Parkes Phoenix

What’s On @ the Parkes Shire Library & Cultural Centre

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OUR NEW ONLINE COLLECTION: BORROWBOX

Parkes Shire Library has consolidated our eBooks and eAudiobooks to a single portal, BorrowBox. Both Libby and Wheeler apps have been discontinued. You will need to download the BorrowBox app, find Parkes Library, enter your member number and password which is your birthdate (DDMMYYYY). If you need help, drop into the library or give us a call. https://parkes.borrowbox.com/

LIBRARY CHILDREN & YOUTH PROGRAMS

Join us for Storytime every Tuesday at 10:30am for 3-5 year old children and Rhyme Time every Wednesday @ 10:30am. Both are free but bookings are required. Parkes Shire Youth Voices consult on programs and activities for youth. The group is open to young people in the Parkes Shire aged 12-25 years. The next meeting is on Wednesday, 17th August @ 4pm at Parkes Library. A Zoom link will be available, contact the library for more information. Senior Student Space is available every Tuesday 3:30-5:30pm during school terms. Current Year 1 to 12 students are invited to use this space to study, meet and relax. Free afternoon tea, the library’s Nintendo Switch and collection of board games available.

MOVIE NIGHTS

Friday, 29th July @ 6pm & Saturday, 30th July @ 9:30am – a 2022 fantasy film starring fantastic wizards, witches and beasts (PG 13+). Bookings are essential, contact Parkes Library on 6861 2309.

MARRAMARRA MAKERSPACE STUDIO 

The Makerspace programs will re-open on 1st August on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2-5:30pm with weekly demos on how to use the equipment. Lego Club will recommence on Tuesday, 2nd August from 4-5pm for 10-15 year olds. We have some exciting workshops coming up, so follow us on Facebook or join our mailing list makerspace@parkes.nsw.gov.au 

Parliament Dancers

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Aunty Matilda House rugged up Tyrece and Keanau Robinson-Towney in her traditional fur cover. She was the first Aboriginal woman to do a welcome to country at Parliament House.

Tyrece and Keanau Robinson-Towney with Sena-tor Patrick Dodson from Western Australia.

Check Your Child Restraints

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The recent free child restraint checking event held in Parkes and Forbes discovered that the majority of seats were incorrectly fitted.

The most common mistakes included shoulder straps needed adjustment, the seatbelt path was wrong, there wasn’t a large enough gap between the back of the front seat and the child restraint and capsule tether straps were used incorrectly.

If you missed this annual event, local fitters can install and check child restraints for a small fee. Find them in Parkes at Col Fletcher Ford and Kia and Parkes Tyrepower, and at Jelbart Dawson in Forbes.

Permanent Wiradjuri Exhibition In Parkes

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The Wiradjuri Ngurambang Exhibition at the Parkes Library & Cultural Centre was officially opened on Tuesday night. At the opening were (L-R) Deputy Mayor Neil Westcott, Cr Marg Applebee, Robert Clegg, Mayor Ken Keith, Irene Ridge-way, Geoff Anderson and Cr Jacob Cass. (Read more about the exhibition and the talk by Beau Williams and Bruce Pascoe in next week’s edition.)

Top Astrophotography Entries On Show At The Dish

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Left: Old Giant in the Fog by Ian Inverarity was named the overall winner of the David Malin Awards. Right: The Photo Editor’s Choice went to Jarrod Andrews for ‘Beams at the Arctic Henge’.

A South Australian photographer was named the overall winner of the prestigious David Malin Awards in astrophotography at the Parkes Radio Telescope on Sunday.

Ian Inverarity entered the Nightscapes category with his image called ‘Old Giant in the Fog’ for which he won the top prize.

The Photo Editor’s Choice Award was won by Jarrod Andrews from Victoria for his image titled ‘Beams at the Arctic Henge’. Jeff Darmanin, a News Corp picture editor, judged the Photo Editor’s Choice awards.

The competition received entries from every state and territory of Australia and as the premier competition of its kind in Australia, a panel of distinguished Australian astrophotographers judged the category entries. Dr David Malin judged the overall winner from the list of these winners, as the best in show. The judging panel included Phil Hart and Alex Cherney, previous winners of the David Malin Awards, and of numerous other national and international astrophotography competitions.

It was not just technical skill that was awarded. The prizes went to pictures that captured the beauty of the sky and the intrinsic interest of astronomy in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Celestron Australia supported the competition with prizes to the value of $10,000.

The finest images will be exhibited in two parallel exhibitions. The first will be on show at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory’s Visitors Centre for the entire year. The second exhibition, organised by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, will tour Australia beginning in October. Last year’s received over 200,000 people Australia-wide making it the largest photographic exhibition in the country.

Rich Environment And Diverse Experiences At Forbes High

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Forbes High School is creating bright futures for all students who enter our gates. Our school environment is rich and filled with diverse experiences that cater for all learners. We are fortunate to have expansive grounds which have recently undergone significant transformation to ensure that our learning environment is inviting and conducive to learning. 

High quality educational experiences are what you find at Forbes High School. Highly experienced educators fill our classrooms who differentiate the learning to support all students. This creates an educational experience that shapes the future of the students, whether that be further study at university, TAFE or employment. All our graduating students are successful in the future career pathways and several of the cohort of 2022 have already secured university placements. 

Our passion at Forbes High School is providing the complete education experience. High quality teaching and learning is paramount, this occurs in an environment rich in extra curricula opportunities and in a highly supportive and inclusive environment. Forbes High School caters for all students and supports their educational pathway, recognising that individual needs must be supported. 

Forbes High School offers public speaking, academic competitions, sporting opportunities and caters to all areas of the Creative and Performing Arts. Recently, we had a very successful Forbes Eisteddfod with our school placed first in the schools point score trophy. 

We work closely with our community partners including Forbes Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG), local businesses and our P and C. We have an active parent and community body who work alongside us ensuring that the education received at Forbes High School creates the best possible future for our students. 

EDUCATION WEEK 

Education Week 2022 takes place next week from 1-5 August. This year’s theme is ‘creating futures – education changes lives’ and celebrates quality education and the opportunities available to everyone in NSW public education. 

Education Week is your chance to celebrate the achievements of your school, students or learning community. “This year NSW public education continues to celebrate the journey students and learners take throughout the NSW Education system, focusing on how we are creating futures for our students, staff and families. 

“From the first days in child care to post-school pathways, our education system is preparing young people to be agile thinkers and lifelong learners.” 

Free Course For Young Livestock Competitors

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Young livestock competitors at the 582 agricultural shows around Australia are encouraged to complete a free online course in animal welfare and handling standards offered by Agricultural Shows Australia. The courses are designed for young exhibitors and judges of poultry, cattle, alpacas and sheep and are available on the organisation’s website. It was developed in partnership with the Australian Government’s Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment.

The courses provide training in the basics of animal handling and care, the principles of animal welfare and show ring ethics, safety and animal wellbeing. The courses can be accessed for free online at agshowsaustralia.thinkific.com

Creating Futures At Forbes North Public School

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Forbes North Public School is committed to ‘creating futures with education changing lives’ as a true reflection on what our school believes while celebrating the theme for Education Week 2022. 

Throughout Education Week and across the month of August our school is offering multiple opportunities for wider community including parents, carers, and extended family to visit the school, enjoy meaningful celebrations and acknowledge the importance of public education. 

Starting this week by celebrating ‘100 Days of School’, our 30 Kindergarten students dressed as if they were 100 years old to celebrate 100 days of primary school with parents and grandparents coming to school for a picnic in the sun on the common green area with a special cake cutting ceremony. 

NAIDOC 2022 was celebrated with a cultural immersion inviting local Aboriginal cultural group ‘River Spirit’ onto our grounds for a full day of authentic cultural activities. 

Next week during Education Week on Tuesday 2 August our school is open to our families from 10.00am until 3.30pm as our community comes to school at a time suitable to them to enjoy the playground sports and games, have lunch at the canteen, visit our classrooms and see first-hand what a day in public education really looks like. 

Our students will also commence a unique sports program including golf and squash at Forbes Golf Club, lawn bowls at Forbes Bowling Club and cycling around Lake Forbes. 

During August our senior students are attending an Eco Day in Parkes, hosting ‘Reading Up North’ previously known as Reading Downtown and Northparkes Mine are installing 20 roosting boxes in our mature trees allowing our students to observe and monitor breeding native birds including the Grass Parrot, Eastern Rosella, Currawong, Honey Eaters, other species and, we are hoping to attract rare birds such as the Swift Parrot to our playground. 

Parents and carers will also have the opportunity to attend Mathematics workshops over two evenings as our staff are currently focusing on place value and whole number as an area of interest and improvement across Kindergarten to Year 6 numeracy. 

Forbes North is also celebrating Education Week in August with a massive book sale combining the love of reading and the annual book week celebrations around the theme ‘Dreaming with Eyes Open’. Education changes lives and every student at Forbes North will have the opportunity to proudly celebrate public education in the coming weeks. 

Parkes Brothers Dance For PM At Parliament Opening

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AMAZING OPPORTUNITY… Holy Family students Tyrece and Keanau Robinson-Towney (middle) with their uncles Daniel and Nagara Williams and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) and Opposition leader Peter Dutton at the opening of the 47th Federal Parliament at Parliament House in Canberra. (Photo: AAP/Lukas Coch)

Two young Parkes boys took centre stage in the welcome to country ceremony at the significant occasion of the opening of the 47th Federal Parliament at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday morning.

Tyrece (11) and Keanau (8) Robinson-Towney, who are known as the Dyagang Boys with their seven-year-old twin brothers, performed two dances and a smoking ceremony with their uncles Daniel and Nagara Williams from Canberra.

They were seated just off the stage in Parliament House for the welcome to country ceremony conducted by Aunty Matilda House and her son Paul, and then led the procession outside where they performed two dances, Speak the Truth and Brolgan Moth, to the Prime Minister and members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“It was nerve wracking, but went really well,” said mum Jade of the big occasion that made her heart swell with pride. “I cried so much watching them.” She said the boys were besides themselves with excitement afterwards.” The event was live streamed, and they think they are famous now!”

They did steal the lime light with Aunty Matilda, who was the first Aboriginal woman to do a welcome to country at the Parliament House in 2008, who rugged the boys up in her traditional skins. Ministers and senators also took photos with them.

Jade said the twins were going to take part too, but during rehearsals on Sunday and Monday they were just too nervous.

It is still a bit unreal for Jade and Abel that their sons have come so far with their performances after Tyrese started playing his didgeridoo in public just over a year ago.

From Cooke Park To Carnegie Hall

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Fourteen-year-old Annabelle van Wyk made her debut in New York last week at the Winners’ Concert of the Golden Classical Music Awards in the Weill Recital Hall at the world famous Carnegie Hall.

Fourteen-year-old saxophonist Annabelle van Wyk made her New York debut last Monday at the Carnegie Hall, the most prestigious concert stage in the United States. 

“It was amazing. Carnegie Hall is definitely an awesome place to play, not just because of the wonderful acoustics and beautiful interior, but also because of its history. So many incredible people have performed there, and it was unbelievable to follow in the footsteps of the icons,” said Annabelle. 

The former Parkes Christian School student won the Intermediate category (13- 15 years) of the ‘Golden Classical Music Awards’ and was the only Australian among the 30 other winners who performed at a recital at Carnegie Hall last week. She played Concertino for Saxophone, Opus 78 by Jean-Baptiste Singelee. 

She said her performance went really well, but it was slightly daunting to play in such a famous venue. “I saw my dad in the audience as I walked onto the stage, but after that I was just focused on playing.” 

The best memory for Annabelle of her performance was the incredible acoustics in the Weill Recital Hall. “It is the only place I have played where I could hear myself perfectly whilst playing. It was a surreal performance as I could almost experience what the audience heard! In most places, I can barely hear myself, making it difficult to adjust my sound and expression in performances, but this wasn’t an issue in Carnegie Hall.” 

In her five years of playing the saxophone, Annabelle has performed at different venues from busking on the streets of Peak Hill to the Memphis Stage at the Elvis Festival to playing a solo at Overture at Cooke Parke Pavilion in April this year. 

“Carnegie Hall is by far the most impressive place I have ever played in! Not only in terms of the prestige, but also because of the acoustics. The architect was a cello player, so he took inspiration from the shape of a cello and modelled Carnegie after that. It means that the sound vibrates from underneath the hollow stage, which is why I could hear myself playing, and then moves to the audience. 

“All the structures are rounded to allow the sound to continue to move for a long time. This means no matter where you are sitting in the audience, the sound will be exactly the same. Carnegie Hall definitely lived up to my expectations! It is just so beautiful and an amazing place to play.” 

Annabelle’s saxophone teacher from Parkes who has been with her since she started playing saxophone said he was very excited at her success. “Anabelle has been a musician who has demonstrated that success comes through diligence and hard work. She is a tremendous player and I wish her continued success as she keeps playing saxophone,” said Paul Brown. 

The glamour of Carnegie continued for Annabelle as she and her dad explored some of the famous New York sights and catching two musicals on Broadway. “Seeing Chicago and Phantom of the Opera were a definite highlight. 

“I also loved how New York came alive at night. All of the lights were dazzling after sundown, especially in Times Square. New York is just so lively with seemingly endless amounts of people, doing different things. It was really interesting to just walk around and see everything! We also visited the Statue of Liberty, Central Park and the 9/11 memorial.” 

Although she’s had to come back down to earth pretty quickly being back at school in Orange this week, she has a symphony of memories in her head and a dream to go back to Carnegie. “I would be honoured to play in Carnegie Hall again someday. It’s an incredible place to perform in and hopefully I am invited back one day.” 

By Maggi Barnard

 

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