Education & training

As school started back on Tuesday, there has been a noticeable increase in police presence on the roads to ensure the safety of students. Drivers are reminded to take extra care and watch out for students.

Denmark Senior High School students have woven rugs from discarded fabrics to be stitched together in a vast dot replica painting to fill mining craters in the Goldfields. Denmark woman Vivienne Robertson created the Reclaim the Void project in collaboration with Ngalia cultural custodian Kado Muir.

Narrandera Landcare and Murrumbidgee Landcare were blessed with perfect winter weather for their frog hotel making workshop during the school holidays. The workshop at the Community Food Garden was very well attended and the tree frogs around Narrandera will have no shortage of accommodation places in the immediate future.

The Show Horse Council of Australasia’s NSW/ACT Youth Development and Championship Showcase was a brilliant idea, executed perfectly. Held at the Hawkesbury Showgrounds and designed be a youth development program as well as a qualifying event for the Grand National Show, it offered something for every young rider.

Megan has been appointed the new Principal of the Allora P-10 State School after the retirement of Shaun Kanowski at the end of last term. Megan Rauchle took over the reins of Allora P-10 State School at the start of this term. She is a passionate teacher and believes in an all inclusive school where students, staff and teachers are successful and reach their capability.

South-west Victorian dairy farmers have learnt about the potential benefits of virtual fencing to manage herd grazing and movement, during a New Zealand study tour. Farm consultants Angus Drummond and Fiona Smith organised and led the tour of the SW Farm Business Discussion Group (SW FBDG) to Christchurch, New Zealand.

Students from Boort District School, Charlton College, Donald High School, East Loddon P-12 College, Pyramid Hill College, St. Arnaud Secondary College, Wedderburn College and Wycheproof P-12 College attended the North Central Trade Training Centre (NCTTC) in Charlton to sample the VET subjects available to study in 2024.

An unstoppable student duo from Cunnamulla State School has achieved a resounding victory for their community and culture, securing 1st place at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aspirations Programs (ASTIAP) Queensland State Finals ... Charli Pender, 16 and Heidi Jones, 15 ... collaborated on a painting representing the equity and excellence of First Nations’ students. The deadly award-winning artwork will now feature on the competition shirts next year.

Charles Sturt University is leading an important advancement in the Australian agriculture sector with an initiative that will enable a global on-farm emission calculator (Cool Farm Tool) to be customised for a region-specific focus ... The Cool Farm Tool is already used in 150 countries to estimate GHG emissions, soil carbon sequestration, water stewardship and biodiversity by tens of thousands of users, including farmers, crop advisors and agribusiness leaders.

Kristin Murdock. Women in agriculture in Australia are actively involved in various aspects of the agricultural industry ... The agricultural sector in Australia offers numerous opportunities for girls and women to pursue rewarding careers and make significant contributions to the industry’s development and sustainability.

Regional townships have a huge advantage over big cities in an ability to authentically inject a sense of connection and inclusion into the community ... when people know their family history, you will hear stories of enterprise, resilience, perseverance and bravery, which help fuel a sense of pride and family identity ... the research is quite clear. Children who know their family history have a sense of belonging, and in turn are more resilient.

Independent Member for Murray Mrs Helen Dalton joined staff and students at Yanco Agricultural High School last week to celebrate what has been a long and hard fought battle, the start of works for the girls dorm upgrades at the school. "For two decades the National Party did nothing about this issue allowing boarders to live in a sub-standard, Nauru-like detention centre like conditions": Independent Member for Murray Mrs Helen Dalton.

A record number of young cattle handlers from around Australia and New Zealand converged on Parkes for a packed program of learning new skills, competing and forming lifelong friendships at the Herefords Australia National Youth Expo ... the expo drew a record 143 young handlers aged from five to 25 from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and a team from New Zealand Herefords.

Whether you are a coach of a junior sports team, president of a volunteer organisation, manager of a workplace, teacher or parent, an ability to coach and influence others is a life skill. Regional Australia has a long and proud history of coaching and influencing each other. It is how we get through difficult times together.

Two buses and a small truck are carrying the 70-member Sydney Youth Orchestra and an ensemble of assistants on a 10 day – 6 town tour, beginning in Dubbo, then Wilcannia, Broken Hill, Mildura, Deniliquin and finally Cowra.

Training fruit pickers using virtual reality equipment, employing robots to move fruit containers and wearing exoskeletons to support physical labour are all possibilities being considered by Australian berry growers to boost labour efficiency. Delivered through Hort Innovation and led by The Growth Drivers in consultation with berry growers, the research aimed to identify practical technology-based solutions to address one of the industry’s biggest challenges.

Shane Grover. On Tuesday 20th June 2023 Nhill Golf Club hosted the Golf Australia Nhill Primary School Tournament ... 30 students were selected by travelling Golf Pro Tony Collier from Dimboola Primary, St. Peters Dimboola, Nhill Lutheran, St. Patrick's Nhill and Nhill College.

Recent research reveals that school attendance in our First Nations communities is declining despite the continuation of the remote schools attendance strategy ... MCERA has reached out to First Nations education experts to invite solutions towards a responsive education system that strengthens First Nations culture and student engagement in remote Australia.

The Barkly Regional Council’s Youthlinx School Holiday Program has been extremely busy with a range of activities including basketball and volleyball whilst partnering with Build It Up Skateboarding and Dream Impact to deliver a boxing program.

Kwoorabup Nature School students have discovered and named a new species of parasitoid wasp while taking part in the Insect Investigators Citizen Science project. The Adelaide University run project involved 51 schools across Australia, also including Denmark Primary School.

What makes our region’s ecosystems precious? The “big picture” answer has been revealed with the launch of a world-first mapping product for all to explore and understand the different services provided by our ecosystems.