ROMA MITCHELL SECONDARY COLLEGE

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Education. Can the minister advise the house about the commencement of the government's new school, Roma Mitchell Secondary College?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:44): Earlier today, I had the great pleasure of attending the Roma Mitchell Secondary College, which opened its doors today. The college is the last of the six schools, as part of the Education Works Stage 1 project, which has seen six brand-new schools open across our northern and western suburbs. The Dame Roma Mitchell college represents the culmination of this project, which has seen the biggest investment in our schools in a generation. It also addresses those schools that need it most, the schools in our northern and western suburbs.

The Roma Mitchell Secondary College will consist of three schools within a school: a coeducational campus, a girls school, and also a special school. The students are experiencing some of the most modern and exciting facilities we have seen in any school anywhere in this nation: a resource centre, gymnasium, performance area for drama, dance and music, and two commercial-standard kitchens.

The school also has a particular focus on science and technology. In science, the school has specialist physics, chemistry and biology laboratories as well as five general science laboratories. It also has wireless technology with high-speed connectivity to all parts of the school. In technology it has industry-standard wood and metal fabrication workshops, including in the girls' part of the school, so the girls will be able to do their woodwork alongside their counterparts in the co-ed school. Teachers will work with students to use programmable robotic devices to make products with metals, plastics and wood textiles, and there will be certified industry pathway programs.

The other fantastic feature of this school is the extraordinary array of sporting facilities. The college will have a major sports focus on tennis, netball, hockey and soccer. In fact, I spoke to a young woman who travelled all the way from the Adelaide Hills, she travels an extraordinary distance each day, just to be enrolled at this school because of its specialist soccer program. There will also be a specialist program in cycling. These have been brought about through partnerships with peak associations in the sports.

The Roma Mitchell Secondary College exists because the school communities of the former Gepps Cross Girls High, Enfield High, Ross Smith Secondary and Gepps Cross Senior schools voted overwhelmingly to close their individual schools and come together to form this school. It is a decision that the parents did not come to lightly, and for some of them it was a difficult decision, but I think any of them who had doubts had them swept away once they saw the magnificent new facilities. As with each of our other brand new schools, and from speaking with parents and students today, I can see a real sense of excitement. Many of them are incredibly proud of the fact that someone has chosen to invest this amount of resources in their suburb and in them. That does something for their ambitions, and it also does something for the morale of the teachers.

As you drive up to this school the first thing that strikes you are these incredibly wide windows, and you see the school library; the books are all there as you come in the entrance. It is a beautifully designed school. It is also designed in a way that is very friendly for children in wheelchairs. There are 10 students in wheelchairs at the school, and they have said that they have never been in a facility, whether it be a school or anywhere else, that is so user-friendly for them. They are able to move about the whole school without any difficulty.

I think the other thing about this school that is so powerful is that, while it brings together all the advantages of a school with a capacity for 1,300 students, the sharing of resources and the broadening of the curriculum that is available when you have a larger school, it creates the intimacy of three schools within a school through clever design. The school retains that focus on each individual child, the intimacy that many parents are looking for, where parents know that they can speak to teachers who really understand their children. They get that in this school, but they also get the benefits of the efficiencies of being on a broader campus.

I think all this hard work needs to be acknowledged, and I think it is important that all of us take the opportunity to say something positive about the school—even the member for Unley. I would like him to finally acknowledge that these schools are a success. It would also be useful if the member for Unley would stop spreading inaccuracies about the school. He says, 'I've added up all the numbers of students who were attending the schools that closed and from what we can gather from the new enrolments of the Gepps Cross super school it actually appears that there are fewer students at the Gepps Cross super school than there were at the combined schools that closed.' I wish he wouldn't do that. I wish he wouldn't try—

Mr Pisoni: So how many are there? What are the numbers?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, I wish you wouldn't try and add up.

Mr Pisoni: How many are there?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, it always ends badly.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Madam Speaker, it always ends badly. It always ends up with me having to embarrass him in this place.

Mr Pisoni: Well, give us the numbers.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I don't like—

Mr Pisoni: What are the numbers?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, the numbers are these: the numbers were 904 in the old school and 916 as at Monday 25 July in the new school. That, using traditional methods, suggests an increase in enrolments, not a reduction. So, if the honourable member could just stick to the facts and if he could, for once, acknowledge and join in the excitement that the parents and the students are experiencing in this wonderful new school—a wonderful investment in the northern suburbs of this state.