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Counting all the animals

Warringa Park Specialist School students: Jordan (front), Ollie, Joseph, Arijan, Blake and Ayub with the new picture book the school have released. (Damjan Janevski) 357843_02

Warringa Park Specialist School in Hoppers Crossing launched its book ‘One Big Bungil’ last week. The product of a school maths project, ’One Big Bungil’ is a counting book that students can use to count animals as they develop their maths and number recognition skills. All illustrations were done by students at the school, which caters for children with intellectual disabilities. The animals depicted are all found locally near the Werribee River and their names are printed in Indigenous language, adding to the students’ learning experience.. “The text and illustrations in the book are highly engaging and we would like to share this with both our school community and beyond,” said Warringa Park School principal Ashwini Sharma. “We would like to see copies of this booking helping many other students to learn counting whilst exploring our Indigenous culture and the fauna of Werribee.” All students at the school received a copy of ‘One Big Bungil’, while copies were donated to other schools and local libraries.

Map of suburban poverty By Cade Lucas Seventy per cent of single parents in Wyndham Vale North are living in poverty. That’s one of several startling statistics revealed in a new analysis by the Victorian Council of Social Servces (VCOSS) that shows Wyndham is home to some of the poorest suburbs in the state. The ‘Mapping Poverty in Victoria’ report conducted in conjunction with economic modelling group, NATSEM, used data from the 2021 census to estimate the poverty rates among different demographics in different locations. The report found that 800,000 people

were living in poverty across the state, with 600,000 in Greater Melbourne alone. While the statewide average of 13.3 per cent was unchanged from the previous report based on the 2016 census, poverty in Melbourne had increased, offsetting reductions in rural and regional Victoria. This increase was particularly evident on the urban fringe, including in Wyndham, where the poverty rate of 16.1 per cent remained above the state average. “People are living further away from services,” said VCOSS CEO Emma King of why the outer suburbs were more disadvantaged. “Jobs are not in the local area and they

have far to travel. “People don’t have enough money to pay rent, pay for food or put petrol in the car.“ “Outer suburbs are not close to public transport, things compound,” Ms King said. Wyndham was also above the state average in all other major categories, including women, over 65’s, mortgage holders and private renters. The north west of Wyndham was where the problems were most acute. Along with having the highest rate of single parent poverty in Victoria, Wyndham Vale North was in the top 15 for children in poverty (31.2 per cent) and top 10 overall (24.9 per cent).

Ms King said Wyndham Vale having a lot of single parent households and poverty affecting women more than men were reasons why it was particularly hard hit. The nearby suburbs of Tarneit South (21 per cent), Werribee East and Truganina (both 20 per cent) had the next highest poverty rates, while locations to the south and east faired better, with Point Cook South (11 per cent) recording the lowest poverty rate in Wyndham. In a statement, Wyndham council said a range of support services were available for those in need and could be reached at: communityconnector@wyndham.vic.gov.au or 1300 023 411.

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2023 DATES | SEP 17 | OCT 15 | NOV 19 | DEC 17 (Every 3rd Sunday of the month) 10am -2pm WERRIBEE RACECOURSE • ENTRY VIA BALLAN RD