MURRAY BRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL REGIONAL DISABILITY UNIT

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (15:40): My question is to the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion. Will the minister advise the chamber of his recent visit to the Murray Bridge High School Regional Disability Unit?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:40): I thank the honourable member for her very important question. On Tuesday 11 September I had the pleasure of opening the new industrial kitchen at the Murray Bridge High School Regional Disability Unit (RDU). The Murray Bridge High School RDU has been operating for more than 10 years. I was very pleased to see Mr Adrian Pederick there as well, helping me out in my duties. He introduced me as a visitor to his area who is always welcome and I introduced him to the crowd as someone who assists me in my duties as a member of the Legislative Council which are far and wide-ranging. Adrian helps out when I happen to pop into his electorate.

The unit offers students with disability the opportunity to undertake the introduction to vocational education curriculum through a flexible and individualised learning program. This program provides training in five broad areas of reading, writing, oral and signed communication, learning strategies, and numeracy. The program encourages the integration of these skills into real life tasks and situations. The students have the opportunity to complete a modified South Australian Certificate of Education and certificates in education and work skills development and undertake school based apprenticeships.

The catering and hospitality program was initially developed because staff noticed that students participating in structured workplace learning were not bringing substantial or nutritious food to eat during breaks in their studies. The catering and hospitality program teaches the students how to cook healthy budgeted breakfasts during home group each morning and also teaches them how to make healthy sandwiches for lunch.

The new industrial kitchen is very impressive. It is a training facility that incorporates a restaurant-style front-of-house area. This enables students to be trained in all areas of catering and hospitality. Along with Mr Pederick, I was lucky enough to sample some of their cuisine that week, and the menu was very adventurous with crocodile spring rolls, emu meatballs, kangaroo pie and ice cream filled chocolates. I am pleased to report I sampled all of these creations and they were incredibly delicious—in fact, I went back for seconds.

Last year students were invited to cater for the Just Deadly Awards in Murray Bridge—an awards evening celebrating the achievements of Aboriginal students across seven schools. Students from the RDU showcased their culinary skills in preparing 1,750 restaurant quality cocktail dishes. I am told the night was a huge success. The students from the RDU frequently showcase their work for overseas visitors and universities. In June 2012, students catered for 80 teachers and educational personnel from Indonesia. The visitors had the opportunity to observe the students prepare the food on the menu they were presented with.

The RDU is internationally acclaimed as a centre of excellence with regional, statewide, national and international partnerships. For example, next year it is envisaged that a new partnership between the school and local job search providers will begin, providing the same quality training in hospitality and catering to people with disability outside the school community.

The RDU has set up a blog to promote the work it has been doing and I am delighted that as a result the students have developed a partnership with the owner of a restaurant Le Terraillet in Chambery, France. This partnership is very exciting and led to the restaurant inviting three students from the unit to visit France to experience French culture and, most importantly for these foodies, to learn a range of French cooking techniques often considered the pinnacle of world cuisine.

The Weatherill government provided some financial support to each of these students to assist them with their travels and, having spent time with the three students involved with the trip, I have no doubt they were excellent ambassadors for our state and great promoters of the Murray Mallee region and produce. The students have now returned from France and I am told the trip was a great success.

The students prepared two different meals—a dinner and a breakfast—for special guests, and I am told they received standing ovations on both occasions, one lasting for a full 15 minutes. I am looking forward to sampling the menu that they created on that occasion if it entitled a full 15-minute standing ovation. I am sure that I could even beat that. The Murray Bridge High School students also raised €1810 for a local charity providing accommodation services for people with disabilities.

I pass on my sincere congratulations to everyone involved with the Murray Bridge High School Regional Disability Unit, from the support staff and the teachers to the families involved, and of course I want to acknowledge all the students involved with the program who inspire and impress us all with their remarkable talents.