Education Week is a state-wide, annual event to celebrate NSW public education.

The aim of the celebration next week from 5-9 August will be to communicate the achievements of public schools, their students and the value of public education.

The theme this year is ‘Every Student, Every Voice’. It is a celebration of student empowerment and how the NSW public education system gives students the skills they need in order to have and express a voice during their own educational journey and as engaged global citizens.

The key messages for this year’s theme are authentic participation, partners in learning, respectful relationships, connecting communities, and change makers.

Parkes Public School will celebrate the week with an Open Day on Wednesday, 7th August with open classrooms on the infants’ side from 11:30am to 12:15pm, and on the primary side from 12:15pm to 1pm. There will be a picnic lunch from 1 to 1:45pm in the Infants playground.

The day concludes with the Education Week Showcase Assembly featuring performances by the senior choir, cultural dance group and the senior band from 2 to 3pm.

It’s been the hottest summer on record, the Great Barrier Reef is perishing before our eyes, climate emergencies have been declared, one million species are at risk of extinction, the planet could warm by two degrees by 2060…

While sinking into misery might feel like the easiest way to process it all, a new Australian documentary wants to lift those feeling crippled by ‘ecoanxiety’ out of their funk.

Damon Gameau, actor-turned-filmmaker’s new film 2040 bills itself as a “journey to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we simply embraced the best solutions already available to us.”

The concept was inspired by Damon Gameau’s five-year-old daughter.

“It was just kind of overwhelming to see the constant negative news about the climate and the future and what kind of world she was going to inherit,” Damon says. “So I just spent about a year looking at the solutions and researching to see what was out there that we could actually do about it, and was pretty blown away by how many things we can do.”

Throughout the film, Damon argues that the answers to climate change are right under our noses – some small shifts in policy are just needed to give them the green light.

Take Bangladesh, for example, where micro solar power networks are providing a renewable energy solution – by allowing residents to quite literally take power into their own hands and share it peer-to-peer.

Will we really solve climate change by 2040?

Damon Gameau says if the world has deteriorated so quickly, we can restore it at a similarly rapid pace.

“And I think there’s such a push for it at the moment all around the world. There’s the kid’s climate strikes, people want to create a new version of the world we’re living in. I think there’s a chance that we might get there. But we’ve got to be able to see it first to even know that it’s possible.

And that’s why I made the film.”

The task is so urgent, Damon says, that it will become his only topic of interest as a filmmaker from now on.

“What else is there? This is the topic,” Damon says, “Because if we don’t get this right, there is no other film worth making.”

(Source: ABC – Ange McCormack)

As we have Spring in our vision, this is a good time to start spending more time outdoors, especially with your dogs. There are a few dos and don’ts of dog walking to ensure that you and your pup get the most out of your walks together.

Dos
• Use the right type of leash: Nylon leashes for unpredictable weather conditions; Leather leashes for hand comfort and to avoid leash burn; Retractable leashes for use in parks and hiking trails; Chain or harness leashes if your pup tends to tug or pull.

• Teach your dog to walk beside you. Be consistent – use the same leash, walk the same route. Tire your dog out just a bit before a walk. Use treats and positive reinforcement when they do the right thing.

• Walk your dog often, daily if possible! It is recommended that dogs get a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise a day, and going for a casual walk around the neighbourhood is a great way to get in that half hour.

• On the rare chance of a separation, make sure that your dog’s identification information is correct and up-to-date.

Don’t:
• Walk your dog without a leash. Even if your dog is well-trained, it tends to be safer and more comfortable.

• Let your dog tug or pull on the leash.

• Walk unprepared for the weather. Always check the weather and prepare by taking plenty of fresh water on a hot day, or put your pup in warm booties on a cold day.

• Let your dog eat plants or romp on unknown lawns which could be sprayed with pesticide.

• Walk your dog without extra waste bags.

(Source: barkefellers.com)

You might have noticed work starting to happen in and around Cooke Park recently that will totally transform the southern end of the Parkes CBD over the next 12 months.

The project includes the Lower Clarinda Street upgrades and the new Cooke Park multipurpose centre. The $8.5 million project forms part of the Parkes CBD Vibrancy Strategy, which was developed from consultation with the community in 2016.

Council recently completed water main renewal works in lower Clarinda Street in preparation for the CBD vibrancy project to start next Thursday, 8th August, while Cabonne Constructions have begun preliminary site works in Cooke Park.

The old Community Hall will be demolished in September to make way for the new multipurpose centre.

The new multipurpose centre will include an events stage, multipurpose room (80 seat capacity) with kitchen facilities, flexi-room, store room and public toilets.

The revitalisation of Lower Clarinda Street has been designed to address specific issues identified during the consultation process. The project will include the construction of new roads, kerbs, gutters and drainage, installation of new street furniture, a new entry sign, landscaping and irrigation, as well as smart street lights.

Construction will stand down during the 2020 Parkes Elvis Festival.

Expected completion date is the second half of 2020. To allow for the work to be undertaken, a number of temporary changes to traffic and pedestrian conditions will be implemented at times and will be advised in advance.

 

The Parkes Railway Hotel helped to kick off a weekend of 50th anniversary celebrations of the Apollo 11 moon landing last Friday with astronomical talks in the Hart Bar.

A crowd of more than 100 people turned up for a night of fascinating talks by three astronomers. “It was a wonderful and informative event,” said organiser Kasie Ferguson, “and a great way to start off the amazing weekend in Parkes.”

Dr Phil Edwards put the events of Parkes Telescope into context with interesting world events and the international music scene over the past 60 years and discussed the Dish’s massive role in the forefront of astronomy for the past 60 years, from understanding of pulsars to searching for extra-terrestrial life.

Dr Shivani Bhandari expressed how much we don’t know. What produces fast radio bursts? What is dark energy? What is dark matter? Did you know that the furthest fast radio burst, 20 billion light years away, was discovered by Parkes?

Dr Karen Lee-Waddell captivated the audience with tales of dancing galaxies. Each galaxy has a unique life story and Karen looks back in time to see how they evolved. They move together in swirling patterns until, over billions of years, they merge together becoming larger and larger galaxies.

Parkes resident Dr Jane Kaczmarek of the Parkes Radio Telescope led the popular question time following each talk. “What really humble-ises astronomers is how much we really don’t know,” she said.

Apart from visiting The Dish of course, the thousands of visitors also visited art and light displays around town, and took selfies with Jaffa the orange astronaut in Cooke Park.

Well-known local Janet O’Donoghue was 13 when Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon.

This incredible feat captured her imagination, and she made a scrapbook of clippings which has become a prized icon of this momentous event.

“Mum and Dad didn’t buy the papers often, but I hounded them if I saw any Apollo 11 headlines. I pestered the neighbours as well,” said Janet. Her persistence paid off with page after page of extraordinary clippings kept from that era, including President Nixon’s prediction of Men on Mars by the year 2000!

When Janet’s grandchildren asked her to buy the 50-year souvenir booklet Janet was surprised to see those famous images of her original Sydney Morning Herald lift-out on the front cover. And when she showed the scrapbook to her grandchildren they were fascinated.

Janet recalled watching the moon landing from the school quadrangle. “At 13 it all seemed so scientific, so space-age for back then. We used to watch the Jetsons – but that was all imaginary. It was little more than 20 years post-war and they were putting men on the moon. It was almost beyond comprehension.”

“Back then life was so simple,” Janet recalls. “Dad was the breadwinner, Mum stayed home, milk and bread were delivered, and I remember being truly amazed at how those photos got from out in space down to our little black and white television screens and into our newspapers.”

Janet relished the events of the 50-year anniversary last weekend with her highlight watching The Dish movie in the great atmosphere of sitting under The Dish and chatting with Roy Billings.

Janet wouldn’t part with her scrapbook and says her youngest grandchild will be 53 at the 100-year anniversary. She hopes that the scrapbook will be passed down and still treasured.

By Beth Thomas

The Post Master Generals (PMG) department was asked by NASA to establish connections to the Parkes Radio Telescope for use in the Apollo 11 space mission.

In 1969 there was minimal infrastructure to implement diversity, so a system was devised to commandeer trunk and junction circuits. Besides the well documented bearers for TV and S band data from the maintenance tower east of the telescope to Mount Coonambro near Cookamidgera thence to West Orange, and the normal bearers to Sydney, there was also data, voice bearers and order wires for technicians and NASA over the cable and trunk network.

Junction circuits were released from Parkes to Beargamil to the telescope and from Parkes to Alectown to the telescope.

From Parkes the circuits were diversified by the existing broadband system to Sydney or via an open wire trunk system to Orange thence to Blayney to meet up with the western cable system to Sydney. Existing equipment was utilised and modified to enable  a smooth running of the mission.

The team (as seen in photo) took shifts for weeks to ensure it was all ready. Many PMG families had an absent father for six to eight weeks. Two staff members worked at the telescope tower in live in as it was in lock down. Geoff Foote and the radio branch from Sydney manned the maintenance tower. A crew was also on monitor at Parkes telephone exchange and at Mount Coonambro.

PMG staff were also involved in the Apollo 13 mission when an explosion occurred on the space craft and the astronauts had to turn off the power and live in the lunar module for the journey to the moon and back. The telescope was not used during this mission, but because the signals from the space craft were so weak they instigated the NASA circuits to Parkes CSIRO.

By Brian Symonds

As our town is recovering from a huge weekend celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, Pink Up Parkes is getting ready for the next big event.

The town will be going Pink in October and businesses are invited to sponsor this initiative.

In order for Parkes to retain our own Breastcare Nurse, Di Green, it is essential to raise funds. This is what Pink Up Parkes aims to do. With statistics predicting that one in every eight women in our Shire will be impacted by breast cancer, it is crucial that Parkes maintains this vital service. Parkes Stationery and Office Furniture was welcomed as the first business to register with Pink Up Parkes, with owner Gregor Paul presenting the committee with pink folders.

Contributions can be as simple as making a donation to wear pink at work, holding a pink cupcake day, guessing the number of pink lollies in a jar, or just having a donation box on your counter. Ideas can be as limitless as your imagination.

So come on Parkes businesses, get behind this great cause. Contact Carolyn Rice carolyn@jhrice.com.au or Marg Applebee cwllpo@hotmail.com to register.

 

Visitors Centre Manager Tricia Trim had good support from her daughter Ashlee to help things run smoothly over the weekend of celebrations at the Parkes Radio Telescope.

The CSIRO team did a stellar job last weekend at the Parkes Radio Telescope. They are at the back Karin Unger and Alex Abbey. In front are Maggie Sarkissian with Margaret Marshall.