Public Works Committee: Henley High School Redevelopment

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:29): I move:

That the 68^th report of the committee for the Fifty-Fourth Parliament, entitled Henley High School Redevelopment Project, be noted.

Henley High School was allocated a total funding of $1 million as part of the Department for Education's capital works program. Mr Speaker, as you will know, Henley High School requires additional space to support the future growth in student enrolment numbers, and this includes the transition of year 7 students to high school in 2022. When complete, the redevelopment project will provide Henley High School with the required capacity to accommodate 1,700 students and in doing so cater for the expected future growth in student enrolments.

I say specifically and report to members that the scope of the Henley High School redevelopment will include the construction of a new administration building, a new arts building and a new building for the subjects of home economics and health. The project will also deliver new general learning areas, a new extension to an existing building for science laboratories and general learning areas, as well as landscaping to improve the street presence and amenity of those facilities.

The redevelopment project will be staged with construction expected to be complete in December 2021. The committee examined written evidence from the Department for Education regarding the Henley High School redevelopment project. The committee is satisfied that the project proposal has been subject to the appropriate agency consultation and meets the criteria for the examination of projects, which, as you know, Mr Speaker, is set out in section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act.

Based on the evidence considered, and pursuant to the section I have mentioned, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed scope of public works I have described.

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (11:31): I rise today to give my support to this report of the Public Works Committee and in turn the works proposed at the Henley High School. The $12 million redevelopment, as has already been stated, will feature a new arts building, general learning areas, a home economics building, as well as health, and an extension of the science laboratories.

In general, there will be close to 20-plus new learning areas across the new school, which is quite significant and which addresses what has become a need for the school over previous years where there had been a range of general learning areas but a shortage of specialised learning areas. The school now has the opportunity to address that, as well as the transition of year 7 into high school, and to provide an opportunity in the future for increased capacity of the school, which is very well respected and very popular in my local area.

Over the years, as the popularity has increased we have had to keep a close watch and eye on enrolment at the school, but that should be seen as a positive, because people want to go to Henley High. That is the reputation that Henley has developed over time. I would like to say thank you and acknowledge the work over many, many years by the previous chair of the governing council at Henley, Mr Pete Evans, who stepped aside last year at the completion of his term. Pete, a fantastic guy, had given many years of contribution to that governing council. The school has already acknowledged his contribution, but I would just like to formally add mine in this forum.

Can I also say thank you to the current chair, Kaarina Sarac, for her work. Both Kaarina and Pete, and a range of others on the governing council, had been very influential in working with principal Eddie Fabijan and others to come up with a sensible and useful plan around what this $12 million project would deliver for the school. I very much appreciate their input over time and their work to ensure that what is delivered at Henley High is appropriate and well and truly serves the needs of the school into the future.

For those who are unaware, Henley High has an incredible range of specialist programs the school is incredibly proud of, such as its sports program, which is well and truly acknowledged as being one of the principal sports programs in not just South Australia but across Australia more generally. The school participates in a range of sports and also interstate exchanges and a range of others things. I think the Henley branding, no matter which school, no matter which context, no matter which pitch or otherwise Henley is lining up on, when a Henley side is there there is certainly a side to be feared and we should be very proud of what they have done.

Similar to many other schools, we are also incredibly proud of the range of projects and other programs that happen at Henley. Whether that be the arts and dance or whether that be the music programs, there are some incredible things being done at the school. Each and every time I get the opportunity to visit, either as a local member or in any other context, to see the performances that are put on, they really are top class and something we should all be very proud of.

I also take the opportunity to mention just a couple of things that have happened at the school recently I have been very proud and happy to be involved in. Just last term, the organisers of the year 8s at Henley High had put together an integrated learning project across a range of subject areas. It was originally themed around the Olympics, which unfortunately do not take place this year, but nonetheless it was something that I was very happy to be involved in given my background. I was invited to come along and to judge the work that was done by the students, and I can assure you that it was absolutely top-notch.

One of the key projects that I thought was quite innovative and different, and in some ways entrepreneurial, asked the students to consider an Australian-made product and adapt it, change it and market it to the Japanese market as part of the Tokyo 2020 games. That involved products similar to Tim Tams being matcha tea flavoured and the packaging and sizing changed. I thought it was really something quite extraordinary in terms of the ideas and the individualism the students demonstrated in preparing those projects. I congratulate young Charlie, who was the winner of that year 8 integrated learning project. She should be very proud of her work and the work she put into that project.

It would be remiss of me not to reflect on the unfortunate circumstances earlier this week, when Henley went down to PAC in the schools football cup final. It was certainly not a demonstration of the quality of the game. It was a very well-fought game. We did have a slight lead at half-time, but, unfortunately, just faded in the third quarter, but it was a great demonstration, again, of the fine work done through the sports program at Henley.

I know there are many other members in this place, both past and present, who have strong links and heritage with Henley High School, and I am sure they, too, are very happy to see a $12 million investment going to ensure that the Henley High School facilities serve our community for the better into the future. I am very proud to support this report of the Public Works Committee and look forward to seeing the development take place.

Last week, the Minister for Education and I visited to see the early works as they kicked off phase 1, and every morning as I drive down Cudmore Terrace I take a look at how things are shaping up. With that, I support the work undertaken by the education department on the site at Henley High and this report of the Public Works Committee.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (11:38): It gives me great pleasure to be able to note the work of the Public Works Committee and endorse the project for the school build at Henley High School. I thank the members of the Public Works Committee for the important role they have played in helping to enable this project and many others across the education department to progress. This is an important accountability measure for all government spending and projects of this nature, and it ensures that the people of South Australia can be assured that there is parliamentary oversight of the work being done in our departments.

I also place on the record my thanks to the officers from the Department for Education and the Department for Infrastructure and Transport who have been working on this alongside the builders, the architects and the people at Henley High School, who have done a great job of work and ensuring that this bill will get great value for money for the people of South Australia and deliver outstanding new learning opportunities for students at Henley High for many, many years to come.

It is a $12 million project undertaken by Studio Nine Architects and Pike Constructions. It really was a great pleasure to visit there with the member for Colton last week and indeed spend some time with Eddie Fabijan. It is not the first time we have done so. Spending some time at Henley High School is always a pleasure, as it is across many of our sites in South Australian schools. There is a lot of energy and a lot of dedication undertaken by the workforce supporting our students at Henley High and around the South Australian public school system.

At Henley High, they have some things that they are particularly proud of: their sports program is magnificent. This week, as the member for Colton alluded to, they were unsuccessful in the grand final of the football All Schools Cup, but nevertheless their team did an outstanding job in getting to that grand final. I am sure that there are going to be many future SANFL and AFL stars who come out of that program. The loss to PAC was narrow. It was hard contested, and it is a rivalry that has been undertaken a number of times in recent years. Henley High was successful in winning the All Schools Cup two years ago, and I am sure that they will again in the future.

The school has nearly 1,400 students, and they are a diverse range of students. Some of them are in the sporting academy, and some are outstanding with their focus on vocational education training, which is a critically important role the government has. Henley High, as some other schools are, is grasping the opportunities to connect with local businesses to ensure that there are pathways, apprenticeships and traineeships for some of their students.

They are also doing spectacularly well in a range of academic fields. I cannot go past the music program because when the member for Colton and I were at Henley High last week having a look at the plans and at some of the early works going on, one of the builders from Pike Constructions commented how much he had enjoyed coming to work on the building site to the fanfare of the school band welcoming them.

It was not something that was put on specially; it is just something that happens every day at Henley High, as the windows of the music room happened to open out onto some of the area where the early construction work was underway. They loved it, and they were very excited to hear that it was not something that was specially for them and that they will in fact get to experience it on a number of occasions during the course of the build—however, I suspect maybe less so when the building becomes louder and they might move some of the music program.

That is one of the things that all schools have to confront when they are undertaking building works—that is, there is the work that is underway on the school at the same time as the school is still functioning as a school. So there will be some complexity over the next year across many of these sites, including at Henley High, for the staff in particular and for those students who need potentially to have some disruption in where they do their study. Henley High is set up extremely well and I know that they will manage that process well; they have the plans in place and they are ready to go. Their capacity will increase, from just under 1,400 students at the moment up to 1,700, and that will enable the year 7s to come into high school.

One of the great things that is being leveraged by this program, again as in so many other sites around the state, is that we have done an audit on what facilities our schools have. Do they have the specialist learning facilities appropriate for a school of their size? The year 7 project is indeed unlocking, right around South Australia, the opportunity for year 8s, 9s, 10s, 11s and 12s to also access new learning facilities, particularly in specialist learning areas, whether that is music, science, tech or other opportunities for learning that all students need. The year 7 project and the building works attached to many of them will see increases in those specialist learning facilities as well.

The project is due to be completed at the end of next year, hopefully late October, maybe November. I cannot wait to see the final product. I know that the students and the staff at Henley High are looking forward to seeing their $12 million project completed. I know that the builders and the architects who are engaged in the project are very proud of the work they are doing, and I am sure that it will be something that the whole state can be proud of right across South Australia.

We have an ambition in this government for every child, every young person in South Australia, to be supported to fulfil their potential wherever they are, in whichever classroom, whichever school, whichever town or suburb in South Australia, and to be given the opportunity to fulfill their potential and lead a successful life, whether that means a university pathway, whether that means a trade, a technical apprenticeship or a traineeship, or whether that means going straight into a job or whatever other path will lead to that young person waking up each morning and looking forward to the day ahead because they have found the pathway to the life that can lead them in their best possible circumstance.

Henley High School's redevelopment will not change the fact that they have excellent teachers and excellent staff—there is excellent teaching and learning going on—but it will enable those staff to have that work supported in an environment that is designed for the sort of work they are doing. It will maximise the opportunities for those students and we cannot wait to see it completed.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:44): I will make a brief contribution as a new member of the Public Works Committee and, as a past student of Henley High, it gives me great pleasure to make a few comments. Some would say that, as a past student at Henley High, I was there at the inception when the school was established in 1958, but that is not true: I was there in the seventies. It was a great school and it was always highly regarded. There are not too many schools in the state that can boast that, when the school hall was opened, they had The Angels as the band at a school social. From that time, I have many fond memories.

My son rang me from the United States yesterday—he attended PAC and I attended Henley—just to remind me that PAC gave Henley a bit of a flogging at the state schools' footy championship. Sixteen points is as good as one is as good as 60. I have many fond memories there, and it is great to see this $12 million upgrade, which will bring Henley High to its next phase of life with the introduction of year 7. Henley has always been highly regarded with its sporting programs but also does not forget some of those students who have handicaps or in some way have a learning difficulty.

What I would say is that the $12 million project will make Henley High an even better school than it was back in the mid-seventies. It is a great school, it leads by example and it will be a greater, better, bigger school with the Marshall Liberal government's education capital works program. I acknowledge the education minister for his good work with school infrastructure upgrades right round the state, particularly in the regions but no more important than this school we are talking about, Henley High—a great school, fond memories. It is great to see that it has passed through Public Works for its $12 million upgrade.

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:47): I acknowledge and thank the member for Colton, the Minister for Education and the member for Chaffey as well for their excellent contributions to this debate. The member for Colton, of course, is closely familiar with the life of the school and its needs. He is a very hardworking and well-liked local member. He was also able to inform us quite rightly that the increasing enrolments at the school are in consequence of the respect and esteem in which the school is held in the community.

It is very pleasing to hear that demand for places at the school continues to rise, perhaps even to rise from the 1970s. We were very grateful to the member for Chaffey for informing us that he is an old scholar, and I will return to that matter in a moment. It was right, too, for the member for Colton to reflect on the excellent work of Mr Pete Evans and to memorialise in this place not only his personal appreciation but equally the appreciation of his community for Mr Evans' substantial contribution to improving education at the school and within Colton and surrounds.

It was also right for the member for Colton to record the excellent work of Kaarina Sarac and Eddie Fabijan and to reflect that their contribution has been profound and appreciated and also appreciated by us in this place. As you know, Mr Speaker, and as the members I have mentioned have remarked, the school has an extraordinary program in sports. It has produced and will continue to produce athletes of remarkable quality, passion and commitment. But of course, the member for Colton is equally an athlete of international standing with an extraordinary record.

Mr Cowdrey: Was.

Mr CREGAN: 'Was,' he says. We remember that record very fondly. He is a modest man, a modest member, but he has made an extraordinary contribution to sport in South Australia, to sport internationally, and is able in view of that history to provide additional guidance and support, not only to the school but to exceptional athletes in that program. It would be remiss of me not to remark that his extraordinary record extends to service to his community and, for that, we are very grateful. I know his community is grateful and continues to be grateful. His contribution is never overlooked in this place and much appreciated, particularly by the school, but also by us on the Public Works Committee in relation to this project.

I appreciate the contribution of the Minister for Education and, of course, the contribution of the member for Chaffey, who was able to supply necessary and important information from the early record of the school from the early portion of his life, not just about the program of arts in the cultural program that was available at the school. We might have missed some of the detail about the cultural program that was available at the school. It may be that in the course of his service to the Public Works Committee the member for Chaffey can supply us with additional detail. In that respect, of course, we look forward to it. It may not extend to comments in the house, but nonetheless we will be eager to hear those matters in the context of the committee.

I should add in closing that the Chief of Staff to the education minister, Cheryl Bauer, educator of renowned standing in her own right, also taught at the school. So it is right to say overall that the school has an extraordinary record and continues to support extraordinary students. It is well supported by an excellent member. We recommend the scope of works to the house.

Motion carried.