rattler

Rattler turns 100!

25 years is a long time in anyone’s language. A child born in 1987 is now an adult and many things in our world have changed. In this our 100th edition, Eddy Jokovich and Ingrid Maack look back at Rattler’s advocacy roots and editorial policy of rattling the cage!

In publishing terms, producing 100 editions of a magazine over 25 years is the equivalent of going to the edge of the universe and back. Publishing is an incredibly fickle field and to provide an idea of how tough it can be, of all the magazines that were launched in 1987, only 5 per cent still exist. Of all the magazines that were being published in 1987, 90 per cent have disappeared.

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Where emus run

A child’s drawing of an emu dances across the screen and a small finger points to Wilcannia on a map. Welcome to Barlu Kurli—a preschool where the fruits of two cultures blend. Ingrid Maack reports.

If an emu were to run from Broken Hill to Wilcannia it would take four hours to get there,’ says a child’s voice in the opening scenes of a film made by Wilcannia Central School students during the Wakakkiri Film festival.

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Play Based Learning

Preschool teachers and champions for play, Sherry Hutton and Donna Burns have a mantra, ‘make it irresistible!’ Sharing their passion for active learning, their blog, ‘Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning‘ is proving irresistible to educators the world over. Ingrid Maack reports.

A group of preschool children at St John’s Anglican Kindergarten* in the Melbourne suburb of Croydon engage in an impromptu weaving game. Armed with a box of coloured wool, they gather interestingly-shaped sticks and begin to weave a spectacular web. Continue Reading →