PREMIER'S READING AND BE ACTIVE CHALLENGES

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (14:35): I rise to ask a question directly of the Premier. Particularly since I have a young person at home, I have a keen interest in this matter. Can the Premier provide the house with an update on the success of the Premier's Reading Challenge and the Premier's Be Active Challenge this year?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:35): I hope this one at least has bipartisan support. I thank the honourable member for her support for the challenge. It has been another outstanding year for the Premier's Reading Challenge and in fact for the Be Active Challenge as well. As many of our athletes win Commonwealth Games medals in Delhi, South Australian students will be collecting medals of their own for achievements in reading and physical activity.

I am delighted to inform the house today that we had record numbers of students complete both challenges in 2010. More than 115,000 students from 751 South Australian schools completed the Premier's Reading Challenge this year, which is a 3.4 per cent increase from 2009. All of these students have met the requirement to read more than 12 books during the challenge period, and a lot of students read many more than the minimum quota. A couple of years ago I met a young man who had read 1,000 books, and he was an inspiration to all of us.

More than 7,000 of these students will be receiving the first ever Hall of Fame medals for being the first group of students to complete every year of the challenge since it started in 2004. They will also have the opportunity to choose to be the first to have their names added to the Hall of Fame honour roll on the Premier's Reading Challenge website.

There are also 23,800 students who have completed the challenge for the very first time in 2010, and each will receive a certificate. More than 21,500 bronze medals, 19,600 silver medals, 17,900 gold medals, 14,800 champion medals and 10,600 legend medals will arrive in schools shortly for presentations in November—far more medals than were won by any nation or all nations combined in Delhi. Congratulations to our kids!

This year, medals are also being sent to Canberra, Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, India, Canada, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Denmark to children who have moved away but were keen to continue their participation. I have announced a new award for 2011: the Hall of Fame: Reader for Life award for students who complete eight or more years of the challenge.

I am delighted that this challenge continues to inspire students to read more books and to win medals that may have been previously unattainable for those who do not excel at sport. Results of literacy testing show that students participating in the challenge show increased reading growth compared to those who do not participate.

In another area, more than 35,000 students from 282 schools improved their physical activity levels and completed the 2010 Premier's Be Active Challenge, which is a 25 per cent increase on the previous year. Of these, 1,457 students will receive the first Premier's Be Active Challenge champion medals; 5,489 will receive gold medals; 9,997, silver medals; and 18,254, bronze medals.

Among the medal winners will be 429 students with a disability, an increase from 365 in 2009. The challenge encourages children to be active for at least 60 minutes per day for at least four weeks, helping to start healthy habits for life. Receptions to acknowledge 50 high-achieving schools in both challenges will be held during November.

I would like to thank our ambassadors for both challenges, people like Power coach Matthew Primus, children's author Mem Fox and athlete Katrina Webb, who give freely of their time to visit schools to promote reading and physical activity to students. Thanks also to our joint team ambassadors: Adelaide United, Adelaide Crows, the Thunderbirds, Link Lightning and Port Power.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Alle Goldsworthy who has managed the Reading Challenge since it started and who will retire at the end of this year after some 35 years with the education department. Alle's passion for reading and children's literacy has been a major factor behind the continued success of the Premier's Reading Challenge which, I am told, has one of the highest take-ups of any such program in the world.