A range of fascinating, promising and emerging practice sessions at the conference will explain how playgroups are helping parents with a range of complex needs - with a mental illness, in a correctional facility, with post natal depression, and in lots of other ways. Register to attend the conference online now.

Play for Life was established in 2010 and is founded on the critical role of lifelong play. We aim to ensure that play is part of all Australians’ lives, regardless of age, location or circumstance. Based on Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Play for Life’s vision is to advance the right of all children and young people to access free play and to see play valued and conserved in their lives as they grow into adulthood.

Dear all,We have two amazing events coming up!"Connecting to Country, sharing the stories", presented by the Victorian Child and Nature Connection and Royal Botanic Gardens MelbourneOur next VCNC mini seminar is a once-in-a-lifetime line-up of speakers.Join three acclaimed Australian artists on a journey to celebrate our connection to land, our past, our roots, our history and the synergies of cross-cultural meetings.Wednesday 13 March 20139.15 am-1pmRoyal Botanic Gardens, MelbourneMeet at Mueller Hall, National Herbarium, Gate F$35 (student concession $20) - book

A Danish study of nearly 20,000 children has found that children who walked or cycled to school were able to concentrate better than others for the first four hours of the day.

The researchers were surprised to find that the trip to school was more important than eating breakfast and lunch.

Skin Cancer Prevention Framework 2013-2017

Produced by the Victorian Department of Health and Available to Download from their Document Library here.

Vale Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. "My grandmother took me to play in Dame Elisabeth's garden as a little girl, on many occasions. I remember delighting in the discoveries made, finding birds sitting on eggs in their nests, all kinds of insects and butterflies, the most amazing flowers and majestic trees...it was like heaven on earth! I know these rich connections with nature and the direct experiences had, during my formative years, have influenced the work l am doing as an adult, connecting children with nature.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/alarm-over-slide-in-state-o…

Play equipment standards:occasions of trespass

In this article Bernard Spiegal discusses the role, scope and authority of play equipment standards. The article is one of a number of papers, comments, blogs, presentations and articles being generated by members of The York Group.

The York Group, comprising Professor David Ball, Tim Gill, Harry Harbottle, Bernard Spiegal, has come together to contribute to thinking about risk and play equipment Standards. The York Group will also be publishing jointly authored papers.