King Electorate Schools

Ms LUETHEN (King) (15:35): I rise today to speak about a number of very special school award recipients across the schools in the seat of King. Recently, I was given the privileged opportunity to present a number of awards to students, graduates and volunteers at school ceremonies across the King electorate. Moreover, I was blessed with the opportunity to present a new award to students on behalf of the King electorate. The new award I have introduced, gratefully in partnership with our local school communities, celebrates students demonstrating kindness.

Affection, gentleness, warmth, concern, empathy and care are words that are associated with kindness. While some might think that kindness connotes someone who is naive or weak, many more agree with me that being kind often requires courage and strength. Extending kindness to others, and even to ourselves, risks judgement, rejection or going against the prevailing winds, so I have chosen to recognise and encourage kindness in King.

Last month, I attended the Golden Grove High School year 12 graduation and had the pleasure of announcing student Alfie Malcolm as the very first winner of the kindness award. The loud clapping and cheering indicated that Alfie was the perfect recipient of the award and perfectly encapsulated everything I was endeavouring to recognise.

I then attended the graduation at the Tyndale Christian School in Salisbury East, where I presented the respect and integrity award to year 12 student Ashleigh Vasey. I was told that Ashleigh never speaks a bad word about others and is always encouraging her peers to do their best. She is said to always demonstrate kindness to others. It was fantastic to present this award to Ashleigh and also to speak to her about her journey and her plans for the future. On the night, I was also given the pleasure of recognising the outstanding effort of Doreen Watkins, one of the school's dedicated volunteers, who has been giving for many years.

Additionally, volunteers from the Greenwith Primary School parents group and the school's Breakfast Club were also thanked at an event for the volunteers of both the Greenwith Primary School and its neighbour, Our Lady of Hope School. It was so exciting to hand out volunteer awards to Colleen Faggotter from Our Lady of Hope, the members of the Greenwith Primary School parents and carers group and the school's Breakfast Club. Greenwith Primary School feeds breakfast to over a hundred students every Friday.

Earlier this week, I also had the opportunity to visit Pedare Christian College in Golden Grove and to recognise another fantastic student, Brittney Hills, who has regularly showed her kindness to other people throughout the year. Once again, many of Brittney's peers were excited for her, and it was heartwarming to see the incredible impact she has had on other students in her school.

Finally, last night I visited Gleeson College to present another kindness award to a gracious young student at the school's presentation night. Year 9 student Bailey Arnold was another worthy winner, and he showed that, no matter what age you are, a little kindness goes a long way. Bailey embraced the college's value of service to others, pride in success and compassion. These values made Bailey a worthy winner.

I am truly honoured to be able to stand next to these wonderful young people and celebrate and positively reinforce all they do for their peers and our school community. I look forward to seeing all the students and volunteers thrive going forward, and I am especially excited to present more worthy winners of this award in the next few years. These students and volunteers are a fantastic reflection of the quality of principals at our schools, the executive teams, the parents who volunteer and the young people living in King.

The Marshall government has invested a record amount of money in education, and I look forward to seeing schools in the King community benefit in the future from this investment. There are many other students and volunteers who put in so much for their school, and I encourage these people to continue doing what they are doing because it does not go unnoticed. While you are all winners in my book, I am so glad to be able to play a small role in celebrating those who have gone above and beyond what is expected and required of them.

In closing, I just want to remind everyone that the Golden Grove Lions have Christmas cakes at The Grove SA, so please grab one and contribute to your community at the same time.