At the end of this coming Monday (March 11), Scott will have visited 20 primary schools stretching from Bungwahl in the south, north to Taree and Wingham, and west to Gloucester and Barrington.

He has photographed hundreds of kindy kids for advertising features which will appear in print in the Gloucester Advocate, Great Lakes Advocate and Manning River Times this coming week.

And he has been doing this for years now.

To get the job done, things must run like clockwork. For example, last Tuesday Scott was at Bungwahl Public School just after 9am, then Pacific Palms, Holy Name (Forster), Tuncurry, Hallidays Point and finally, at 2pm, Nabiac school.

Remember he's dealing with five-year-olds, and it requires a particular skill to get them all looking the one direction at the same time. Having said that, some of the kindy kids make cameo appearances, such as in today's photo from St Joey's Taree.

Also thanks to the schools participating this year, and the parents. It's not easy getting all those permission slips back in time only a couple of weeks into the school year and ensuring hair is combed and uniforms look tidy.

At the end of all that effort, though, we have a lasting record of the tiny feet that took big steps, starting their school year in 2024.

Have a great weekend,

Toni Bell,

ACM editor, Manning River Times.