Author: MIL OSI Publisher

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona Boylan, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, Edith Cowan University

Starting school is a big moment in a child’s life. It is a time filled with new routines, new people and new places. These changes can also mean it is sometimes a stressful time. But it doesn’t have to be.

Our recent research explored what helps children’s confidence as they begin formal schooling. More than 100 children aged three to six and 21 teachers participated in our study, which included interviews, observations and children’s drawings.

We found there are many simple, everyday things families can do to help children feel calm and ready for their first day.

Practise new skills

Our research shows children are often expected to be more independent at school than they are at home. They’ll need to open their own bag and lunchbox, organise their belongings and use the toilet without help.

Families can make the transition smoother by practising one or two of these skills each day in the lead‑up to school.

Encourage your child to pack and carry their bag, open and close their lunchbox, and manage any food packaging they’ll encounter, like zip-lock bags or containers.

Try packing their lunchbox during the holidays so they can practise opening items and learn what’s for morning tea and lunch. This also helps you spot packaging that’s too tricky (something teachers are always grateful for).

Set up routines

Young children need repeated practice to learn new tasks such as packing their bag, getting dressed, or organising what they need for the day.

In the schools we worked with, children transitioned more smoothly when parents practised getting-ready routines with them beforehand. Rehearsing the morning routine gives children a sense of what to expect, without the pressure of rushing out the door.

A simple visual chart on the fridge can help. For example, you might include three steps – “eat breakfast”, “brush teeth and hair”, “pack your bag”. This is usually enough for young children to manage at the start.

Get to know school’s places and spaces

Help your child feel familiar with their new setting before the first day by attending any orientation sessions or arranging a visit. Even walking around the school, driving past, or exploring the playground can make the environment feel safe.

Talk about what the day might involve for example,

you will meet your teacher at the classroom door and they will take you into the classroom. You’ll have a break where you can play on the equipment. I’ll be at the tree to pick you up in the afternoon.

Use any stories or short videos the school provides to build familiarity. The more children know what to expect, the more confident they’ll feel when they get to school.

Watch out for big feelings

Starting school is exciting but also tiring. Young children are adjusting to new routines, people and expectations. It’s normal for them to come home exhausted or irritable.

Keep afternoons calm and avoid extra activities so they have time to rest, play and recharge. Offer a snack and water as many children forget to drink during the day.

Once they’ve had downtime, gentle questions like “What was your favourite part of today?” work better than pressing for details. This means you are not pressuring kids to go over things when they are tired and helps avoid emotional outbursts. Don’t worry if they can’t remember names yet.

Remember, this transition can be tiring for parents too – so keeping after-school time simple helps everyone to manage their emotions.

Get to know the teachers and school

It’s not just children who prepare for starting school – schools prepare too. Teachers want to get to know your child and family because strong relationships help them support children more effectively.

Share things like the language you speak at home, your family culture, and your child’s routines.

Feel free to ask questions about the daily schedule. Research shows us when families and schools exchange information, a child’s transition to school is smoother.

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Leonie Barblett and Amelia Ruscoe from Edith Cowan University were co-researchers on the research mentioned in this article.

Fiona Boylan received funding from the Association of Independent Schools Western Australia for this research.

– ref. Practise using bags and lunchboxes: how to build your child’s confidence as they start school – https://theconversation.com/practise-using-bags-and-lunchboxes-how-to-build-your-childs-confidence-as-they-start-school-273800

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/26/practise-using-bags-and-lunchboxes-how-to-build-your-childs-confidence-as-they-start-school-273800/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wendy Scaife, Adjunct Associate Professor and Director, Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies, Queensland University of Technology

Few people globally have influenced business, sport, the environment and philanthropy like Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard.

Chouinard’s inventive approach across these spheres makes the recent biography Dirtbag Billionaire by The New York Times journalist David Gelles an intriguing read.

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Review: Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave It All Away – David Gelles (Text Publishing)

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The anti-authoritarian entrepreneur started out making basic rock-climbing equipment. He then built a business reputation based on ethical commerce, and eventually gave away his company, promising all profits to fighting the climate crisis.

From an Australian perspective, there are lessons to learn given growing environmental and climate concerns, while both corporate giving and corporate distrust have surged in the past decade.

The wild early years

Chouinard prefers the “dirtbag” label to that of businessman or billionaire. It’s a reference from his 1960s lifestyle, a term for someone who sleeps rough, roams widely and disdains material possessions.

As a young climber chasing adventures with friends on rock faces, rivers and waves, Chouinard lived frugally. He ate cat food, squirrels and porcupines.

In these years, inventive Chouinard revolutionised climbing. Using a junkyard forge, he hand-crafted innovative, reusable, softer metal spikes to drive into rock faces. At first selling from his car boot, he built up a US and international customer base.

But, faithful to his environmental values, Chouinard then risked the company by ditching his original top-selling metal spike that damaged rock faces for one that did less harm to the cliff face.

Along the way he employed many fellow climbing, surfing and kayaking enthusiasts, prioritising employee wellbeing and engagement in the business. This was decades before employees were seen as a stakeholder, or internal culture was considered important in a business.

A clash of values

However, with the success of his Patagonia clothing business formed in 1973, Chouinard the conservationist had entered a highly capitalistic sector. The retail market was based on trend-driven overconsumption and exploitative labour and environmental practices.

His quest to do capitalism differently is instructive.

Despite higher costs, Chouinard moved the company into organic cotton use and encouraged regenerative topsoil practices. The principled actions built customer trust and loyalty.

His approach also inspired others who saw decisions that put environmental considerations above profit were good business all round.

As Patagonia grew into a billion-dollar company, he maintained a policy of donating 1% of sales (not just profit) to the environment, no matter how tight the times.

Chouinard co-established 1% for the Planet in 2001 as an accrediting body to encourage companies worldwide to donate 1% of their sales to environmental organisations. Since founding, over 11,000 companies in 110 countries have donated a total of US$823 million (A$1.2 billion).

Chouinard also actively called out corporate greenwashing, and Patagonia was a corporate activist on multiple issues. This included suing US President Donald Trump in 2017 to keep wilderness reserves safe from oil and gas exploration and land development.

One of the first B Corps

In another leadership move, Patagonia in 2012 became the first California company to become a certified Benefit Corporation, better known as a B Corp.

This is a legally binding, transparently measured commitment to act sustainably, live up to independent performance standards and consider worker, society and environmental interests.

Then, aged 83 in 2022, Chouinard established a pioneering succession trust structure and nonprofit collective for the business. This would see Patagonia continue as an independent, environment-led activist company rather than be floated or sold and have its values and foundations diluted.

This organisational restructure supercharged Chouinard’s philanthropy.

The family retains a voice, while giving away 100% of their estimated US$3 billion and all of Patagonia’s future profits that are not reinvested in the business. (US$100 million in 2022).

Even the legendary industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie only gave away 90% of his fortune.

Lessons for future philanthropists

My previous research records the top five motivations for Australian philanthropists as:

• making a difference
• giving back to the community
• personal satisfaction
• aligning with moral or philosophical beliefs, and
• setting an example.

Chouinard’s philanthropy touches on all of these.

US philanthropy researcher Paul Schervish uses the phrase “hyperagency” to capture the character and capacity that some individuals have to achieve the outcomes they deem important for society.

Schervish suggests such changemakers build their own world rather than staying within the constraints of traditional approaches.

Chouinard built his own version of capitalism. He continues to argue the Earth is the only resource base for business, and is therefore the prime business stakeholder. Without it, there are no customers, shareholders, employees or business.

Patagonia’s core mission became: “We’re in business to save our home planet”. The company established Earth as its major shareholder.

A message in Dirtbag Billionaire for givers small and large, individual and corporate, is that authentic giving is about values.

Such authentic giving across a lifetime using money, time, voice, networks, workplaces and ethical principles is rarely so well on display as in the life of Yvon Chouinard.

Wendy Scaife does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. How this ‘dirtbag’ billionaire chose to do capitalism differently – https://theconversation.com/how-this-dirtbag-billionaire-chose-to-do-capitalism-differently-272271

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/26/how-this-dirtbag-billionaire-chose-to-do-capitalism-differently-272271/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Serena Love, Honorary Research Fellow in Archaeology, The University of Queensland

In ancient Egypt, what was the Sphinx all about? – Effie, age 8, New Plymouth, New Zealand.

One of the most mysterious and iconic monuments of ancient Egypt is the Great Sphinx of Giza.

You’ve probably seen pictures of it — a huge statue with a lion’s body and a human head, sitting proudly near the Great Pyramids.

But what is the Sphinx? Why was it built? And what does it mean?

What is the Sphinx?

The Great Sphinx is a giant stone statue carved from the limestone bedrock.

It lies on the Giza plateau, on the west bank of the Nile River, near Cairo in Egypt.

The Sphinx is enormous — about 73 metres long (that’s longer than a football field!) and 20 metres tall, roughly the height of a five-story building.

It was carved around 4,500 years ago during the time of the Old Kingdom, the earliest days of ancient Egyptian civilisation.

The word “sphinx” itself comes from ancient Greek, but the Egyptians had another name for it.

They called it “shesep-ankh”, which means “living image”.

This name gives us a clue to what the statue meant to the people who built it. They saw the Sphinx as a living symbol of something powerful and divine.

The face of a pharaoh

If you look closely at the Sphinx, you’ll notice its face looks human.

Most Egyptian experts believe the face was carved to look like a real person — a pharaoh named Khafre. But there is some strong evidence to suggest it might have been started by his father, Khufu.

Pharaohs were the rulers of Egypt, considered half-human and half-god. They built great monuments to show their power and to help their souls live forever in the afterlife.

Pharaoh Khafre built the second of the three pyramids at Giza.

The Sphinx sits right next to his pyramid complex, which makes many historians think it was built to watch over his tomb.

The Sphinx, then, may show the pharaoh as a guardian — strong like a lion, but wise and godlike like a human.

The body of a lion

The body of the Sphinx is that of a lion, an animal the Egyptians admired for its strength and courage.

Lions were seen as protectors and symbols of power. They watched over sacred places, palaces, and tombs. So, when the ancient sculptors shaped the Sphinx from bedrock, they combined the mind of a pharaoh with the strength and power of a lion.

This mixture created a super powerful guardian creature — one that could protect Egypt and its kings for eternity.

Guardian of the horizon

Some ancient texts call the Sphinx “Hor-em-akhet”, which means “Horus of the Horizon”.

Horus was one of the most important gods in Egypt, often shown as a falcon who ruled the sky. Calling the Sphinx “Horus of the Horizon” suggests it was seen as an image of the rising sun — a divine protector connected to light, kingship, and rebirth.

If you stand in front of the Sphinx at sunrise, you can see how it faces directly east, toward the rising sun. This was likely no accident.

Ancient Egyptians carefully aligned their temples and monuments with the stars and the sun because they believed these heavenly bodies connected their world to the gods.

The Sphinx was part of a sacred plan linking earth, sky, and eternity.

The changing Sphinx

Over thousands of years, wind and sand have changed the way the Sphinx looks.

Its nose and beard are missing, parts of its headdress are damaged, and its body has been worn down by the desert.

But pieces of the Sphinx’s beard have been found and are now in museums. Some even say the statue was once brightly painted — red on the face, blue and yellow on the headdress.

Many Egyptians and travellers continued to visit and protect the Sphinx long after it was built. Pharaohs and priests repaired it many times.

One famous story tells how a young prince named Thutmose IV took a nap in front of the buried Sphinx, which had been buried up to the neck by drifting desert sands. In a dream, the Sphinx spoke to him, promising that if he cleared away the sand and restored the statue, he would one day be king.

The prince did as he was told — and he did become pharaoh! To honour the Sphinx, he placed a large stone tablet, or “stela”, between its paws. That inscription still stands there today.

A symbol of mystery

Even after all this time, the Sphinx keeps many secrets. We still don’t know exactly how long it took to carve, why its features were chosen, or if we have interpreted the symbolism correctly.

Some legends say the Sphinx guards a hidden chamber or treasures buried beneath it. Archaeologists haven’t found a treasure room, but modern scans have revealed small cavities and tunnels inside the bedrock — proof that the Sphinx still has more stories to tell.

Today, people travel from all over the world to see the Sphinx. It teaches a powerful lesson: even thousands of years ago, people were dreamers, builders, and artists. They asked big questions about life, death, and eternity — just like we do today.

Serena Love does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Curious Kids: in ancient Egypt, what was the Sphinx all about? – https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-in-ancient-egypt-what-was-the-sphinx-all-about-268182

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/26/curious-kids-in-ancient-egypt-what-was-the-sphinx-all-about-268182/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

The first Australian to qualify as an astronaut under Australia’s space program, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, is the 2026 Australian of the Year.

Bennell-Pegg, 41, who has yet to go to space, graduated from Basic Astronaut Training in 2024 as part of a class of six trained by the European Astronaut Centre in Germany. She was the first international candidate to do so. She had been picked for the program from more than 22,500 applicants.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese presented the Australian of the Year awards on Sunday night.

The Senior Australian of the Year is Professor Henry Brodaty, a pioneer in dementia treatment.

Young Australian of the Year is Nedd Brockmann, an ultra-marathon runner who has raised large sums to help the homeless.

The winner of the Local Hero section is Indigenous construction leader Frank Mitchell.

Bennell-Pegg, from South Australia, is an active promoter of Australia’s space program, and had the ambition of becoming an astronaut since she was a child. She regularly makes presentations to school children to inspire the next generation.
National Australia Day Council CEO Mark Fraser said she was “forging new frontiers for Australian space engineering, research and exploration.

“She leads by example, openly sharing her story to inspire the next generation and reminding us all of the power of a dream, and where determination can lead,” he said.

Bennell-Pegg was appointed director of space technology at the Australian Space Agency in 2022.

She has said “I have always dreamed of being an astronaut. When I was young, it was for the adventure, but after more than a decade working in space it’s now because I know the role it plays in tackling real-world problems and developing new knowledge that can benefit our society, environment, and science.”

The work of Brodaty, from New South Wales, is hailed as transformative in the diagnosis, care and prevention of dementia.

Momentum for his work came from the experience of his father, who was diagnosed in 1972 with Alzheimer’s disease, aged just 52. Back then, dementia was much more poorly understood than now.

In 2012, Brodaty co-founded the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing and led internationally-significant research that improved understanding of the risk and prevention of dementia.

His Maintain Your Brain large trial showed cost-effective and targeted intervention could delay the onset of dementia and even prevent it.

“Henry, 78, is a leader who has reshaped dementia care from every angle as he navigates toward a future where dementia is better treated and prevented,” the council said.

Brockmann, now 27 and from NSW, became concerned about homelessness when, as a young electrician from Forbes, on his regular trips to TAFE saw how many people were sleeping rough on Sydney’s Eddy Avenue. He wanted to highlight the problem.

In 2022, he ran from Cottesloe beach in Perth to Bondi beach in Sydney, a journey of 3,952 kilometres which he completed in 46 days, setting a record. He raised more than $2.6 million from 37,000 contributions.

He then established Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge in 2024 and with his team has raised more than $8 million to help the homeless.

Mitchell, 43, from Western Australia, a Whadjuk-Yued Noongar man, is co-director of Wilco Electrical and co-founder/director of Kardan, Baldja and Bilyaa in the trades and construction industry.

He was influenced by early experiences of suicide and the loss of best friends.

“As a young single father, being offered an electrical apprenticeship felt like a profound opportunity. When he became a business owner in 2015, he pledged to create the same opportunities for Mob.”

“Starting with just eight staff and $1.5 million turnover, Frank and his partners have created over 70 Aboriginal upskilling positions in the electrical and construction industry, including 30 electrical apprenticeships and awarding over $11 million to Aboriginal subcontractors.

“Today, all four companies collectively employ over 200 full-time staff.

“His story embodies a vision that integrates cultural values with business leadership, strengthening his ties to community while reshaping the construction industry and creating lasting impact and social justice,” the council said in its statement.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg is 2026 Australian of the Year – https://theconversation.com/astronaut-katherine-bennell-pegg-is-2026-australian-of-the-year-274031

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/26/astronaut-katherine-bennell-pegg-is-2026-australian-of-the-year-274031/

ANALYSIS: By Jim Sanday

The recent announcement by Fiji’s Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs that Fiji will consider contributing troops to a proposed international stabilisation force in Gaza imposes a responsibility on all of us to ask the hard questions before the decision is finalised by Cabinet.

At the outset, let’s all be clear on one thing — Gaza is not a routine peacekeeping environment. It is a highly contested battlespace where the legitimacy, consent, and enforceability of any international force remain uncertain.

Before Fiji government commits its soldiers to Gaza, the public deserves clear answers to a number of questions about the risks such a deployment would pose to those on the ground.

1: Is there genuine consent?
The most fundamental issue is the explicit rejection of the stabilisation force concept by Hamas, the dominant armed actor in Gaza.

Peacekeeping doctrine rests on consent, impartiality, and limited use of force. When one principal party openly rejects a mission, the cornerstone of consent collapses.

Without consent, Fijian soldiers in Gaza will not be seen as neutral interposers. They risk being perceived as a hostile occupying force, regardless of intent.

For troops on the ground, this dramatically elevates the risk.

Patrols, checkpoints, convoys, and static positions become potential targets — not because Fijian and other soldiers in the stabilisation force have failed, but because their presence itself is rejected.

Fiji’s peacekeepers have historically operated where communities accepted their role.

Gaza would represent a fundamentally different operational reality.

2: How clear and limited is the mandate?
Public reporting suggests the proposed force would support public order, protect humanitarian operations, assist in rebuilding Palestinian policing, and potentially contribute to the demilitarisation of armed groups.

Each of these tasks carries different — and escalating — levels of risk.

Protecting aid corridors is one thing. Being perceived as assisting disarmament or security restructuring against the wishes of the dominant armed faction in Gaza, is quite another.

Without a narrow, realistic mandate and clear rules of engagement, Fijian soldiers in Gaza risk mission creep — sliding from stabilisation into enforcement.

History shows that unclear mandates expose peacekeepers to rising hostility while leaving them politically constrained in how they respond.

The Fiji public deserves to know exactly what its soldiers would be authorised — and expected — to do if confronted by armed resistance.

3: Are troops being deployed into an urban conflict?
Gaza is one of the most complex operating environments in the world: dense urban terrain, extensive tunnel networks, armed groups embedded within civilian populations, and a society traumatised by prolonged conflict.

If Hamas and other factions do not accept the force, Fijian soldiers will find themselves operating in conditions closer to low-intensity urban warfare.

In such environments, visibility offers no protection. Uniforms do not deter improvised explosive devices, snipers, or politically motivated attacks.

The Fiji public are entitled to know whether its sons and daughters are being sent to stabilise a peace — or to operate amid an unresolved conflict where peace does not yet exist.

4: What does Fiji’s own experience tell us?
Fiji’s long service with UNIFIL in Lebanon offers an important point of comparison.

Fijian troops operated there with a clear UN mandate, within defined areas of responsibility, and — crucially — with working relationships with local communities that largely accepted their presence. Even then, the environment was never risk-free.

Gaza would be more volatile.

Unlike southern Lebanon, Gaza involves an armed group that openly rejects the very concept of an international force.

That distinction matters profoundly for force protection and operational viability.

5: What is the duty of care?
Ultimately, the central issue is the Fiji government’s duty of care to its soldiers and their families.

Courage is not the same as recklessness.

Pride in service must be matched by a rigorous assessment of the risks; whether the mission is lawful, achievable, adequately resourced and grounded in a good dose of political reality.

Before any deployment, the government owes the public clear answers:

• Is there genuine consent from all major parties on the ground?
• Is the mandate limited, realistic, and enforceable?
• Are the rules of engagement robust enough if consent collapses?
• And is Fiji being asked to stabilise a peace — or to substitute for one that does not yet exist?

Asking these questions is not an act of disloyalty. It is the standard that has protected Fijian soldiers and their reputation in past deployments.

Our peacekeeping legacy was built on disciplined judgment, not on repeating the narrative of The Charge of the Light Brigade — where unquestioned courage and noble intentions led to a fatal advance born of strategic ambiguity, and soldiers paid the price for a lack of clarity.

Fiji’s peacekeeping reputation was earned through disciplined judgment and respect for human life, not by placing soldiers in harm’s way where there is no peace to keep.

Jim Sanday was a commissioned military officer in the pre-coup Royal Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) and commanded Fijian peacekeeping battalions in Lebanon and Sinai. In 2025, he led the National Security and Defence Review (NSDR) and co-authored the National Security Strategy that was approved by Cabinet in June 2025. This article was first pubished by the Fiji Sun and is republished by Asia Pacific Report with the author’s permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/01/25/gaza-peacekeeping-deployment-five-clear-questions-fiji-cannot-ignore/