Coronavirus Closes Churches While Councils Fight to Stay Open

BY MEGHAN RICHARDSON

As the Coronavirus situation continues to evolve, many local organisations and councils have been forced to review their regular programs and events.

The reshuffle follows after the federal government announced that "non-essential" gatherings of more than 100 people are banned.

Many religious organisations have said they will close their doors to keep their followers safe.

This includes the mosque at Wallsend which has suspended regular services until further notice.

Similarly, Catholic and Anglican churches reported they will also shutting down and temporarily stopping all Sunday services.

However, religious schools in the area are to remain open.

Catholic Schools around Newcastle and Maitland said they will stay open until the 9th of April.

While Anglican schools around the Hunter have stated they are currently open but continue to evaluate the situation daily.

The Coronavirus has also threatened to close many local community events and activities.

Newcastle council said Blackbutt Reserve's bushland will remain open, but services requiring staff to interact with the public are suspended.

Meanwhile, Maitland City Council has addressed the uncertainty and said all council facilities will remain open but public programs across the libraries, pools, and art gallery have been suspended.

The council also announced that the annual Street Eats event is still set to go ahead on April 3rd, but the event will be split across several sites in order to promote social distancing.

SWAP-It App Creating Healthy Lunchboxes

BY KYLE CARROLL

Parents and carers of Hunter school children will have a helping hand to create healthier lunchboxes with the support of a University of Newcastle research project.

The NIB foundation has provided a $500,000 grant to help researchers develop the new SWAP-It app in a bid to start healthy habits early.

Lead researcher, Luke Wolfenden says the application aims to address the nutritional intake of children to prevent unhealthy weight gain in childhood.

"Good nutrition is one of the most important determinants of children's health and well-being."

SWAP It who’s message to parents is to swap in healthy foods and swap out junk food will be delivered to 150 primary schools across the Hunter New England region.

The parent support program delivered through the app contains nutritional guidelines, weekly support messages and access to useful information through hyperlinks.

"We see the SWAP-It program as a means to support parents to pack healthy nutritious foods in their child's lunchbox on a daily basis, and therefore supporting children to play, learn, and thrive at school," A/Prof Wolfenden said.

This will directly benefit 75,000 students and 60,000 families across the Hunter over the next three year period.

Image: The Universtiy of Newcastle

Nulkaba Public School Upgrade

BY GRACE LANCASTER

Christmas has come early for the staff and students of Nulkaba Public School, with construction approved for an upgrade to classrooms and facilities.

The New South Wales government-funded project is designed to cater for the growing enrolment demand in the local area and will introduce a modern two-storey building containing fourteen brand new future-focused classrooms.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter, Scot MacDonald, welcomed the project believing it to be a good sign for the hunter.

"There are estates going up everywhere, there's new people coming into the region, there's no doubt that it will probably be a bigger school in years to come and I think in the planning and in the design they're taking account of that, but these will be really good", he said.

"We've got $4.2 billion dollars with spending, over 120 new or upgraded schools, $747 million dollars going on school maintenance; and that is one of my absolute priorities across the hunter that we get into that." 

Construction for the project is set to get underway mid next year and will be completed in early 2020.

Nulkaba Public School Cessnock