Ministerial Statement

Renmark High School

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:02): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: I would like to provide the house with an update on the situation that occurred at Renmark High School yesterday afternoon. An incident occurred where a 17-year-old student was seriously injured by another student. Our thoughts are, of course, with the injured student and her family as she continues to receive treatment at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and I know that all members wish her a full and speedy recovery.

Student and staff safety should always be the first priority in situations like this. I wish to thank the school principal and staff for their courage in acting swiftly and decisively in such difficult circumstances. They alerted police, provided critical first aid to the injured student, and minimised risk to other students and staff. Schools have emergency procedures in place and undertake practice drills throughout the year, so staff and students are familiar with how to respond in the event of an emergency.

Emergency procedures may include enacting an evacuation, a 'shelter in place' or lockdown response. To ensure the safety of staff and students during yesterday's incident, a lockdown was enacted. I have been informed that the principal of Renmark High School communicated with parents at the earliest opportunity, after the safety of students was secured and the facts about the incident had been established.

Given the incident occurred during the last lesson of the school day, various communication channels were utilised to communicate with parents including SMS, Facebook and the school's Daymap system. Today, the department has provided Renmark High School and surrounding schools access to counselling and wellbeing support for staff and students. Schools have extensive interventions in place to support students' wellbeing and to manage bullying. The school will closely examine the events that took place as part of its ongoing management of the matter. It is important that we avoid speculating on the circumstances surrounding this incident and allow police to draw conclusions based on their investigation.

This morning, the member for Chaffey, as the local MP, and I spoke to the principal at Renmark High School to pass on our gratitude to him and his staff for the way they managed this serious incident yesterday. They provided critical first aid to the injured student and swiftly enacted their emergency procedures to ensure the safety and welfare of all the students at the school. I commend them for their professionalism, resilience and dedication to the safety and wellbeing of their students.