Sherwood State School Writer in Residence 1998
		Early in 1998, Sherwood State School students (yrs 4-7) interviewed some of the older residents in their community to discover more about the history of Oxley Creek. During third term, Sue Gough, a Brisbane writer, worked with the students, helping them to write narrative and other genre from their research. Examples of the students writing about the environmental history of Oxley Creek is in the Story Collection.
	A canoe expedition along Oxley Creek for the year 7s to inspire their writing about the creek.
		THE RAP OF OXLEY CREEK by Rowan Chapman Sherwood State School, year 5 Now listen boys and girls. Now listen really good! What I'm gonna tell ya, must be understood ........ Oh, Oxley Creek was a really neat place, It was essential for the Aussie race! Yeah, all the nature was all enthusiastic, Cool! That was good, it was really fantastic. The blacks owned it, then the English came, and ever since then nothing's been the same! The trees were chopped down, Oh, Oh that's bad. Then more things happened that were really sad! Whoa, the blacks were shot and put in jail. The environment was changed, now hear me wail! The creek had changed, hey! You've got a frown, Sherwood had changes, the world was upside down! Now hear, hear, hear there was worse to come! But these guys here, they didn't care a crumb! Koalas, roo were killed, makes you think, Now that's why the Tassy Tiger became extinct! But these whites had no power at all, Nothing plugged in the English wall! A few years later, we got real clever, But to pollute Oxley Creek Oh, no, no, never! But we did, we did, it is a fact, I know, I know, we should all be sacked! Cans, bottles and occasional logs, They also put in a lot of dead, old, dogs! Smog, and junk was put in right away, Which makes me mad so hear me say! STOP IT NOW, STOP IT NOW, just just think, Communication with man and plant, A LINK! The more years past, and clever we got, But we were not really clever in this little spot! And the creek got dirtier, worse and worse, Oh boy this is hair-raising, Oh what a curse! Now at the present, I mean look at it's state' The creeks in our hands, and an awful fate! But now we've got people like Greening Australia And they'll help us not to be a failure! TV shows like Captain Planet, That will save some birds like the poor old gannet. Now nor more talk, let's save it NOW! We'll clean it up and then wha - POW! That junk is gone, that rubbish is busted, Now that will not make our creek unhappy or flustered. Now go on, try it, come on DO! That's why I wrote this Rap for you! I've done it it's cool, it's neat, it's fun! I've given it my best now I'm nearly done! Ask a friend to clean it up too, You might find treasure or a real old loo! Well it's time for me to head off round the bend, Cause this unfortunately is .... THE END!

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