Class group 6C at Parkes Public School all wanted to be the ‘i’ in kind when the school celebrated kindness for a week to focus on the good in the world during these times of turmoil.

“Kindness is spreading sunshine into other people’s lives, regardless of the weather.”

After the mixed up beginning to the year, Parkes Public School decided to focus on the good in our world, and the good we can show other people. The whole school celebrated a week of kindness as term 3 is drawing to a close.

All members of the school community took part in some way. “We all talked about how we can be kind, how we can help others belong and how we can use our power to make the world a happier place,” said teacher Erin Woolstencroft. “Last Thursday we took time to check in with each other for R U OK Day.”

There was a chocolate fairy who visited the teachers, classes made gifts for each other, there were discussions on how students could help people in our local community, and the week finished off by being the ‘i’ in kind. “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Lianna Richings and Sophie Kim.

Principal Coral O’Neill.

Jack Gould.

Ben Woolstencroft.

At the official opening of the Parkes to Narromine Inland Rail track in Peak Hill on Tuesday were Parkes Shire Mayor Ken Keith OAM, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack MP and Member for Parkes and Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government Mark Coulton MP.

The final golden clip was hammered into place to signify the completion of the very first section of Inland Rail at Peak Hill on Tuesday.

“What a significant and momentous day,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Michael McCormack. “Inland Rail is nation-building and today recognises a great milestone in this transformational infrastructure.”

Peak Hill was an appropriate location for the historic achievement as the first shipment of Australian made steel was delivered to Peak Hill on 15th January 2018 to begin the project.

“This is real progress, and our Government has already delivered more than 1,800 jobs and $100 million in local stimulus through Inland Rail.”

“We have invested $25 million in ballast and capping (800,000 tonnes) from Parkes-based companies Calvani Crushing and Ausrock Quarries – a great example of how local procurement is at the heart of Inland Rail.”

Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government and Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton said Inland Rail would present new growth opportunities for farmers, producers and manufacturers in the regional areas of NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

“We’re now looking ahead to the Narrabri to North Star project, scheduled to commence construction later this year, where we will see similar local benefits as Inland Rail provides a must needed catalyst for stimulus in our regions.”

The Parkes to Narromine project included upgrades to 98km of existing corridor and 5.3km of new rail; 1,862 people worked on the project; 762 of these were residents from the Parkes area; 302 Indigenous people worked on the project; 197 of whom are local Indigenous workers; 99 local businesses supplied to the project, nine of which are Indigenous businesses; the total spend was $109.7 million with local businesses; $14.1 million of which has been spent with Indigenous businesses.

Ellie Hawkins.

Ellie Hawkins, Scheduling Engineer at CMOC-Northparkes Mines, has been named a finalist for the BHP 2020 Women in Resources National Awards.

Ellie is a finalist in the inaugural Maptek Women in Resources Technological Innovation Award category. Earlier this year, Ellie was announced as the joint winner of the Young Achiever of the Year award as part of the NSW Mining Industry & Suppliers Awards. Northparkes Managing Director Hubert Lehman said: “2020 has been a big year for you. We are very lucky to have you on our team!”

At the launch this week were (L-R) Principal Parkes East Public School Michael Ostler, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack MP, Life Education Officer Alana Masi, Mayor Parkes Shire Cr Ken Keith OAM and Life Education NSW CEO Jonathon Peatfield.

Students at Parkes East Public School were the first in NSW to experience a new-look outdoor Healthy Harold classroom this week.

The new agile alternative to the famous van, is the Life Education inflatable outdoor classroom. It fits in the back of a purpose-built ute and inflates in a matter of minutes.

Life Education NSW CEO Jonathon Peat-field said the new outdoor pop-up classroom would help Life Education to reach more children, across vast distances, faster than ever before, and in a COVID-safe way.

Jonathon was in Parkes on Tuesday to attend the trial launch of the classroom with 350 students from Parkes East Pub- lic School. He was joined by Life Education NSW Board Director and Parkes Shire Mayor Cr Ken Keith and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.

Given his long-term support of Life Education, the Mayor was delighted to see this new innovation in action. “Life Education should be congratulated on their agile approach to advancing their outreach in our area,” he said.

Parkes East Public School Principal, Michael Ostler said: “We were disappointed when Harold couldn’t visit in the van earlier in the year (due to COVID -19) but jumped at the chance to be the first school in the state to utilise this outdoor option.”

Life Education, with well-known mascot Healthy Harold the giraffe, has been delivering health education for more than 40 years. For the past 10 years, more than 15,000 children from 16 schools in the Parkes region benefitted from the program.

In 2018, Life Education launched the first version of the pop-up classroom for indoor use. The latest outdoor version has greater ventilation for hot weather and assists with physical distancing during COVID-19.