Parents who have undertaken the decision to homeschool have done so after much deliberation and research. But this week parents across our community have been literally thrown into the deep end with the Premier’s advice to keep children home from school.

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from homeschooling my kids for over a decade, is that it’s possible to have fun being at home and to enjoy learning together.

When we embrace learning as an adventure, we can have a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards our children’s learning. For work that seems a little more tedious, what we need to help them realise is that, like any exercise, we might feel a little strained when we’ve used our brain to learn something new, but the more we practice the easier it gets.

It’s about equipping our kids with the tools they need to become independent learners. We have to change our expectations when our kids are learning at home.

Our home environment also becomes a work environment so there is going to be more mess, especially if we want to encourage creativity. Learning to pack up and do some household chores together to keep the house in order can be part of the experience.

Think of fun things to do together such as reading a great story. When you can, spend time in your garden. Get the kids involved in the kitchen. Use screens (sometimes you need a break), but don’t be afraid to let your kids experience boredom. This is often when creativity is sparked. If they are idle or mischievous, giving them a chore to complete is a good idea.

This is a very uncertain time for all of us, but we can embrace the positives which is surely getting some unexpected quality time with our kids. Use it as an opportunity to cultivate your relationship with them.

By Amy Butler

This is to let you know that Matthews Williams is continuing to closely monitor the COVID-19 situation and, based on advice from government and health authorities, we are taking all required action to protect the health and wellbeing of our clients, the public, staff, and anyone accessing our offices.

We have implemented hygiene policies and practices such as no body contact and regular cleaning of surfaces in our offices.

In order to protect our clients, we can adapt, which may include our clients to email or telephoning instructions. We propose to continue to operate in providing legal services as far as the situation allows. There may be disruptions to our office opening hours, but as yet we are not at that stage.

These are unprecedented times for all of us and we thank you for your patience and understanding. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and always seek ways to support our clients and our communities.

We will continue to follow Government health advices as they unfold.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us.

With recent scenes of chaos and panic in large cities throughout Australia, Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud has released a statement to ensure Australians that the nation’s food security is amongst the safest in the world. “People shouldn’t panic, we have an abundant supply of top-quality fresh food produced from all parts of the country that ensures that there will be plenty of food on the table,” Minister Littleproud said.

Chairperson of Harris Farm Markets, Catherine Harris, reiterated this in saying “I am very confident that we have a very good supply of fruit, vegetables and groceries in Australia, remembering that 96% of our groceries come from within Australia.” In Forbes over the weekend and throughout the week Woolworths and Bernardi’s saw a consistently busy stream of customers. Considering recent outbursts of anger and abuse aimed at staff, Woolworths Forbes store manager, Noel Reardon wishes to remind customers that Woolworths staff are “here to help,” and that “abuse of staff will not be tolerated.”

On Tuesday, Woolworths began it’s morning by closing its doors from 9am-10am to everyone except for elderly and disabled customers, giving the more vulnerable residents of Forbes a chance to shop in safety with the opportunity to buy much needed items that might have otherwise been sold out. Retailers do not know how long the restrictions on toilet paper and other items such as, rice, tissues and Paracetamol will be in place for.

Confronting scenes of chaos and violence witnessed in recent weeks are not only wholly unnecessary, considering that there is no shortage of food in Australia, but the behaviours witnessed are not in line with the culture of Forbes, a town famous for the friendliness and generosity of its residents. With a population of 25 million, Australia can produce enough food for 75 million, which is why there is no need to panic.

Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management, David Littleproud says agricultural businesses will benefit from the Federal Government’s economic stimulus package. Agriculture, fisheries and forestry will get a boost from several support measures in the package designed to support economic confidence, encourage investment and protect jobs.

$1 billion will be directed to a regional and community fund to support industries including agriculture impacted by coronavirus. “The instant write-off threshold has been increased from $30,000 to $150,000 for businesses with an aggregated annual turnover of less than $500 million. There’s accelerated depreciation deductions to encourage investment for the next 15 months. Businesses with a turnover of less than $500 million will be able to deduct an additional 50% from asset costs in the year they were bought.”

For small businesses, the life blood of the community in regional and rural Australia, there’s a 50% subsidy for apprentices. The incentive also includes a tax-free cash boost of up to $25,000 for eligible businesses that take on a worker between 1 January and 30 June this year.

David continued, “There will be another economic shot in the arm locally with the one-off payment of $750 to pensioners and those on Newstart. Take advantage of these measures to grow your business, to increase production and keep our regional and rural communities strong.”

On Friday, 13th March, Red Bend Catholic College received a visitor with a very important message for the students. In 2012, Melissa and Peter McGuiness lost their 18-year-old son when he drove, speeding, under the influence of alcohol, into a stationary vehicle. The crash killed Jordan and four of his passengers. Melissa and Peter have since turned their loss into a means of preventing such senseless tragedy for others. The You Choose Youth Road safety charity Melissa and George created, travels the country giving road safety presentations to schools and youth organisations, with a mission to facilitate changes in thinking and behaviour among young drivers and passengers.

Melissa personally delivered a 75-minute interactive presentation which shared intimate dynamics of a family that could truly be anyone’s family. From the perspective of a Mum about the life of her son, a teenager who was a much loved, good person. But a teenager whose tragic choices on one night shattered five families; and left a miserable legacy for himself and his loved ones.

The presentation was relatable and immersive for the students. No one was left unaffected by Melissa’s story that taught the students that they each have the ability to save lives and to protect their families and others from the horror of road trauma through the power of choice.

You Choose has been acknowledged by a broad range of educators, police, policy-makers, academics and most importantly parents and teenagers as a unique and highly effective approach to facilitating changed behaviours in young drivers and practically reducing youth road trauma.

As of March 2020, approximately 16,000 students from 65 schools have participated in You Choose and in doing so, have become advocates for changed driving behaviours. This program has been developed and achieved while Melissa works a ‘day-job’ four days per week, and Peter works full-time five days per week.