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.” 

 

Many people might only know her as the little sister of Australia’s infamous bushranger Ned Kelly, but Kate Kelly was incredibly famous in her day.

“Kate was absolutely Kardashian famous! Everybody knew who Kate Kelly was and by 1882 she had her own wax replica on display at the wax works that were quite popular in those days.”

Artist and former Forbes resident Rebecca Wilson entertained the audience with some incredible stories about Kate’s life at the opening of her exhibition in Parkes last Friday.

Rebecca spent ten years researching the life of Kate after a conversation over Christmas lunch. “I was thinking why don’t I know these stories, and that set me off on an investigation of over 10 years.”

As a painter, she was drawn to Kate’s story because of the Forbes connection, but also because it was such a visual story. “I wanted to paint her story, but first had to do research.”

Rebecca discovered a woman who was extremely loyal to her family and friends. “She was feisty, adventurous, brave, intelligent, and a highly skilled horse woman. It was important for me that more people learn about Kate’s story and how she was involved in a very important part of Australian history.”

Rebecca discovered so many impressive things about Kate and all the adversaries she had to deal with until the tragedy of her death in Forbes. She was only 14 or 15 when she was riding through the bush as a decoy for the Kelly gang, delivering messages, getting supplies and information to help the gang stay at large. She ended up witnessing the Glenrowan siege in 1880 when her brother and two friends were killed and Ned was captured.

She campaigned and raised 30,000 signatures to try and spare Ned’s life and even met with the Governor when she was only 17. It was a showman called Flashjack Donovan who contributed to her fame when he convinced Kate and her brother Jim to tour with him across regional Victoria, South Australia, and up to Sydney. Thousands attended their performances, but the police could not stand it so they shut them down.

Eventually the fame and ridicule she received in the press, led to her wanting to escape Victoria, and she ended up in Forbes at age 22 under the alias of Ada Hennessey in 1885 and worked as a domestic servant. She married, had six children and was found dead in the lagoon on the outskirts of Forbes at the age of 35, perhaps suffering from peri-natal depression. 

Rebecca not only created a beautiful cohesive body of work about Kate, but also wrote a book telling her story. “The incredible and amazing story of Kate Kelly is a story you can’t not know as it has a lot of relevance for us now.

“In a way our society has changed, but there are still many of those fundamental things that haven’t changed. We are still struggling for more rights and recognition for women, there’s still poverty, and a class structure.”

Rebecca said while she was doing the research she had a sense of real gratitude to all the women who have gone before us. “They’ve made my life a lot easier and we should not forget that as they worked really hard. And I hope our modern generation will be leaving some kind of legacy and be improving things for the next generation too.” 

The incredible story of Kate Kelly, sister of Australia’s infamous bushranger, came to life last year when a Forbes author published her debut book.

Rebecca Wilson wrote ‘Kate Kelly, the true story about Ned Kelly’s little sister’ after she made a discovery about Kate. When Kate was a teenager, she had ridden as a decoy and delivered news and supplies to the Kelly gang when they were on the run in north-east Victoria from 1878 to 1880. “I was instantly intrigued, and jumped down the rabbit hole of research, hot on Kate’s heels,” Rebecca told The Guardian newspaper when her book was launched.

Rebecca has also completed a collection of paintings on Kate, and the official opening of her exhibition takes place tonight, 15th July in the Coventry Room at the Parkes Library and Cultural Centre at 6:30pm.

Rebecca, who is the first person to uncover the full story of Kate after years of research and investigation, will be hosting the opening of the exhibition.

The exhibition celebrates the retold story of Kate Kelly and her life as sister to infamous bushranger, Ned Kelly. 

Manager Cultural, Education & Library Services, Kerryn Jones said: “Kate became quite a celebrity until she vanished. Rebecca uncovers the story of this amazing woman’s life, 14 years of which she lived in Forbes.” 

The exhibition will be open to the public from Saturday, 16th July to Saturday, 6th August. Tickets for the official opening can be purchased at parkes.nsw.gov.au or via Parkes Shire Council’s Facebook page. Alternatively, you can book your tickets by visiting the Parkes Library & Cultural Centre.

The announcement by VANFEST organisers early this week of the relocation of the event to Bathurst came as a huge shock to Forbes.

“After making Forbes its home for eight wonderful years, VANFEST is relocating and set to make its mark on the iconic location of Mount Panorama in Bathurst,” the organisers said.

Forbes Shire Mayor Phyllis Miller said Forbes Shire Council was extremely disappointed the decision had to be made for the music festival to move from Forbes.

Organiser Matt Clifton acknowledged and thanked the Forbes community and Forbes Shire Council for its support over the past eight years. “Forbes Shire Council has been a pillar of support from the very beginning for VANFEST and I am incredibly grateful for those partnerships.” He said the community support from Forbes had been massive. “It was a really tough decision to make but one we needed to for the future of the festival,” said Matt. 

“We are proud of the economic stimulus the festival brought to Forbes – it is our place of origin, our hometown. However, we need to stay sustainable and the move to Bathurst means we can expand, it means we can re-energise and support the broader region’s music and tourism sector which were severely impacted by COVID.”

Forbes is in for a fantastic musical treat this month when one of Australia’s most dynamic chamber music groups will give a concert at the Forbes Town Hall as part of the Music in the Regions’ Winter tour. Omega Ensemble will perform a high-energy program from Mozart’s cherished Clarinet Quintet to the world premiere of a new contemporary Australian work by Australian composer Carl Vine on Friday, 22nd July.

Audiences on the Winter Regional Tour will be among the first in the world to hear the new work by legendary Carl Vine, which Omega Ensemble commissioned especially for the program. 

“Omega Ensemble are lauded nationwide for their exceptional world-class performances, an incredible cultural experience these regional audiences would usually have to travel to a city for but can now enjoy close to home,” said Music in the Regions Executive Director, Janine Collins. 

Founded in 2005, Omega Ensemble has a mission to champion extraordinary Australian musical talent through high-energy and impactful performance. The Ensemble presents an annual National Touring Program to metropolitan and regional cities across Australia and frequently appears in national cultural festivals. They have also twice toured to China, delivering concerts and masterclasses in Shanghai and Beijing. 

“At the heart of our Ensemble are the musical stories we share and the special connections we make with our audiences. We love performing all around Australia, but we haven’t played in Western NSW since 2018. It is such a beautiful region and we are delighted we can return again this year. After the past few years, we have really missed travelling!” said Omega Ensemble Artistic Director, David Rowden.

To book tickets, visit www.musicintheregions.com 

Turning Tables is set to hit the stage at The Little Theatre in Parkes from tomorrow night after over 12 months of rehearsals and cancellations due to COVID-19.

Going off reviews from community members invited to the preview on Sunday, it’s going to be another hit for the Parkes Musical and Dramatic Society. The praise afterwards included: “An excellent show…has to be seen”, “I absolutely loved it and will be coming back again!”, “Fresh, fun, powerful, provocative, moving and memorable”, “Incredible show” and “Took my breath away – just an amazing production from start to finish”.

With a script written by the Parkes M & D’s stellar director Lyn Townsend, Turning Tables tells the story of five women (Christie Green, Christa Radley, Shev Brown, Ruth Barnes and Maddi Collits), all different, all unique with their own ‘baggage’ to carry.

During the course of the show, each of the women take you on their journey, the relationships they have endured and the strength and resilience they gain from the friendships they forge with each other, despite the differences in age or social status. There are four male roles, all played by one token guy (Aaron Kingham).

With songs like Can’t fight the Moonlight, Stronger, Girls just wanna have fun, Because of you, Holding out for a hero, Born this way, Warrior, Jesus take the Wheel, Danger Zone, I’m so Excited, This is me, and many more, there is bound to be a song you know and love.

Turning Tables will play over three weekends. Tickets are available from www.parkesmandd.com.au or at the theatre box office an hour before any show, or on Sundays from 10am to 1pm. If you live out of town, email parkesmandd2870@gmail.com to request tickets be reserved or call 0429 623 829 after 5:30pm. The production is not suited for children under 14 due to adult themes, but for adults, this is just a fantastic outing!