Wagtale Issue 44

Issue 44 - Term 4, 2020

in this issue...

IDG2020

Bug Hotels

State Campfire Aerial Yoga

girl-powered edition!

Wagtale is the quarterly magazine of Girl Guides Western Australia.

This special edition has been written entirely by Girl Guides.

Address: 265 Great Eastern Hwy Belmont WA 6104 Phone: 08 9479 9800 Web: www.girlguideswa.org.au Email: info@girlguideswa.org.au Postal: PO Box 780 Victoria Park WA 6479 Cover Photo: Dianella Melaleuca Guides at Aerial Yoga Back Photo: Willetton Sunshine Guides hiking in Lesmurdie Send articles and photos to communications@girlguideswa.org.au.

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Report by a Girl Guide

4

National Team Report

5

Coming Events

6

New Girl Guide on Target

8

A Safe Haven for Bugs

9

40th Birthday for Lesmurdie

10

Mini Golf Adventures

11

Getting Aerial

12

Olave Swan Valley Adventure

13

Foodbank Support

14

State Campfire

16

Kanyana Visit

17

Leave Only Footprints

18

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Report by a Girl Guide

October 11 is celebrated annually as International Day of the Girl. This year, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is encouraging girls and young women around the world to make their voices heard by taking part in the #HearMeNow campaign. This campaign gives girls a platform to raise the causes they care about, in the hope that around the world we can all work together towards an equal future. But what issues are likely to be raised by girls and young women around the world?

Late last year, a survey of 14 to 18 year old Girl Guides in the Perth North Metro Region found that the top 4 issues identified by the girls were: Climate Change, LGBTQ+ Rights, Body Positivity and Diversity. These issues reflect areas of concern for girls around the globe and have been recognised by WAGGGS with the creation of resource kits and challenges to help girls better understand and take action on these issues. WAGGGS has provided resource kits for topics such as Biodiversity, Food Security, Climate Change, Forests, Plastic Use and Gender. WAGGGS also has a “Free Being Me” program which empowers girls through improving body confidence and self-esteem.

“the top 4 issues identified by the girls were: Climate Change, LGBTQ+ Rights, Body Positivity and Diversity.” an authentic recreation of the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women, to “take over” Parliament for a day, to receive advocacy training from Members of Parliament, to march in the annual Perth Pride Parade and to join Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Guide Units.

On this year’s International Day of the Girl, all Australians should be keen to see which issues are raised by girls and what actions need to be taken by Governments and individuals to address those issues.

Natalie Hewitt, 17 North Dianella Melaleuca Girl Guides

‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’ was chosen as the theme of this year’s World Thinking Day, a day celebrated in February every year by Guides and Scouts around the world. The UK Girl Guide movement has also recently published resources that help include disabled members, members from different socio-economic backgrounds, members with different belief systems and LGBTQ+ members.

Advocating for change has been part of the Girl Guide and Girl Scout Movement from the start, and being part of the Movement today gives most members the desire to make a difference in society. Every year, Girl Guides are invited to send representatives to United Nations Conferences. Around the world, girls are currently working on projects to make a difference in their local communities and are speaking out on issues that need to be tackled.

Here in Western Australia, Guides have had opportunities in recent years to participate in

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Lisa O'Malley MLA and Katrina Lane presenting Natalie Hewitt with her Queen's Guide Award

National Team Report I am excited to announce that the newly formed Girl Guides Australia Young Women’s Forum has held its first meeting! The vision for the Young Women’s Forum is to help amplify the voice of girls and young women in decisionmaking nationally. Micheala Collins, Assistant Chief Commissioner, chairs the Forum.

Congratulations to the ten young women who have been selected to be members of the Young Women’s Forum: • Hayley McCann and Claire-Marie Pepper from Girl Guides Queensland • Natasha Payne and Victoria Severin from Girl Guides South Australia • Lucia McAlister and Shay McClymont from Girl Guides NSW, ACT & NT • Billie Tranter and Mandhree Ekanayake from Girl Guides Victoria • Roshan Evens and Laura Ives-Hicks from Girl Guides Western Australia This network of young women will meet regularly to provide a consultative and reference group for Girl Guides Australia. They share a similar goal – to be a positive voice for other girls and young women.

I am pleased to welcome to the National Team Wendy Kirk as the National Coordinator – Youth and Joy Ord as the National Coordinator – International. These are new roles and I look forward to working with Wendy and Joy as they support and help coordinate the work in States.

Thanks to Kate Rumney as she finishes in the role of National Olave Program Manager.

Applications are now open for the role National Coordinator - Olave Program – if you are looking for a new challenge and passionate about supporting the Olave Program network around Australia, this role might be perfect for you.

Please refer to the Girl Guides Australia website for details.

Congratulations to Hannah Woodward (GGWA) who has completed four years on the Equality Rights Alliance (ERA) Steering Group.

Thanks to Hannah for providing Girl Guide representation. Congratulations to Dakshata

Sharma (GG NSW, ACT&NT) who has been elected to the ERA Steering Group. Equality Rights Alliance is Australia’s largest network advocating for women’s equality, women’s leadership and recognition of women’s diversity. ERA brings together 61 organisations with an interest in advancing women’s equality.

Sincere congratulations is extended to Natasha Hendrick and Susan Campbell on being award the WAGGGS Medal of Service. The Medal of Service is the highest form of recognition that WAGGGS can bestow and is awarded to individuals (volunteers or staff) who have distinguished themselves in their outstanding service to Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting at national and global level. The Medal of Service expresses gratitude to members of WAGGGS whose service is considered to be exceptional, noteworthy and/or extraordinary in nature. Natasha and Susan have both made a significant contribution to the world of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting.

September was ‘Save the Koala Month’ with the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF). Girl Guiding in Australia has a long and proud tradition of supporting this organisation. In view of the threat to the Koala population and habitat after the devastating 2019/2020 bushfires across a number of States, Guides across Australia may consider supporting the Australian Koala Foundation or one of the other many organisations helping our koala population.

Please save this important date for your diaries too – 16th – 18th October will see Scouts host their digital online event JOTA JOTI! This event is all about friendship and global citizenship and is not to be missed. Register here: www.jotajoti. info/ Stay well, stay connected and stay Guiding.

Rosemary Derwin Chief Commissioner Girl Guides Australia

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Coming Title Events

state archery day 90 minute sessions - four to choose from! Archery is exciting, adventurous and fun! Girls can develop hand-eye coordination and build their confidence by trying something new.

Who & Cost: $20 for girls aged 5 to 17 years

When: 4 sessions on Sunday 25 October, 2020 Where: Bowmen of Melville

Register: on the What’s On page at www.girlguideswa.org.au

leader qualification training day This training day will include several components of your LQ passport and will provide you with a much better understanding of the role, your support network and your next steps.

Who & Cost: free for all Leaders in Training When: 7 and 21 November, 2020 Where: Guide House, Belmont

Register: Upcoming Training page at www.girlguideswa.org.au

first aid training The one day Provide First Aid course provides an excellent general grounding in First Aid and will enable you to perform appropriate First Aid procedures and basic life support skills.

Who & Cost: $89 for Leaders and girls aged 14+ When: Various dates

Where: Various Training Centres

Register: email membersupport@girlguideswa.org.au

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Title

JOTA/JOTI Come talk with Guides and Scouts across the world via the airways (radio) and the internet. Multiple 2 hour sessions to choose from.

Who & Cost: $8 for Guides

When: 10am to 5pm Saturday 17 October, 2020 Where: Guide House Belmont

Register: on the What’s On page at www.girlguideswa.org.au

annual general meeting The 2020 Annual General Meeting will take place at South Perth Guide Hall. All members 15+ invited to attend the AGM and morning tea. Please RSVP with apologies or attending.

Who & Cost: free for all members of Girl Guides WA When: Saturday 24 October, 2020 at 10am

Where: John McGrath Pavilion, South Perth

Register: on the What’s On page at www.girlguideswa.org.au

events coming in 2021 We're excited to bring you a range of fun activities and events in 2021, including canoeing, archery, service opportunities, hikes, leadership training and more.

To stay informed about new or rescheduled events, please keep an eye on our social media and check in regularly on the What's On and Upcoming Training pages at www.girlguideswa.org.au

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new girl guide on target noelle's experience as a new girl guide My name is Noelle. I have just joined Girl Guides earlier this year, thanks to my schoolmate Grace who brought me in on "Bring a Friend Day". It has been an interesting experience for me.

In our Unit, Wembley Clover Girl Guides, we do a bunch of activities. The first thing we would normally do is play Farmer Sam. Then, we would do Guide Ring, where we’d skip around and sing. After that, we’d go on to do some stuff like a couple of weeks ago, we made terracotta houses.

We also learn about First Aid and how to treat different types of injuries, which may come in handy in the future, especially during emergencies - you never know. We’d do these scenario things where half of us are pretending to be injured people and the other half of us would be the first responders and pretend to help the injured people. We learned how to properly apply a sling and how to tie knots that are secure but easy to undo.

I love that I made new friends and learnt to work as a team. The other day, we made these puppets and performed a puppet show. I enjoyed that as well especially because I got to write the script. We also play acting games and games that include running around, like beanbag hockey which I really like and am quite good at, if I do say so myself.

There’s also a few activities we're going to do outdoors which I'm really looking forward to, like putt-putt golf, archery and camp, which we won’t be able to go on this year due to COVID-19. I really liked doing archery, even though no one from my Girl Guide Unit came, so I was alone. Yes, my arm was cramping a little, and yes, it was hot, but that didn’t stop me from becoming Katniss Everdeen.

Well, I only hit the middle of the target once, but I think I’ll be able to win the Hunger Games with my archery skills.

I'm looking forward to more fun and exciting experience with Girl Guides, especially because I need more badges on my sash.

By Noelle Samosir, 11

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a safe haven for bugs Canning Sapphire girl guides make bug hotels Last term, the Sapphire Girl Guides made Bug Hotels! We made the bug hotels because we wanted to give the bugs a nice little place to hide out from the birds and other predators.

A bug hotel is basically a mini building for the bugs to hide in and have a place to stay. We used lots of sticks that we found outside and bamboo sticks. We used honkey nuts, leaves, straw and little wooden boxes with holes for the bugs to go in. We covered it with net so that all the things we put inside don't fall out. We also put stickers on the outside of the bug hotel so that we could decorate it a little.

It was so much fun to make! It was fun because we all got to do it together and we were excited to see how many bugs would come when we put it in our backyard! It actually wasn't hard at all because there isn't a specific way to do it. You can do it however you like. Just make sure that all of the holes are filled and you're done! We learnt the skill of how to try your best and that's all that matters!

Right?

There was also this one funny incident that you need to know about! Okay, I don't even know why, but when I picked up a honkey nut and for some strange reason banged it on the table, there was a little bug inside and it came out onto the table. After that it fell off the side of the table and I was like "OH NO!" then I saw it crawling on the floor and I was relieved that it was still alive!!!

By Alyssa Purcell, 9

fun with bug hotels At Guides we built a bug hotel. We did it so bugs can live in the hotel.

We got some nature and put it in the wooden bug hotel. I used a nut, thin wood, bamboo and wood.

It was kinda hard but we had lots of fun. We could use things.

Someone told a funny joke about bugs.

By Jaimee Langford, 7

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40th birthday for lesmurdie

a special day for Lesmurdie Guides On Saturday 19 September, Lesmurdie Crystal Girl Guides celebrated their 40th birthday at Pax Hill Hall in Lesmurdie. The event was well attended, with around 30 Girl Guides, past and present, and their families, gathered to celebrate together.

Lesmurdie Crystal Girl Guides started off as 1st Crystal Brook Brownies in 1980. It was the third pack of Brownies in the area. The name might have changed, but Lesmurdie Crystal Girl Guides still provide girls age 5 to 11 with a wide range of fun and exciting activities like camping, crafting, community service projects, and learning new skills.

Patricia Hayes, the first Brown Owl, was there to cut the cake, along with Lyn Grocott (Bumblebee), Marion Hutchison (Platypus), Louise Fletcher (Arinya), and Erica Usher (Echidna) past and present Guide leaders, and some of the newest Guides.

For many, the highlight of the afternoon was the colours ceremony in memory of Wendy Hutchison for a lifetime of service to Girl Guides of the Hills area. Wendy was actively involved in guiding for over 30 years before her passing in 2012. Wendy’s husband Arthur and daughter Sandra Cull were among the guests of honour for the day.

a bit of a tangle for the colour party

By Mia Fletcher, 11 and Sophie Horne, 12

Colleen announced that the raising of the flag on the new flagpole that was given to the hall as a birthday gift, was to happen in twenty minutes. In that time Mia, Sophie and myself helped the majority of guests with drinks.

When the 20 minutes were up, the three of us who helped with drinks headed outside, leading the guests to stand in a horseshoe formation around the pole. When everyone had gathered, I instructed the colour party to march forward and to halt, then I stepped forward to release the flag of the ropes bounding it - but the rope wouldn’t come off. I was struggling with the rope for around a minute or two before it was untangled. I stepped down, called the colour party to salute the flag, turned, marched to the previous spot where we were standing, turned once more to listen to those who had come make a speech for the leader who had passed.

Wendy Hutchison’s daughter talked about how her mother was dedicated to Guides and how she was a Leader herself.

When her speech had come to an end, Marion Hutchison pulled out a frame and said that if anyone read what was on the flagpole and wondered “Who is Wendy Hutchison?” they would find the answers on the bottom of the frame inside the hall.

By Morgan Spreckley, 13

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mini golf adventures

building confidence through challenge This year it was great to get back together every Monday since COVID-19 lockdowns.

On 21 September, 2020 it was a cloudy day but the Wembley Clover Girl Guides were still keen to go the Wembley golf course to play mini golf. The girls were excited for this end of term celebration.

The mini golf course had about 18 holes and took around an hour and a half to complete.

There were different coloured flags, depending on the difficulty of the hole. Surprisingly, the girls in my group wanted to try the most difficult holes, even without much experience in mini golf, which made me happy they were up for a challenge.

There was a hole where you would hit the ball and it would go through a pipe and fall into a stream. The Girls found this amazingly exciting and loved hitting the balls into the stream - a bit too much, so we had to tell them to get a move on or we wouldn’t be able to finish!

Girl Guides is great to build a young girl’s confidence and make new friends while having lots of fun. Mini Golf is just one of the excursions Wembley Clover Girl Guides will be doing this year since there are a lot of more excursions to come!

Possum (Vicki) and Brown Owl (Liz) work very hard every Monday when the girls come, ensuring things are educational and challenging in a safe way, while keeping it enjoyable for the girls.

By Veronica Kelly, Junior Leader, 16

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getting aerial

stretching it out mid-air To celebrate another fun and exciting term at Guides, the North Dianella Melaleuca Girl Guide Unit went to aerial yoga!

Aerial yoga involves a silk hammock suspended from the ceiling. For some of the younger members it was a new experience.

When we got there, we were taught simple tricks like hanging upside down! Some of the poses we learnt had creative names like Peter Pan or the Flying Monkey. My favourite trick was flipping upside down using the hammock.

The night was filled with lots of laughs and some groans due to some tricky poses.

Our Unit would definitely recommend going, as it was an incredible evening.

By Lacey D’Vauz, 16

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olave swan valley adventure tasting, tasting, 1, 2, 3...

It's Eloise here or you can also call me Quokka! I'm going to tell you how much fun the Olaves had at the Swan Valley Adventure in September, organised by Jasmine Paine and the WA Olave Committee.

On Sunday 20 September, 2020, the WA Olaves went to the Swan Valley for a Olave Swan Valley Adventure. The weather wasn't all blue skies and sunshine, but by dashing from one place to the next in cars and finding shelter where possible, it made the adventure even more thrilling than it already was.

We met up at the Swan Valley Visitor Centre, dressed in Olave Program purple, and we were put in teams of four. We were given a map, a booklet of questions and a random photo list. Then each team went to separate starting points.

My team started at Yahava Koffeeworks and we had to answer the clues while we did some coffee tastings and eating coffee beans. Then we went on to Mondo Nougat where we bought nougat and found answers to the clues in our booklet.

Along the way to each place, we had a list of random things to take a photo of. For example, take a photo of a rainbow or a birthday party.

Then we went to the most famous Margaret River Chocolate Factory and we did chocolate tastings.

We also went to the historic All Saints Church, Bells Rapids, Whistler's Chocolate Factory and the House of Honey (where we did honey and mead tastings!). Then for lunch we had a high tea at the Lavender Bistro. After that, we went to Joey’s Diner and Olive Farm Wines, and then we wrapped up the day at The Ugly Duckling where we did some more wine tasting.

We had a lot of fun that day and made new friends - and of course, we were PURPLE!

By Eloise Krikstolaitis

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foodbank support

what we did Willetton Nova Girl Guides and Rossmoyne Shelley Black Swan Girl Guides worked together to collect cans and other nonperishable items for Foodbank WA as their combined service project.

We hope that our collection considerably helps the vulnerable in WA.

By Amy Gauntlett, 12

Filling our boxes with donations At the beginning of term, we decorated boxes at Guides, which we took home. We collected items in our own time. Some of the ways we gathered items for Foodbank WA were: collecting from our own pantries, asking our friends at school, asking at school assemblies, supervised door-knocking around our neighbourhood and our local area, making notices and putting them up at shops or on social media, and collecting from parents' workplaces and sport clubs.

As we collected the products, we brought them to our weekly meetings. By the end of the term the two Units had collect 1036 products, weighing almost 400kg!

By Rebekah Gauntlett, 10

A collection to be proud of Many families and individuals have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis and they are relying on Foodbank donations to feed themselves and their families. We collected food and hygiene products such as canned foods, long life milk, pasta and rice, tea and coffee, cereal, washing products, toilet paper, dental products and many more items.

During COVID-19, people were also stocking up on food since they had to go into lockdown. Lots of that food didn’t get used and went to Foodbank. We got more food through family, friends, the community, work and school friends. We also got more items by social media and groups.

When we were collecting the food, we were being very safe by social distancing, and washing or sanitising our hands.

Our goal was to get 600 items, but we got way more than that and we were happy to support Foodbank, as we have learnt a lot about it. We have had fun doing this project, as we know that we have been helping many Australians who need the food.

By Heidi Herd-Bond, 13

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Have you ever wondered what weighs 366kg?

Well, if you have, here are some answers. Half a blue whale’s heart, two panda bears, 1.5 motorcycles and the weight of the donations that the Rossmoyne Shelley Black Swan Girl Guides and Willetton Nova Girl Guides donated to Foodbank Western Australia in 2020!

In case you don’t know, Foodbank WA is an organisation that encourages volunteer groups to collect and donate unwanted food. Foodbank WA helps over 815,000 people every year. During this hard time many people have lost their jobs and can’t afford to buy food. Food we collected included microwaveable sticky date pudding, packaged items like chips and cans of baked beans, pineapple and tuna.

Another thing that Foodbank has recently discovered is that one in four women have experienced food insecurity in Australia. Foodbank steps in when these kind of things happen. Foodbank kindly gives the food to people in need. After our Guide Leaders, Dingo, Numbat, Bumblebrii and Sunflower heard about this, they decided that it would be a great idea for us to help out...and we certainly did!!!

By Edie Dove, 10

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State Campfire

Helen Matusik "Crayfish" ran and led the campfire, which included some Promises

The campfire was livestreamed on Facebook for those who couldn't attend. People watched from all over the world!

The 2020 State Campfire was a fun event for Guides of all ages and their families. As is tradition, we sang songs around the fire together and had a cosy mug of hot chocolate for supper. We also got to try the new Guide biscuits!

It’s always nice to see younger Guides learning your favourite campfire songs, but this time around it felt even more special as we got to gather together after so many months of online Guiding. The weather was cooperative and we faced no rain, so we had a pleasant evening outside by the fire surrounded by our Guide family.

By Medha Agarwal, 18

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Kanyana visit a visit to kanyana wildlife rescue During the school holidays, the Willetton Sunshine Girl Guides visited Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Lesmurdie. We went there to go for a bushwalk, to learn about native plants and to do service by bringing supplies needed by the volunteers.

The Girl Guides (us) went on a nocturnal tour of the native animals. We went to the animal hospital that used to be a place where Brownies camped which was Paxwold. We also ate some delicious pizza and SCROGGIN! The good times of the day were eating my pizza and scroggin and laughing with my friends until our bellies hurt (but could be fixed with more food). I enjoyed the big long hike that gave you lots of exercise. I learnt that no-one else likes a hike as long as me and that scroggin is very yummy and we should have it more often, especially with our unique touch – POPCORN!

By Hayley Caldwell, 9

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leave only footprints

geraldton leave only footprints event While camping was not possible due to Covid-19, Units got creative about how to adapt this beloved Guiding tradition. Geraldton Junior Girl Guides replaced their planned camp with a two-day nonresidential event held at Geraldton Foreshore and Maitland Park.

Leave Only Footprints was held on 6-7 October and the girls wore event shirts throughout. 18 Guides attended, which was nearly 100% of the Unit, as well as two leaders, a parent helper and a junior leader. It was a full program, with everything from Colour Party to put up a handbuilt flagpole, night time campfire with families invited, crafts and games.

Activities included gold fossicking, hug a tree, traffic signals, a beach-and-bush scavenger hunt, a shoe tracking game, an oldfashioned sack race, and the ever-popular waiter challenge.

Bush and handcrafts included plaster of Paris footprints, jungle weaving and pinecone bird feeders.

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geraldton 2-day event

feedback from the guides Guides were asked to comment on their favourite activities....

When we went to the beach we played games and when we went to Maitland Park we had a treasure hunt. It was fun.

Samara, 8 The thing I enjoyed the most was (drumroll ... dum-dumdum) going to the Maitland Park and searching for the golden nuggets.

Mia, 8 My favourite thing was finding a gold nugget in the sand.

Amelia, 7 I liked the golden nugget, hug a tree, going to the foreshore and doing all the fun activities.

Miranda, 11 I enjoyed spending time with the girls and playing games with everyone and doing the campfire.

Kymberly, 11 My favourite bits were the golden nugget hunt, hug the tree, going to the beach and doing all the fun activities.

Ariella, 8

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