Spring Green Expo 2012 - Thank you NGIA!
Every year the Nursery and Garden Industry runs the trade only show "Spring Green Expo" on the Gold Coast of Australia. ACS values this opportunity to connect with industry, as it provides a valuable insight into trends and developments, as well as training requirements the industry sees as timely.
This year was a great expo as usual, with some amazing displays and the usual enthusiastic attendees and stand holders. We look forward to Spring Green 2013.
To find out more about NGIA, visit their website: www.ngia.com.au

Student Feedback: ACS collects feedback from every student toward the end of their course. This is what Pandora had to say about her time with ACS:

Student's Name: Pandora Canton
Course Name: RHS Certificate 2 - Plant Growth, Propagation & Development (Click to read the full course outline)
Tutor's Name: Maggi Brown
Is your work being marked satisfactorily? Yes.
Do you find the course to be a valuable learning experience? Why? I find the course to be an extremely valuable learning experience. I have been in the horticulture/landscaping business for over twenty years, with no formal background just trial and error and referring to various books on plants/propagation etc., but this course has made me realize how little I knew. I look at plants completely different now and my respect and appreciation for them has increased enormously! Each lesson and assignment is a challenge I enjoy immensely. I am grateful for the well structured lessons with explicit details on each topic, enabling me to achieve a clearer understanding of plant physiology.
Overall comments you may wish to make: Completely satisfied!

Below is an excerpt from a chapter in our Child Psychology course. (Click on the link to read the full course outline)

The Perinatal Environment
The perinatal environment is an important one, affecting a baby's well being and future development. A birth is dramatic for the parent(s). The mother may fear the pain, fear the loss of control. They may be physically exhausted, relieved that it is over, awestruck that the baby is born and so on. The baby is suddenly forced from its comfortable environment in the womb through a small passageway and out into the light, forced to breath and begin in a new world. There is debate that the child is traumatized by this event. Whilst others argue that the child is numb. So is birth unpleasant for the baby? Rank (1929) believed that babies coming from a warm uterus where all its needs were met would experience cold, pain, hunger and the discomfort of their first breath when born. He argued that babies born after difficult labours were especially traumatized and likely to be anxious and neurotic for their whole life.

Leboyer (1975) agreed with Rank's ideas and suggested the idea of gentle birthing where the child is placed on the mother's stomach still with the umbilical cord attached, until the cord stops pulsing. The room is dimly lit. Then the cord is severed and the baby is placed in a warm bath, similar to the conditions in the womb. Leboyer argued that babies who experience gentle birthing are likely to grow up into happy people and more likely to elicit loving reactions from their parents.

Leboyer's is a controversial view as obstetricians claim there is a risk that potential difficulties or defects could be missed in a dim room. Also, there is no evidence that children experiencing gentle birthing are any better developed at eight months than children with traditional births (Hamilton, 1979). However, Leboyer's ideas have had a lot of impact on the birthing process with babies being quickly passed to their mothers (generally) and the rooms dimly lit. MacFarlane (1977) argued that neonates are not traumatized by their birth, that they quickly acclimatize to their surroundings after their initial cries. Click here to read the full excerpt.

To view more sample course notes, and also self assessment tests and assignments, please click here.

Life Coaching
Psychopharmacology
Animal Husbandry I (Animal Anatomy and Physiology)
Certificate in Agriculture
Certificate in Animal Health
Certificate in Applied Developmental Psychology
Certificate in Self Sufficiency
Advanced Certificate in Nutritional Counselling
Cutting Propagation
Writing Poetry