason for organising the visit!
(Back Row L to R) Chloe, Vivian, Teagan, Taylor
(Front Row L to R) Ricky, Kurt, Deion, Jackson

Wednesday 14 December 2011

A happy Playbus Christmas!

This week, RSPCA was invited to the Save The Children Playbus annual Christmas party and what a treat it was!

Education Officers, Steph and Zoe, attended the Playbus Christmas Party and spoke to the children about being safe around dogs. Some of the children even got to meet the Education Team's plush dog 'Max' and practice the important steps on him.

The day was full of fun activities with many children enjoying the face painting, dancing and  there was even a clown!

RSPCA NSW Education Team visits the Playbus group each holidays to teach the children about staying safe around dogs and the importance of looking after their pets.

RSPCA Education Team Officer Steph and Plush dog 'Max'





Friday 9 December 2011

Two heads are better than one!

And this is definitely the case when it comes to RSPCA NSW Education Team's relationship with the organisation, 'Youth Off The Streets'. The two organisations have been assisting youths to find their passion and engage in various activities in conjunction with our Education Team and Sydney Shelter with a focus on interacting with our canine and feline friends.

The awesome partnership culminated in Community Education Manager, Claire and Education Officer, Eva, attending the Youth Off The Streets Award Ceremony to support the achievements of those students who took time out of their school schedule to help animals living at the RSPCA, waiting for their 'forever' homes.

The RSPCA NSW Education Team wishes all the students the best of luck with their future endeavours and cannot wait to meet some fresh faces next year!

Claire and Eva as proud as punch of the YOTS students!

Thursday 8 December 2011

Second time's a charm!

Although a first visit by RSPCA NSW Education Team is a great opportunity, there's just something wonderful about being able to visit a group again and Education Officers, Steph and Eva, came to this conclusion whilst visiting Concord West Public School for the second year in a row.

As students grow older, we like to help them become wiser, with the knowledge in animal welfare constantly changing. The hot topic around this time of year as Christmas is a time of giving, is what RSPCA NSW warns against - giving pets as gifts! Such a long-term commitment cannot be entered into lightly and the prospective owner needs to consider what their responsibilities will be. Having said that, if the decision has been made to adopt a puppy then RSPCA NSW encourages people to adopt from an animal shelter or finding a reputable breeder that is willing to do three things:

1. Show you the mother of the litter
2. Show you the father of the litter
3. Show you where the litter was born

Considering these two options for getting your puppy will help you to avoid puppy factories.

Students at Concord West Public School were big believers in our campaign and set out to convince others in the community to do the same! Keep an eye out for some of their handy work here soon...

Adopting from an RSPCA Shelter is
so rewarding!

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Clean as Kandi

Getting down and dirty is a prerequisite when helping out the animals at the RSPCA Sydney Shelter and students from the Youth Off The Streets Chapel School are no strangers to helping out!

Last Friday had students from the School make their fortnightly visit, this time prepared to give some Shelter dogs a much needed bath! Unaware to many people, but the RSPCA Sydney Shelter is the largest animal shelter in the Southern Hemisphere so even with our large team of staff, it can often be difficult to keep on top on bathing! Here's where a pair (or several pairs in this instance) of helping hands can be just what the dogs need!

With the unpredictability of the weather and the resulting rain creating muddy fun for our dogs, baths are needed on a hourly basis. As a responsible pet owner though, monthly baths would suffice as washing too frequently can result in the 'healthy oils' being stripped from your dogs coat.

Kandi is super grateful for the special attention!
Thanks Brandon and Aaron!

Tuesday 6 December 2011

And back to you at Channel 93...

Many people are aware of RSPCA's Animal Rescue series on television but watch out for a possible new show by Channel 93, currently in the stages of editing at Mater Dei Primary School. This documentary style program was thought up by Izabella Momi of Year 4 during her community group project.

Last Wednesday saw Education Officer, Eva, make her debut appearance in a filming project, visiting the School to conduct an interview about RSPCA NSW in front of a curious Year 4 audience.

Izabella did her research and posed some good questions to Eva, all of which illicited important information about RSPCA NSW. One such question was: "What are the needs of our local community?" Of course the RSPCA NSW Education Team believes there is a lack of education in relation to responsible pet ownership, humane food and various other animal welfare issues. If the community were better informed on such issues then we believe everyone could make better decisions when it comes to pet ownership in the community.

Thank you Izabella for being passionate about RSPCA NSW, Tony and Debra, the super-supportive parents and Kathryn Behn, the classroom teacher who gave us the whole afternoon for this fantastic opportunity!

The 'production' team :)

The wait is finally over...

For the much anticipated Expo Day organised by a Year 5 class at Waitara Public School!

Today saw the culmination of many weeks worth of work for students from Ms Lee's class. They presented their work to classes from K-6 but what exactly did this entail? Small groups had chosen a global organisation to research in-depth and luckily for RSPCA NSW, Christine and Claire has chosen RSPCA as the focus for their project.

Each group not only took the chance to educate others on some amazing organisations, but they also made small gifts to exchange for donations from those who visited the Expo stands. Last Thursday gave each group a boost in morale and donations with parents dropping in to learn and donate.

What an amazing way to learn about animal welfare! As Fiona Lee, the classroom teacher, mentioned "the students didn't just research what each organisation does to help the community but found out what the underlying philosophy was". And what is ours at RSPCA NSW? It's a belief that an animal's welfare should be considered in terms of five freedoms.

Keep up the fantastic work Waitara Public School!

The calm before the storm of people...
Claire and Christine fielding enquiries about RSPCA

Congratulations to everyone - you guys did an amazing job!

Monday 5 December 2011

Encore performance!

That's right, it was a hit last school holidays, so ladies and gents, please welcome back to the stage, round 2 of RSPCA NSW Education's School Holiday Program.

Beginning January 2012, this time round we're offering a Primary and Secondary Program tailored specifically to two different age groups: 8-12 years and 13-17 years.

Check out the program dates and session info: http://www.rspcansw.org.au/education/education_programs

Be quick and you can book on our 'Early bird offer!' See our flyer below for details.

Mmm...yummy...

Our biggest thanks to Katrina at Yummy Cafe in Ambarvale for a wonderful partnership with the establishment over the past few months. RSPCA NSW Education Team have held a community stall at the Cafe every fortnight since October and this has quickly become the melting pot for the local community and the Education Team - sharing knowledge on responsible pet care and various animal welfare issues.

Last week saw a celebration of the Christmas festivities with playgroup parents and kids revelling in various activities, including those RSPCA themed manned by Education Officers, Steph and Eva. What better way to instill responsibility in young kids then by looking after Education Team mascot, Max, by picking up his poo, grooming his long coat and providing him with his favourite toy!

The responsible pet ownership message and program is important knowledge for all members of the community, be they 3 or 103 years old. RSPCA NSW Education Team is spreading this message so book us in anytime! Contact us on 9782 4460 or email education@rspcansw.org.au


Diane with Caleb thoroughly engrossed in
some colouring in; Jo and Amy posing nicely
with Steph.


Max is always a hit and boy was he cared for!

Thursday 1 December 2011

And a hop, hop, hop to you too!

The RSPCA NSW Education Team are becoming familiar with the wonderful gesture of thanks from the Joey Scout groups and Education Officer, Eva, received such a thank you on Monday from the Belrose Joey Scout Group.

The recently formed group were fantastic participants in the responsible pet ownership program and eagerly took in the information to help them towards their 'Care and Share' badge. Many people are unaware that this is one of the best ways you can help the RSPCA - be the best pet owner you can be! And if you are without a pet, the next best thing is to teach friends and family members how they can be the most responsible pet owners!

And as if the captivated audience wasn't enough to bring a smile to Eva, the Belrose Joey Scouts donated a collection of toys for the Shelter animals to enjoy over Christmas and made a monetary donation! Thank you so much kids! And thank you Mandi for organising the visit!