Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Anne Moehead is a nurse practitioner in my community. She was recently a finalist in the category for Excellence in Nursing/Midwifery—Clinical Leadership in the New South Wales Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Awards. Anne trained as a psychiatric and general nurse and her compassion and special connection with the elderly have shone in the community. She's always been known for her integrity, humility, leadership spirit and her belief in the people she's working with. She became a pioneer in caring for the elderly when she trained to be the first psychogeriatric nurse practitioner in New South Wales. She was the first psychiatric nurse who worked with an Aged Care Assessment Team in Australia. Anne also led the way in innovative dementia education. She established training modules in psychogeriatric nursing at Southern Cross University in Lismore. When she received a grant, Anne set up training modules in a web based format, making them more available for healthcare professionals from further afield. Well, done, Anne, on your tenacity, your compassion and your voice for those who need you the most. You've done a great deal for our community, and I thank you for that. I know that your husband, Grant, and daughter, Renee, who is currently in the Middle East, would also be very proud of you.

Last Saturday, students from the Glenreagh Primary School were in Sydney competing in the state finals of the Lego League. The Glenreagh Gravity Wonder Team consisted of Khorbin Wheeler, Layla Mayled, Isaac Mayled, Damien Watson, Miriyan Weller, Florence Shen, Molly Cohen, Reegan Desmond, They made the finals after beating some 22 other teams from across the region. This year's theme was 'Into orbit' and the teams had to build, program and compete with autonomous robots fully equipped with Lego Mindstorms technology. The robot then had to complete specific missions in the allotted 2½ minutes in order to score points. The competitors learn many aspects of problem-solving and how to utilise science and engineering to develop solutions. They then share their findings with other competitors. To make the finals was an outstanding achievement, given that the school only has an enrolment of just over 60 students and given that it was the first time they had ever used the Lego EV3 robots and entered the Lego League competition. I congratulate and thank the teacher and the STEM mentor, Jessica Fowler, for giving the students this wonderful opportunity. Congratulations!

During the last school holidays, St Carthage's Primary School from Lismore travelled to Darwin to compete in the Tournament of Minds International Final in the discipline of social sciences. The team won first place and were crowned Winner of the Tournament—International Champions. I congratulate the winning team, which consisted of Neve Schweizer, Charlotte Gilliland, Paddy Heffernan, Darcy Heffernan, Ruby Barnes, Chloe Lane and Liam Torrens. The trip was the result of three months of hard work and preparation that has paid off for the students and their teacher, Jeni Thompson. Jeni worked with the students every step of the way and guided them through this wonderful opportunity. It was a great achievement, with the competition boasting more than 14,200 students from Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. The school has also had great success in the tournament previously. This year's win was the second in a row, and over the years they have reached the finals no fewer than 10 times, winning five of them. Congratulations to St Carthage's.

Every year, the Jacaranda Festival in Grafton includes a special day for children. The morning starts with the Parade of Youth, which allows schools to create banners, which they then march up Prince Street to Market Square. This year Grafton Public School won first place in the banner competition with their 'Jacaranda Avenue' themed banner made from recycled materials. The festivities also included a baby competition, which has been a long-time inclusion in the Jacaranda calendar. This year's placegetters included Jack Tindal, Jayden Davis, Max Grey, AJ Payne, Keenan Blood, Amari Ellem, Olivia Payne, Isabelle Gilmour, Harley Corfe, Elizabeth Templeton, Maybelle Pope and Aria Atherton. The Best Dressed Girl was awarded to Summer Williams, with Cody Want winning the Best Dressed Boy category. Runner-Up Grand Champion was Marli Chevally, and Grand Champion was awarded to Liam Smidt. I know that Liam's father, Darryl, was proud of the win, as Darryl himself won the same award 35 years ago. I'd like to thank the festival manager, Leah Wallace, and her wonderful committee for organising another successful Jacaranda Children's Morning.