Posts Tagged ‘Health Requirements’

In a clear case of walking the talk, Perth-based educational resources supplier, Australian Teaching Aids, is setting a green example for all business.This educational aids company can give itself a merit award for its environmentally aware and community-orientated business practices.
Australian Teaching Aids has been an integral part of Australian classrooms for over a quarter of a century with its range of teacher resources, but the new management has stepped up its commitment to local manufacture. 
Since the new management shifted focus dramatically away from imports, 80% of its teaching aids are now manufactured locally.  
The company sources its large range of novelty pencils from the USA, where products have to meet stringent health and safety regulations. 
When it comes to safety issues, the full range of teaching aids manufactured locally meet Australian health requirements and are safe for use by children.
Jane Fievez, owner of Australian Teaching Aids, says their decision to focus on local design and manufacturing is paying dividends – for the company, the retailers who on-sell their range as well as for the teachers and students who use their educational products.”We are passionate about supporting local businesses and encouraging local talent,” she said.”We only employ local writers and artists and we support local businesses, including ParaQuads, to handle aspects of our business.   Where we can, we only use contractors who are environmentally aware.
Our books are all written by local authors and published locally – with titles ranging from ‘Learning About Libraries, Benchmarking and Relief for Relief Teachers.
We use Perth’s first environmentally certified printer, Scott Print, for all our posters and educational charts, which are all designed by local artists.They use a Process Green System which means that every aspect of the printing process is environmentally sustainable, such as the use of green electricity, recycled waste, petroleum-free inks and recycled paper.
Less fortunate communities also benefit from Australian Teaching Aids’ considerate approach.Needy schools overseas, where there are no facilities and kids often don’t even get a proper meal each day, the company sends redundant stock.
“This approach has advantages for local industry as well as for teachers and learners who use our teacher resources,” Jane said.  “For example, the language, grammar and graphics used on charts and stickers that are produced overseas are not always appropriate for an Australian context.  Using local designers and authors ensures local relevance and grammatical correctness – an important consideration when it comes to teaching aids.Our designers use a variety of Australian icons in their work, such as kangaroos and eucalypts, which ensure our products are relevant to the Australian market.”
If the growing popularity of products from Australian Teaching Aids is a benchmark, there is simply no substitute for traditional teacher resources to add value to the teaching and learning experience.