Gay penguins Sphen and Magic help children understand sexuality syllabus
An openly gay penguin couple are sharing their story to teach young primary school students about same-sex relationships.
Madly in love penguins Sphen and Magic are giving NSW children as young as four an insight into same-sex relationships after the openly gay couple successfully raised their chick, Lara.
Kindergarteners to grade two aged kids will be given the opportunity to learn the couple’s story as part of a new NSW syllabus that educates children on sexuality and consent.
Sea Life Aquarium, where the Antarctic birds reside, has collaborated with the state’s Teachers Federation to help young people understand how different relationships work.
A Facebook post written by the federation and addressed to teachers says a number of exercises based on the “five-years strong” same-sex penguin couple will be available as resources to educate children on the topic.
“Members can access a unit of work about Sea Life Sydney Aquarium’s same-sex penguin couple, Sphen and Magic, aligned with the NSW syllabus, in the Knowledge Centre section of the Member Portal on Federation’s website,” it reads.
“The unit of work can be used in its entirety or learning activities can be used as stand-alone activities or part of your program.”
Sphen and Magic haven’t left each other‘s side since 2018, with the pair developing a “strong bond” over time.
When the breeding season came around, their keepers didn’t want the pair to feel left out, so they taught them how to incubate a dummy egg after building their own nest out of pebbles.
The pair took such great care of the fake egg that their keepers allowed them to foster a real one to see if it would hatch.
Thanks to their teamwork and endless love, the pair hatched baby Sphengic in October 2018, now known among keepers as Lara.
Penguin Supervisor at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium Kiera Ponting says Sphen and Magic’s story will help children better understand the syllabus as they can relate to animals.
“I think a lot of schools now are trying to be more inclusive in their teaching and educating children on more diverse relationships, and I feel animals are a really good way to do that because kids are very accepting of them,” she told 2GB breakfast host Ben Fordham on Monday.
Learning about Sphen and Magic’s story will also educate children on why some families have same-sex parents.
“Penguins share equal parenting duties, except for the actual egg laying of course. So that means it doesn’t matter what combination of sexes you have with the parents,” Ms Ponting said.
Teachers have applauded the collaboration, saying the unit of work, which covers pre-excursion, excursion and post-excursion activities, is a “great resource”.
Since bringing Lara into the world in 2018, Sphen and Magic hatched another chick called Clancy Carpenter, or CC for short, in 2021. They also paired up for a third breeding season a short time later.
The loved-up penguin couple resides at Sydney’s Sea Life Aquarium with their two chicks, with all guests visiting the educational facility invited to meet them.
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