House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1) 52 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Thebarton Senior College THEBARTON SENIOR COLLEGE Ms BEDFORD House of Assembly Florey THEBARTON SENIOR COLLEGE Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:13): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development. How is the government supporting students at Thebarton Senior College to be better equipped to achieve their future goals and aspirations? The Hon. G. PORTOLESI House of Assembly Hartley Minister for Education and Child Development THEBARTON SENIOR COLLEGE The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Education and Child Development) (15:13): I would like to thank the member for Florey for this really important question. I had the enormous pleasure last week of visiting Thebarton Senior College which is in my view, and that of the head of the department, a model school for the future. This college provides a range of outstanding programs for adult students to complete their SACE and it is unique in South Australia, for a number of reasons. It is the only designated secondary school site that provides English language and literacy courses to some 350 recently arrived migrants and refugee students, from over 65 different countries, as part of the adult new arrivals program. It is also a registered training provider offering nationally accredited training certificates I to IV in a range of industries, with an onsite training centre, and it is part of a network of schools that form the Inner South Trade School for the Future, which is part of our (overall) nearly $30 million trade school initiative. Thebarton Senior College is an outstanding college, because it puts into practice what we know. We know that a person's future employment success is greater when they achieve the SACE, and under this government we lifted the year 12 retention rate to over 84 per cent in 2010. It also acknowledges that our education system needs to better respond to the aspirations and needs of those students who do not go on to university. Thirdly, we know that government must work in partnership with young people and their families, educators, trainers, industry and employers to ensure that school leavers are well equipped for the demands of working life. This is precisely what Thebarton Senior College is doing. I was impressed by the principal, an outstanding leader in our community, and the staff; and, of course, I had the opportunity to meet and to chat with a number of students. The facilities are absolutely outstanding, but what impressed me the most was the undeniable dedication of the leadership team and the entire staff, including the invaluable bilingual SSOs. In education our job is to prepare young South Australians for the future and, if you want to shape a better future, a good way to start is to complete your SACE. I thank the Thebarton Senior College for giving me such a warm welcome, and I look forward to only the best of results from this outstanding college.