Month: March 2017

Research news: Retinal cell discovered that is overstimulated in indoor light, may lead to myopia

Too much time spent indoors may cause “aberrant over-growth of the eye, leading to myopia” according to Associate Prof. Greg Schwartz, Northwestern University.  New research has uncovered a specific retinal cell that is highly sensitive to daylight and controls “how the eye grows and develops”. Indoor light has a different spectrum and strength to outdoor light.

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Image of the newly discovered call called “ON Delayed” retinal ganglion cell.

““More than a billion people in the world have myopia, whose incidence is rising and is linked to how much time people spend indoors as children,” Dr. Schwartz said.”

If the ON Delayed cell instructs the eye to grow too long, images fail to be focused on the retina, causing nearsighted vision and a lifetime of corrective glasses or contact lenses.

“The eye needs to stop growing at precisely the right time during childhood,” Dr. Schwartz said.

“The indoor light spectrum has high red/green contrast, which activates these clusters of photoreceptors in the human eye, creating the equivalent of an artificial contrast image on the retina,” he said.

“It’s likely the human version of the ON Delayed retinal ganglion cell would be overstimulated by such patterns, causing aberrant over-growth of the eye, leading to myopia.”

— Northwestern University

This new research underscores parents concerns that a high-rise indoor environment will prevent normal eye development in students, potentially leading to long term eye damage.

H/t JR

Reference
1. Mani A, Schwartz GW: Circuit Mechanisms of a Retinal Ganglion Cell with Stimulus-Dependent Response Latency and Activation Beyond Its Dendrites: J Current Biology; Feb 2017.

Year 8 Perth Modern School students come from far and wide

The year 8s at Perth Modern School come from Mandurah to Yanchep, and as far east as Mount Helena and Gidgegannup. There are also two students from homes near Bridgetown and Denmark in country WA. (Boarding facilities exist in City Beach for country students).

Perth Modern School serves all of Perth.

year-8-perth-mdern-school
Perth Modern Students come from all over Perth. (Just the Year 8s visible here)

Let’s keep the opportunity open to all students in Western Australia.

Click here and open the map in another window to see a larger area.

Perth Mod Year 7 students come from all over Perth

There are baseless claims that Perth Mod is full of “rich kids”. These accusations are not connected to reality.  One parent created a google map of the year 7 address list. The map says it all, except it doesn’t show at least five children who come from even further away.

Thanks to HP. Open this link in a new tab to enlarge.

Map, Perth Modern School, Student addresses, Map, Geographic spread

The map does not contain all homes, for privacy reasons some addresses are unknown. Continue reading “Perth Mod Year 7 students come from all over Perth” →

Spread the word: A cutting summary

election-2017

A summary of the situation for media, friends, and letters to editors

New plan to put children in skyscrapers

Five weeks ago, without any consultation, the Labor Opposition in WA suddenly announced “Education Central“. They would be moving students at Perth Modern school to a 16 – 25 storey skyscraper in 2020 whether they wanted it or not.

In the plan, children as young as 11 will be in an office tower sandwiched between the CBD and the late-night pubs and drugs district of Perth. The site is next to the central railway station, in the most congested real estate in a radius of 2,500km. The school will have no oval and no trees, unless they get one to grow on the roof. This will be the only public school in Australia where no child will ever be able to kick an AFL football, though they will be closer to prostitutes. 😉

Sue Ellery, the Shadow Minister for Education, promises green space on every floor and on the roof. Since five-star hotels in Perth cannot afford to do that, parents wonder how the Department of Education can. (A pot plant in every corner?)

There is a genuine need for another school in Perth, and a demographic squeeze is coming. But this experimental multiuse complex (with Scitech at the base) needs to be finished in just 2 years 8 months. Let’s call it the Tower of Babylon, but the joke is not so funny. Perth needs a school in the western suburbs but they are all safe Liberal seats on 20% margins. Instead of reopening a school to the west, Labor thinks it will give the high-reputation Perth Modern school site to the local inner city catchment which is a long way from the beachside area, but is close to voters in the seat of Perth. (A seat held by the Liberals on a 2.8% margin). Labor claim that’s where the growth is. But Education Department enrollment figures for 2016 show that the high schools in the western suburbs grew around ten times faster than the school closest to the inner north.
 Continue reading “Spread the word: A cutting summary” →

A plan to destroy a world class institution, sacrificing students’ best interest?

A reply to the Education Minister from a concerned parent:

Dear Ms Ellery

Thank you for finally sending a reply, which sadly is a duplicate of what I had seen sent to other people, and which offers nothing whatsoever in terms of answering the queries I posed or providing solid, substantiated evidence to support the proposal.

I had been sympathetic to Labor as I had concerns about the financial management of government under Liberal. However, if this proposal is any reflection at all of how Labor will manage its decision-making, financial management, stakeholder engagement, consideration for particular interest groups e.g. children/students, and willingness to sacrifice the vulnerable to gain political advantage (which very obviously is what this proposal is about), then I am afraid Labor comes across as a much worse alternative.Much much worse.

You have been dismissive in responding to concerned parents and citizens, dictatorial in declaring that the proposal will be implemented, even before any sort of consultation with stakeholders (including the Education Department), and lame in not attending (or even sending a representative to) the well-publicised public forum on Tuesday attended by all the other political parties.

In the feeble hope that you may still actually listen, I will respond to your generic ‘cut and paste’ comments.

“One of the constraints of being in Opposition is that there are protocols in place which prevent us from discussing political policy matters with public servants. The school Principal, rightly so, is represented on both the Parents and Citizens Association and the School Board. It was not possible to canvas the policy with those bodies prior to the announcement as to do so would have put the Principal or her representative in a very difficult position. While that is a matter of regret, it was an unavoidable consequence of the protocols about what Oppositions can or cannot do.”

That is untrue and misleading.Yes, the Principal does sit on the P&C and the Board. 

However, nothing prevented Labor from expressing the wish to engage with them separately without the Principal in attendance.

Further, Labor chose to spring this proposal right at the last minute just before the commencement of the campaign/caretaker period, knowing full well the restrictions in place will stifle the expected discussion/debate.

“St Georges Anglican College is in William St (formerly Murdoch College in Murdoch) in the CBD and offers a wide range of extra-curricular activities which mean the students are in and around the CBD before and after school. Trinity and Mercedes are also considered inner city schools. Issues about air quality, safety and “proximity to anti – social activities” are manageable issues for these schools, they will be manageable for a new one too.”

I understand it has been repeatedly pointed out to you that these are blatantly non-comparable examples.  Continue reading “A plan to destroy a world class institution, sacrificing students’ best interest?” →

Media and Media Releases

election-2017

ABC: Opposition to relocation of Perth Modern school.

The West: Backlash over Perth Mod move to City.

Business News: Parents Rally against Labor School Plan

Media Release March 8th, 2017

Perth Modern parents mobilise against ill-conceived plan

Labor fails to send a spokesperson to speak at parent forum

Level of public support for affected students is rising

Parents at Perth Modern School, the State’s sole academically selective school, are up in arms at WA Labor’s plan to move them from the current site at Roberts Road to a skyscraper in the city. Labor proposes to name the new school “Perth Academic College”.

A meeting at North Perth Bowling Club was held last night. Continue reading “Media and Media Releases” →

Huge Information night — but Labor are a No Show. Afraid to explain Skyscraper School to parents?

election-2017  After dropping the disruptive, upsetting plan on the families of Perth Mod, Labor was unable to find a single person to defend Education Central. Instead, nearly one third of  families affected managed to come on short notice and nearly every other party managed to find a representative. Panel members included Peter Collier (Minister of Education, Lib), Mike Nahan (Treasurer, WA, Lib), Alison Xamon (Greens),  Julie Matheson and Andrew Mangano (Julie Matheson for Western Australia Party) plus local M.P.s Elani Evangel (Perth), and Michael Sutherland (Mt Lawley).

Mark McGowan, Sue Ellery, Peter Carey, Simon Millman and Alannah MacTiernan were invited but not present. The Labor party did not even send a substitute. How much do they love this Flagship project? Not. The Tower of Babylon is a lemon.

Pauline Hanson sent apologies and the message: “Schools were not meant to be offices. Kids need a balance of outdoor activities on ovals and in playgrounds as well as in the classroom.”

It was standing room only with an estimated 200 people. Packed.

Businessnews Western Australia reports: Labor’s education spokeswoman, Sue Ellery, said although she was unable to attend tonight’s meeting she has discussed the issue with the parents representatives on Sunday. If Labor wins Saturdays election, Ms Ellery undertook to consult fully with relevant groups to ensure the smooth implementation of the policy. But she indicated there was little room for compromise, saying ‘the policy is the policy”. –see Labor’s Modern School Backlash

But there are no “parents representatives”. Sue Ellery has met with a string of angry individual parents, but because this bombshell was dropped on the families of Perth Modern School during an election campaign, there are no organised representatives on this topic. Just 1,000 angry families.

Consultation about the color of the walls after a decision that no Perth Mod family had a say in is not consultation.

The Labor Party could have discussed this a year ago. IMG_2905.JPG Leaving it to the last minute suggests they knew Perth Mod families would not want it and didn’t want to allow them time to protest. Except they are. Teams are working to inform voters of the office-block-school for 11 year olds that’s next to pubs and drugs and of the $40m hole in the future budget for Mt Lawley SHS and Churchlands SHS.  (Contact us to offer to help!)

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MUST SEE EVENT: Town Hall Style Information Night Tuesday!

election-2017 URGENT: There was no consultation for the Labor Policy to end Perth Mod as we know it and parents are FURIOUS. To get answers about education policies in the coming election (6 days to go) we have invited representatives from all major political parties to answer parents questions.

North Perth Bowling Club on Tuesday 7th March, 2017.

Address: Farmer St, Woodville Reserve, North Perth WA 6006

Time: 7 for 7:30pm

RSVP: save.perthmodern@gmail.com 

to-john-carey-sml

Click to enlarge

VOLUNTEERS: Please contact us if you can help hand out flyers, letter box drop, call other parents (some still don’t know what’s coming!)

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