Renee+Current+Affairs

Little shows she's as tough as Wallabies
Maroondah Leader - Shaun Campbell

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SIENNA Townshend has found that standing up to schoolyard bullies provides a ticket to a happier life. It also scored her a meeting with the Australian rugby union team. Fans watching the Wallabies’ first Bledisloe Cup match against New Zealand last Saturday may have noticed the Ringwood North eight-year-old helping out Australia’s stars as a ball kid. She was the first of six children chosen in a national competition for being an advocate against bullying. “My dad entered me about a month ago and I fainted when I found out I had won,” Sienna said. “I was terrified (about meeting all the players)”. Last year Sienna would often come home from school in tears after being rejected and deliberately left out of games. But the grade 2 student has turned the tables since moving to Burwood’s Presbyterian Ladies College this year. “I go up to (kids being bullied) and have a talk,” Sienna said. “Sometimes it is good to be with someone else.” Her mother, Pam, said she was proud of her daughter’s compassion and bravery. “Sienna’s teachers have commented about how caring and inclusive she is with other girls at school,” Mrs <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Townshend said. “If she sees someone doing something wrong she is not afraid to speak up.” <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">As part of her prize package, Sienna won two nights’ accommodation for her family, three tickets to the game and <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 29px;">an official photo with the Wallabies. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">-Why do you think she showed courage and why

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">-Do you think that she did not show courage and why

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">-Sienna got to go in a national competition with how

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">many kids and why do you thing there where only that

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">many people