Parkes High School students building the herb gardens.

Gardening has been unofficially added to the curriculum at Parkes High School’s special education unit, where three new herb gardens mark the beginning of a 12-month edible garden project.

Students are working with the Bunnings store in Forbes to build the edible garden, which will include six raised garden beds for herbs and bush tucker, plus a mini or­chard containing six different fruit trees.

Bunnings is donating the materials, plants, potting mix and the time of its team members to build the garden at the school.

The store is also donating a cantilever umbrella to provide shelter in the garden and native plants and paint to refresh the school’s yarning circle.

The first three herb gardens were built in late November, with five students rolling up their sleeves to help.

“Some of these boys had never assisted in the garden before, they’d normally rather be inside gaming,” said Bunnings Forbes Activity Organiser George Barnes.

“But they jumped at the opportunity to get their hands dirty and get involved in build­ing the herb gardens.

“Seeing kids who don’t get outside very often get so much joy from this project is so rewarding.”

Mr Barnes said the partnership with Parkes High School, one of 120 community organisations Bunnings Forbes supports, started before Covid. Other projects it has supported at the school includes building a pride garden in June this year.

Parkes High School special education teacher Hugh Wood approached Mr Barnes about doing another garden this year and the pair decided on the edible garden. The edible garden will continue to take shape over much of the 2025 school year.

“Shoes on kids!” He’d yell as we all grabbed a Zooper Dooper and piled in the car to drive to town.

It was a Christmas tradition.

A summer night spent staying up past our bedtime to walk around town and see the Christmas lights. We knew the streets that pulled out all the stops, and we’d walk up and down, gazing at the twinkling lights, smiling Santas on a sleigh on rooftops and the smell of cinnamon in the air.

Dad loved it just as much as we did. An evening stroll, chats with people out the front of their houses and no doubt a strat­egy to wear out his three kids ready for bedtime. We’d run ahead, excitedly find­ing the next light show, zigzagging our way through our little town.

Legs moving, faces red from the exer­cise, hearts full with the thrill of Christmas.

What are your Christmas traditions? See if you can swap out screen time for family connection, balance indulgent eat­ing and drinking with active fun, and create joyful memories together this Christmas season. From an evening walk to backyard cricket, it’s the perfect time to embrace movement and connection.

We hope you have a happy and safe Christmas, from the Kerin Health Team.

The Caravan Industry Association of Australia is calling on every­one to keep safety top of mind this summer, whether you’re plan­ning your trip, heading out on the road, or enjoying our beautiful countryside at your favourite camping spot.

As we approach the major holiday period of the year, Caravan Industry Association of Australia is encouraging caravaners this holiday to focus is focusing on Pre-Planning: Emphasising the importance of vehicle servicing and safe towing practices. Road Safety: Highlighting measures for staying safe while travelling on the roads, and taking regular breaks. Water Safety: Promot­ing awareness around staying safe in and around water. Caravan Holiday Park Shared Spaces Safety: Encouraging responsible be­haviour and safety in communal areas within caravan parks.

We know from the rising death tolls on our roads, 1063 Austral­ians have lost their lives on our roads this year alone, up 12% on 2023 (ABS). The top three contributing factors leading to this loss of life is the fatal three, inattention, speed and fatigue.

Road Safety Research indicates: Road users are most likely to have a crash on Monday or Sunday as drivers return from their holidays. Crashes are most likely to occur between 10am and mid­day. Whilst crashes are more likely to occur in urban centres, fatali­ties are more likely to occur on regional roads.

We want to make sure caravan and campers have the most amazing summer break, but most importantly, we want everyone to get back home safely . Towing handbooks are distributed free of charge each year. https://www.letsgocaravanandcamping.com.au/safety/ https://coexist.org.au/