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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-06-18 Daily Xml
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HAMPSTEAD PRESCHOOL

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (14:58): I would like to ask the Minister for Early Childhood Development whether he can inform the house about the latest developments in preschool services in the north-eastern suburbs?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister Assisting the Premier in Cabinet Business and Public Sector Management) (14:58): That is a very good question, and I can assist the honourable member with her inquiry. I was very pleased to carry out a pleasurable duty the other day in the north-eastern suburbs, and that was to open the Hampstead Preschool (the first preschool I have had the opportunity to open during my tenure in this job) at Greenacres. I attended that site and was greeted by a group of lovely four year olds, who were very well behaved and very happy to see us there. It is a very important school—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That is right, they were very happy to meet their local member of parliament. This is a preschool that was established to meet a need, because in this state we have an extraordinarily good outcome in terms of preschool attendance. Something in excess of 80 per cent of four year olds go to preschool in this state—an enviable record—and we are going to lift that to 95 per cent, but in this particular area of the state it sits around 50 per cent.

One of the issues that was diagnosed in this area was the accessibility of the preschool to a number of families who, obviously, had difficulty in accessing other preschools. In those areas where there are very low rates of car ownership and also a number of main roads which basically intersect and make different communities much less accessible than they would be otherwise, it was important to establish a new preschool.

We first trialled the concept of a preschool, and there was an extraordinary take-up. We now have a fully equipped preschool which not only is a fantastic example of a preschool but which also focuses on a multicultural community. We saw Asian children, Aboriginal children—some coming from as far afield as the Northern Territory—and Afghan children. Indeed, it is a very multicultural community. That places special obligations on teachers to provide high quality teaching and early learning, which they do wonderfully at this school. There is a wonderful connection between the preschool and the primary school, and a very supportive primary school principal. I pay tribute to the principal of the primary school, Angela Falkenberg, a wonderful principal. It was really her passion and drive which allowed her to work together with the education department to establish this new preschool. It was a very pleasurable experience. The member for Torrens has been a strong advocate for this preschool. She was welcomed by the school community and thanked very much for her efforts in participating with the education department in making this a reality.

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