Public Works Committee: Clare High School Redevelopment

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:43): I move:

That the 115^th report of the committee for the Fifty-Fourth Parliament, entitled Clare High School Redevelopment Project, be noted.

Clare High School is located on Elliot Street, Clare, in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council. The Department for Education has advised that Clare High School has been at its current site since 1971 and is the largest public high school in the state's Mid North.

The proposed redevelopment project will consist of demolition, new works and refurbishment of existing facilities to accommodate a total school enrolment capacity of 800 students on the Clare High School site by 2022. The high school redevelopment project will include the following scope of works:

construction of a new modular building, including two service learning areas and a verandah;

refurbishment of the special education building;

refurbishment of reception, administration and student amenities;

demolition of two ageing buildings; and

resurfacing of existing courts and construction of a new covered outdoor learning area.

The total budget for the Clare High School redevelopment project is $5 million. The proposed redevelopment works will be staged, with construction expected to have commenced and to be completed in June this year. The committee examined written and oral evidence in relation to the project and received assurances that the appropriate consultation had been undertaken.

The committee is satisfied that the proposal has been subject to the appropriate agency consultation and does meet the criteria for the examination of projects in the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991. Based on the evidence considered and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed scope of the works that I have outlined.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (11:45): I am really pleased to be able to rise and speak on the Public Works Committee's report into the upgrade currently underway at Clare High School. This is a very exciting project. It is part of the Marshall Liberal government's $1.3 billion school infrastructure upgrades across our public school system. It is a record investment in the budget for the forward estimates for a four-year project happening in our public education in the state's history. Much of that work is due to be completed this very year.

I can update the house that the project in Clare is currently on track for completion in August, and I congratulate Das Studio and Sarah Constructions on that terrific work. I have an update from one of the teachers at the school who sent me an SMS saying:

Here at Clare High our building project is looking great. We are looking forward to moving into the new office space in just a few weeks.

So some of that work is more than close to completion; it is very close indeed.

I really enjoyed visiting Clare High School in October last year. It was a great opportunity to engage with a range of staff and students. I met with some of the student leaders who talked about their passion projects. I met one young lady who I think is on her way to being one of the leading early childhood educators in South Australia in the future, which I think is following a bit of a family tradition. I met a young scientist to be and I met some people who are really passionate about their future.

The student leaders at Clare High School are in almost a unique position in South Australia because they have been at Clare High School since year 7. Clare High School is one of the two schools in the public education system in South Australia that has had year 7 in high school for an extended period of time and they think it is fantastic. They demonstrate that our year 7s are ready for high school, as indeed they are in every other system in South Australia—the Catholic system, the independent schools—and every other state around Australia.

It is a shame that our year 7 students have not had the opportunity more broadly across public education in South Australia (until next year) to have the specialist subject teachers, the specialist learning environments that are available in a high school setting. But, from the beginning of next year, that will be something available to all our students across South Australia.

When I was at Clare High School, I spoke with a number of science teachers and looked at the way in which they were delivering STEM—science and technology lessons—in their facilities. They were doing so at a high level and really engaging with their students in a hands-on way, getting them excited about their science.

I spoke with the head of the English faculty at Clare High School and we had a discussion about the texts that she loves to teach her students and her favourite areas. I have to say the passion that she and the other teachers I met with in her area speaks very well of the teaching and learning that are currently going on at Clare High School.

I congratulate Sharryn Daly and her team. I look forward to seeing the final product of the $5 million project of newly developed facilities at Clare High School when I visit in the coming period, with a new permanent modular agricultural studies building; the refurbishment of some of the facilities, including toilets, reception administration and learning spaces; the resurfacing of courts; a covered outdoor learning area; and improvements to the school's facade.

Penny Pratt is the Liberal candidate for Frome at the coming election. One of the things that Penny has spoken to me about is her passion to ensure that all the educational facilities around the Frome electorate are going to be supported. Certainly if she is elected, they will be supported by a passionate local member who cares deeply about education and has practised as a teacher and as a coordinator in education over an extended period of her career prior to pursuing politics. I cannot think of somebody who will be a more passionate supporter of local education facilities in Frome than Penny, and I certainly hope that she has the opportunity to represent that area.

For the people of that area, I hope they have the opportunity to experience Penny Pratt as their local representative. I am sure she will do a terrific job should she be elected in March next year. I am certain that Clare High School will benefit, as will the other schools in the electorate should she be elected.

I commend Sharryn Daly and her team, Das Studio and Sarah Constructions for this project. I cannot wait to see its completion, and I cannot wait to see the amazing achievements that the students, the alumni, of Clare High School will achieve in the years ahead and what they will contribute to the Clare Valley, the broader region and the state of South Australia. I have every expectation that they will do very well indeed.

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:50): I acknowledge the contribution of the minister but also his much wider and very, very significant contribution to education in the state. He has seen through one of the most, if not the most, significant capital works programs in education in the state's history. It is deeply valued by the parliament and acknowledged by the committee.

Motion carried.