TAYLOR ELECTORATE

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (17:19): I rise today to speak on the schools in my area, particularly two which I visited in the last week and which I am growing to know and becoming increasingly fond of. First, I would like to speak on the Virginia Primary School under the good leadership and guidance of its principal, Rebecca Reid-Nguyen. I was fortunate enough to attend the year 7 leadership conference, which they recently held as a whole day event for the year 7 class, and I sponsored that as the local member of parliament as I do with all of the schools in my area. I have offered them a certain amount to provide either awards or student conferences for leadership in the community because I think student youth leadership is an important thing for our community, not just in the school sites but in the broader community, sporting clubs and other environments.

The Virginia Primary School has a very rich and diverse population and the students there are doing an exceptional job. When I spoke to them about what they thought good leadership and good governance was, they were very caring of each other in the way they dealt with each other in potential conflicts, even in the school environment. For example, a boy told me about how he had been playing handball and someone had taken the ball and how they resolved that through non-confrontational methods. They also talked about what they thought were good leadership traits for when they voted on class captains and house captains later that day. It was very encouraging to see young people participating in that way.

I have also been to see this school at the Premier's Be Active Awards last year, and I know they are doing exceptional work in literacy and numeracy at that school. The kids are really thoroughly engaged in it and are doing a great job. So, well done to the Virginia Primary School, its leadership team with Rebecca and the students.

I also would like to speak about a school that is going through the final stages of amalgamation. They opened on a new amalgamated site at the beginning of this year, and that is the Lake Windemere CPC. The minister has kindly supported the community in allowing the name of Windemere to be used at that site. Previously it was the Direk campus and the Salisbury North West campus that have amalgamated this year. There is a lot of fantastic building going on at that school to increase the capacities and facilities now that it is a CPC.

The new principal, Angela Falkenberg, who the member for Torrens has spoken about recently in a grievance, is a great principal and we are lucky to have her come to the electorate of Taylor and bring her vast experience of working in schools with many challenges to the local area. The Windemere student population and parents are making a fantastic job of the amalgamation process and are forming a new culture on the new site, and I commend them for this. I also thank the education department for giving people in my electorate great hope with greater and better facilities for their children's future.