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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-03-23 Daily Xml
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TAYLOR ELECTORATE

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (15:59): I would like to speak today about a visit that occurred in my electorate last Thursday 17 March, where I was fortunate to have a full day with the Minister for Education. The minister toured my electorate, starting with a breakfast in the morning with principals of the local public schools at the Watershed Cafe, which is a delightful venue that was developed at the back of the suburb of Mawson Lakes and near the edge of the electorate of Taylor. Many of my schools were able to come and hear the minister talk about the challenges and also the government's views about how we are going to increase the value of teaching and education over the next couple of years. The principals were very happy to have the opportunity to speak to the minister directly on this occasion, and I thank them for making the time to come out of their busy days before schools actually commenced.

Later on in the morning, we had the opportunity to visit a recently amalgamated site that commenced at the beginning of this year, which is the Lake Windemere Primary School CPC-7 site at Uraidla Avenue in Salisbury North, with the new principal, Angela Falkenberg, and the governing council chair, Dawn Westmorland, leading us through the site and the advancements that are happening for the community and families there.

We were fortunate to see some of the parents helping their children learn some of the important skills that they need before they even enter the kindergarten environment, so we had quite a few young children there learning how to use scissors, painting and doing St Patrick's Day activities. It was a really great opportunity for the minister to see the many things that are happening on that exciting site, and the guidance that Angela Falkenberg is providing that school as its new principal.

Later that morning we went across to Elizabeth South, one of the most needy areas in my electorate. I am very aware of some of the challenges of the people who live in that area. We visited the Sir Thomas Playford Childcare Centre and met its new director, Kate Walker, and a couple of the parents, Lauren and Tammi, and spoke about the needs of that childcare centre and its numbers. It also provides some occasional care. I was very heartened to hear them discuss the future plans for that site, and I look forward to seeing some developments in that area over the next couple of years. The numbers are about 25 on some days, but many of those children feed into Settlers Farm, Elizabeth South and many of the other primary schools in the area. The early childhood learning capacity that they secure there is vital for them to get ahead in a primary school setting.

Later, we went just down the road to Chivell Street in Elizabeth South, and met with Jocelyn Osborne, who is the principal of Elizabeth South Primary School—which I have visited quite a few times since becoming the member for Taylor—and the school's governing council. We also met with student representatives from the senior years of that campus who came and greeted us and talked about what they love about their school and why it is so special. We also talked to some of the teachers and teaching staff about the challenges of that site and what we could do to support that school and the area, and that was a great thing. I particularly loved having the opportunity to speak with the mix of new and old governing council members who had recently been elected at the AGM they had held.

Later in the afternoon, we went to Settlers Farm Junior Primary School and Settlers Farm Primary School with Annette Vincin, the principal, and Eva Raymond, the principal of the second site. We went to a junior primary school assembly and, again, we had some fantastic student-led leadership, demonstrated by our guides, Mitchell and Caitlin. They were dynamic and engaging and thoroughly wowed us from the moment we met them at the school gate. If that is the quality of children who are leaving that school as they enter high school in the northern suburbs, I think we have a bright, bright future in Taylor. They really were awe-inspiring.

Later on in the day, we had chats with some regional DECS people at Elizabeth House, and we finished with a very important dinner, where we talked about pathways for post-secondary employment with employers in the north. We had a very productive and useful conversation with mayors Docherty and Aldridge, who are both mayors within the local area. I would like to thank the minister for his time and support of education in the north. It was a truly worthy visit and I would encourage other people to look at such a course.

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