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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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COUNTRY SCHOOLS

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (11:29): I move:

That this house—

(a) notes the importance of schools to country towns; and

(b) recognises the extremely valuable contributions that the school staff make to both the education of local students and their communities more broadly.

This house knows that this is a topic very close to my heart, both in my electorate of Stuart and my interest in education and regional development more broadly. I will start by saying that I am really talking about, in my mind, the small schools and the small towns. This is not to exclude Port Augusta in any way—and I recognise that there are five primary schools, a secondary school, Caritas College, and also very importantly, School of the Air based in Port Augusta and Port Augusta Special School—but I am really focused on the small towns throughout the electorate of Stuart.

For the benefit of the house, let me just advise members that, in Stuart, towns that have both a primary and a high school or a combination of both in the same school are: Eudunda with an area school and also St John's Primary School; Jamestown with an area school and also St James Primary School; Peterborough with a primary and a high school and also St Joseph's; Burra has a district school; Booleroo Centre has a district school; Leigh Creek has an area school; Orroroo has an area school; and also Kapunda has a high school and a primary school. It is worth pointing out that Kapunda is an absolutely beautiful campus built around Sir Sidney Kidman's original home named Eringa. A beautiful place—

The Hon. G. Portolesi interjecting:

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Yes, it was a pleasure to be there for the unveiling of the upgrading of that facility with the former minister for education. It was fantastic. I will just delve down a little more deeply, because the real spirit of this motion is about the really small towns that have really small schools. Let me tell you, just in the electorate of Stuart alone, these towns have primary schools only: Cadell, Blanchetown, Morgan, Melrose, Wirrabara, Wilmington, Robertstown, Farrell Flat, Truro, Spalding, Booborowie, Marree, Port Germein and Yunta. Every one of those schools is exceptionally important to the life of those towns.

There are also, of course, very importantly, many pre-schools scattered around the electorate and scattered all around regional South Australia and they make an incredibly important contribution, as well. What I am really trying to get at here is the fact that there are obviously educational outcomes and benefits. That goes without saying. That is their primary purpose for being there, but these schools contribute so much more. They contribute so much more to the communities in which they are based.

When I talk about educational outcomes, I am talking about both academic—the straightforward reading, writing, arithmetic and other things that we would think of—and also trade training. An enormous number of high schools, obviously, do trade training. There is a lot of effort that goes into providing the right type of education to the range of students at these schools, and they are incredibly important.

A good example of that is the Booleroo District School, which is very close to Wilmington where I live. Two years ago, a student named Justin Clarke was an absolutely star student academically. He is actually up in Brisbane playing football with the Brisbane Lions at the moment. He is a genuine all-rounder, but very strong academically. Last year, a student named Alastair Keller was the Australian School-based Apprentice of the Year. It is an extraordinary achievement for both lads, extraordinary for that school, and extraordinary to have one academic star one year and one Australian School-based Apprentice of the Year the next.

This is the sort of thing that schools throughout the electorate and throughout regional South Australia strive for. I think that is really important, but the benefits are far broader than just the academic or the trade training benefits. There are social benefits, health benefits, sport benefits, local pride, community identity and economic benefits. These schools do much, much, more than just teach the students; they really are the lifeblood of the towns in which they are based.

I have a very simple view on that front, which can be described quite easily. If a town loses its school, it will very shortly lose its pub, its general store and its service station, because there is no reason for the community either in that town or surrounding that town to go into that town every single day to take the kids to school. What is even worse is if the school closes, guess what: not only will they not be going to that town, but they will actually be going to a different town to take their kids to school. The other town will benefit—and I never begrudge them that—but the first town is really going to suffer. So, these schools are incredibly important.

I bring to the attention of the house a report that was done for me by Ms Alexandra Grigg, an Adelaide University student doing an internship in the program that Professor Clem Macintyre runs. She did some excellent work for me. The work I asked her to do was very much on the basis of the contribution that state government facilities—like transport and education, sport and health facilities, etc.—make to regional South Australia over and above their primary purpose for being, like education, health, sport and transport. I will read something from Ms Grigg's report, specifically about educational facilities:

Educational facilities in rural South Australian communities have a number of social benefits including community contribution, the development of support networks, social interaction and the increased use of other local facilities and services. As a result, educational institutions provide regional towns with both economic and social welfare multipliers.

She goes on to say that, determined by educational facilities, the economic multiplier effects are increased job opportunities, increased economic opportunities and increased real median income. The social welfare multiplier effects include community identity, increased safety, increased support networks, increased volunteer participation and increased social interaction. These things would be incredibly important anywhere and I am sure are just as important in the city as in the country, but they are much harder to access in the country in small towns.

Ms Grigg goes on to say, 'Additionally, educational facilities in a regional South Australian town significantly decrease crime rates by 22 per cent.' That is a significant benefit directly related to having an educational facility in your regional town. One more statistic I would like to comment on here is that Ms Grigg identifies educational facilities as being the second most important facility contribution to community strength and capacity after transport facilities. So, after transport infrastructure and services comes education. I think that is very important as well. I share those things with the house because I think they are incredibly important.

I recognise that education and schools are just as important in the city and I have no hesitation about that whatsoever, but I say again that these benefits are much harder to come across in regional South Australia than they are in the city where you have a bigger pool of people to draw upon, a bigger pool of services and facilities to access and a far wider range of activities that people can participate in.

I say a very strong and loud thank you to the families who participate in these schools, the governing councils, the teachers, the principals, the other staff who get very involved in these schools in country towns and the friends of the schools. It is worth spending a little bit of time concentrating on that too, because there are many people who contribute to schools throughout our state who actually have no official role. They are certainly sanctioned by the school and by the school community, but they are people who just come and do some extra grounds maintenance or some extra contribution in a classroom, or they might just provide a one-off or even an annual or perpetual prize for a student who excels in a certain area. I can think of people throughout the electorate of Stuart who do that on a regular basis.

I will also comment on the role of Department for Education and Child Development staff in regions, because I think it is fair to say that they are probably under a bit more pressure than they would be in the city. In the city they can go to their job, do the work that they do within their department and within the education system and then they can go home and very quickly separate themselves from that work. However, if you live in a major regional centre or if you live in a small country town, as some people who work in DECD that I know do, they are under even more pressure, because they leave their office and their work and they go home, and they are in that school community immediately. They go to the pub and they are there with mothers and fathers, or children playing in the pub, or outside, as often happens. They go to the football and they are there with that same community. It is worth recognising that they are under a bit of extra pressure when it comes to the roles that they play.

As I said previously, I recognise that these contributions would be made by people in the city. No doubt, there are people who contribute to the schools very significantly, but I say unashamedly that their contribution, I think, is far more valuable in the country because you have a far smaller pool of people to draw on and, also, you have an opportunity for your contribution to have far more impact in a small community as well. I genuinely say thank you to all of those people.

I would also like to say a few words about country towns and the interaction between children, adults, middle-aged people and elderly people and why these schools are so important. I lived in Adelaide before I moved to Pimba a long time ago—about 15 years ago. I lived there for seven years and then moved to Wilmington about eight years ago. One of the things that struck me immediately in Wilmington is that every single person in the community has an identity, and that includes a two-year-old child.

It includes a five-year-old child who might be walking down the street, perhaps going to school or to the shop, or from one house to another. When an adult passes that child, the adult says, 'Hello Bill', 'Hello Jenny,' or 'Hello Sarah,' whatever it happens to be, and, very often, that child says, 'Hello, Mr Johnson,' or, 'Hello Aunty Sally,' or whatever it might be. That does not happen to nearly the same extent in the city.

That is just one example of the benefits and opportunities that we have living in small country towns, but it does support why the schools are so important because, not only is the child an identity and a person in their own right at the school and on the school campus, but also the child is a person and an identify within the community more broadly. As that child grows up, that child retains that identity. It grows into it as it picks up more experience, a reputation and respect, no doubt, as time goes on; but that person retains that identity.

I remember going to the Wilmington pub shortly after moving there and seeing many families with three generations of people. The pub is just a small microcosm of the world in a country town, but they did not go there together. The grandson and daughter, the father or mother, and the grandfather or grandmother went there to see their own friends of their own generation and they were in different parts of the hotel, and they all acknowledged each other as friends just as they would anybody else.

But the issue is: if we lose these small schools in country towns, we will lose that fabric in country towns because, if the school is not there, the children are not there, the families are not there, the grandparents do not stay there and then all of these other things that I have talked about in country towns that make them so special, that make them interact so well and that make the people so supportive of each other, will not be there either.

We are incredibly lucky in small country towns in South Australia to have this sort of social makeup. It is not perfect. None of us is perfect. No town is without its problems. But, in this way, they are absolutely outstanding, in my opinion, and having a school in a town is incredibly important. It is fundamental to keeping together that social fabric and having that community adhere and interact the way they do.

For those reasons, and many others, including the economic multipliers and the research that Ms Grigg did for me which supports the theories and the things that I know and see and live and breathe every day anecdotally, I am incredibly supportive of these schools and I thank all the people—the teachers, the staff, the families and everybody involved—who support those schools and allows them to survive.

Mr PISONI (Unley) (11:44): I rise to support the member for Stuart's motion. In rising to do so, I will speak about the policy the Liberal Party announced in May of last year about giving those schools, whether they be in the metropolitan area or country towns and regional centres, much more choice through local decision-making and less direction from central office. The facts are that in South Australia we have a very centralised education system; that will become even more so when the department abolishes the regions, a process that I understand is to happen very soon where we will see more decisions being made at that central level and less support, particularly in the regions, through local regional offices.

My understanding is that all of the regional directors' and deputy directors' contracts are up for renewal at the end of June of this year, giving the department flexibility to move into other areas. We are told by the department that those regional offices are not necessarily going to be going into central office, but we are certainly aware of some already that have been transferred into the central office from the regional office.

I want to get back to the policy that we have announced, that is, that we trust our local school communities, we trust our regional school communities and our country school communities. We trust their principals and we trust their staff to make the best decisions for educational outcomes in their schools. We do not believe that a one-size-fits-all management run out of central office is working. We do not believe that we will get educational outcomes that will improve without changing the way we operate our schools.

There is no doubt that what we have seen in other states in Australia, particularly in Western Australia with their independent public schools, is a dramatic improvement in school engagement. We have seen governing councils taking a much more active role, which of course means parents. All the research out there will tell you that if you engage parents in their children's education you will get better educational outcomes. All the research out there tells you that local management gets better educational outcomes. David Gonski referred to systems that were doing better, and they were the systems where decisions were made locally.

It is very important that there is support for our country and regional schools. I know that my colleagues on this side of the house, the members for Goyder, Stuart, Flinders, Hammond, Chaffey, Schubert and Kavel, are all passionate about their schools and they are all very involved in their schools. We want that involvement to move beyond the immediate school community.

What we have seen happen in Western Australia, for example, is that for schools in some of those tough areas in the suburbs and in regional areas where there may not necessarily be the parent cohort that you might have at a school, say, in my electorate of Unley where you may have a very professional base behind your governing council, they have opened up their governing councils to include community leaders, members of the community and even people representing local businesses, who do, of course, go on to employ the kids who are educated at those schools.

By doing so, they have brought innovation and targeted programs and planning into those schools. Another advantage the Western Australian independent public schools have is that they can re-scope their staff when they take the process on, and there are no questions asked. If a principal believes it is time to reshape the leadership level, staff options, subjects or mix of specialties within the school, they have the ability to do so.

I think another key factor for educational outcomes is a focus on teacher quality. There is no doubt that we are seeing a move around Australia (although, unfortunately, not in South Australia) to focus on teacher quality. The Prime Minister is talking about teacher quality. The New South Wales Liberal government has just released a whole new package focusing on teacher quality, where they are aiming for the top 10 per cent of students to move into teaching.

The New South Wales government have recognised that they need to do something about the fact that a career in teaching is no longer seen as the first choice for so many students. Time and time again, you will see that students will aim for other courses at university, and teaching will be a second or third choice.

I have had discussions with the Australian Education Union, and they are also very concerned at the low entrance marks for teachers. We know that there are thousands of teachers—particularly primary school teachers—trained around Australia every year, but there are no positions for them in schools.

Just getting back to the focus of the member for Stuart's motion: there is no doubt that, in the metropolitan area, we all have an affection for our primary and high schools. As alumni, there is always a sense of pride as we drive past our old schools. I think that sense is much stronger in the country because it represents so much more. I have particularly experienced this in my dealings with Clare High School, and I congratulate Rob Knight, the principal at Clare High School, for what he has brought to the school.

There is an enormous sense of pride and community that comes out of Clare High School. I know, through speaking to parents and other school members, that they would like to take that further and would like the school to be an even larger part of the community, but are obviously restrained by current government policies.

I support the member for Stuart's motion, and congratulate him on his passion for schools and education in his own electorate. I was very pleased when he presented this motion to the party room for endorsement, because I think it underlines the commitment that the member for Stuart has for education and schools in his own electorate.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (11:53): I also rise to speak in support of this motion from the member for Stuart, and commend him on it, because it shows a commitment to the community which he is a part of, and indeed the communities which he has the opportunity to serve in parliament.

I will state for the record that I have 25 or 26 schools in my electorate—I apologise for not being entirely sure about that, but the boundaries are about to change, so that might cause some confusion. They are all wonderful places, and are reflective of the people who live in those towns, and of the communities that surround those towns.

For me, as someone who lives in a township of 1,000 people (which is the biggest town I have ever lived in), I completely respect how important schools are to the social environment of towns. I have been lucky enough in my time as an adult to serve on two governing councils: one at Orroroo Area School, and one at Maitland Area School. I did so not because of the role that I then held in the community as a local government member, but as a concerned parent.

It was really emphasised to me that all people involved in governing councils do so not out of an egotistical drive, or anything like that, but they do so to ensure that they can contribute in some small way to the absolute best environment they can create for their children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews. Sometimes, the children of these parents have left school, but it shows an ongoing commitment.

As much as the motion is focused upon staff and their contribution to education, I think it is also important that we recognise the parents who make a contribution to education in rural communities.

My electorate has a mixture of primary schools, area schools, a district school and high schools, and recently there was the amalgamation of the Kadina Memorial High School and the Kadina Primary School, which are adjacent to each other. Mr Deputy Speaker, as a former teacher there, would have fond memories—as I know the community does of him—of his time in the Copper Coast and the Kadina area.

In each of those schools, when I have had the chance to go to school presentation days (or evenings, as they are predominantly at night), you see an innocence and an excitement from the kids who are there. As much as it becomes a bit of a struggle for them to sit quietly during presentation night and they get a bit restless after about an hour and a half (and the parents get a bit restless, too) in a hot hall quite often in December, they are excited by the opportunity to showcase to their parents and the parents of their friends and their grandparents, some of the things that they have learnt during the year.

It might become a bit of a chore eventually but, for me, it is still an exciting opportunity to attend between eight and 10 presentation days per year. It is exciting to be a part of it and have the chance to, in my small way, present a medallion that recognises the efforts of the child in that school, and to be on stage and look at the pride of the collection of people there. Their son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandchild might only have a small part but when they are up there you should see all the parents rush to the front to take photos. It really is continuous.

It shows me that no matter what the size of the town there is a pride that exists within the school facility. That is where our state, in 156 years or so of self-government, should be proud of the institution that it has created.

I know education faces a lot of challenges—there is no doubt about that—to ensure that the young people who graduate are ready for the life that confronts them. However, the absolute majority of professionals that I have met within the education system are focused on that. For most of them it is a lifelong commitment and is their chosen vocation in life. Many of them choose to live in that town for a long time. They become part of a community. They drive the initiatives that a community develops and works with to try to create a stable and strong future. Educational professionals are used because they have a talent in that area.

The intent of the motion from the member for Stuart about recognising the educational professionals is a very sound one. There are some areas where challenges exist. I know of one school in my electorate which only has 11 students this calendar year. About 10 years ago I visited there in a previous role with the governor when there were about 93 students. That shows the demographic change that occurred in that community and it shows the choices that some parents have made. However, I know that the teachers, the SSOs and the governing council of that school still focus on trying to provide (especially as this is their centenary year) the absolute best teaching and educational institution that they can, so they will forever have my support.

I have had many discussions with parents and governing council members about the future of some schools because they are all, to some degree, looking at what it may be for them. The smaller towns that are facing some age profile changes have a bigger challenge than most. However, the towns that have seen the future and the opportunity that education provides are out there and they are putting a lot of effort into growing skills. In the majority of cases in my electorate it is the private school system that has done so and there have been some wonderful stories of efforts made in the last 10 or 15 years to develop private school opportunities.

I am leaving early this afternoon to attend the funeral service of a close friend and that memorial service is occurring in a private school in the electorate. She was a fine lady, a wonderful person who went far too early. However, it is reflective of the commitment made by that governing council to put in place a wonderful facility, and it is not just the private schools but the public school system too. There are a lot of words said about it sometimes but I just put on the record my appreciation for what they do.

I came from an area school, too. I attended for the first three years a single-class school where all seven grades were in one room, so there were three students in my year level. That school closed in about 1971, I think, six months or so after I had left to go to the neighbouring town's area school. I have been back there since and it has been leased by the local progress association and has been developed into a camping ground but the school history is still very proud and in the forefront of the local community in their efforts to use the building appropriately, and they have put some money into it to develop it, too.

It is an example of the history that all the schools have. When you read the history of the local community, you hear about schools that do not exist any more and that they paid a teacher thirty pounds, or something like that—an amazingly small amount of money—and the fact that the teacher stayed with families that operated in the area and the kids had to ride horses, at best, or had to walk. It shows what education has meant to us. For a society and, indeed, for a state that is facing some major challenges, it shows that we need to make sure that we put whatever resources we can into our school system to get the best possible outcomes.

I know some fund raising efforts for local schools have been nothing short of amazing too, and it shows what the community thinks of it. In one case, a library upgrade occurred in my electorate. Admittedly, this was about seven or eight years ago, but there was one family that put in $20,000 to that—not because they had students in that school anymore, but because they had used that school in the past and they felt that the library upgrade was very important. That is an example of the commitment that has been shown to our schools. When they have working bees, it might not be every family that is involved, but there is a reasonable turnout of school community families at working bees to make sure that those things are done.

I put on the record that education and child development staff that I have contacted about issues have been quite approachable. I know there is a bureaucracy that has to be worked through but, when I have had issues in my schools, when I have approached either the principals or the next line of management that occurs in the Yorke region, they have been prepared to speak to me, so I thank them for that. It shows a willingness to ensure that issues are dealt with instead of having to go through a bureaucratic process of writing to the minister and it taking a long, long time for a response to occur—they want a result too. So, that is a symptomatic example of what exists in our schools.

I have no doubt there will be a lot of members from this side who will stand to speak in support of this. It is a very appropriate motion because it enforces what has become the backbone of the growth of South Australia in small schools and what they have done across all of South Australia. It reflects what a wonderful state we have lived in since 1836—long may it have a strong future.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:01): I, too, rise to support the member for Stuart's motion. I think it is a great initiative. I know that the member for Stuart is very passionate about his electorate, as he always stands up for his constituents but, more importantly, this is about schools, which are the fabric of these small communities.

In my electorate of Chaffey, I have some 58 schools. Visiting the schools is quite a monumental task but, as I make my way around the schools in the electorate, they really do show me the camaraderie that they provide. They are almost a conduit that connect to the communities. In many instances, it is through a school that people come together. It is almost a generational gathering because, in many of the regional communities, we have a population explosion and it seems to be through one reason or another that there is a surge of, I guess, people of a common age who come together in a lot of these small communities.

I think it has already been noted that the small schools and the medium schools in these small regional towns are really the fabric of that community. I think it also shows the diversity that these schools have to provide to accommodate the small communities. I say 'small communities' and, in some cases, people come into the towns from far and wide. I know the member for Stuart has said that it is a reason for people to come to town, a social outing, whether it is mother or father dropping children off at school in the morning or putting kids on the bus.

I think something that perhaps has not been stated is that the network of buses that bring the students to school is a huge element and is a huge support base for students to get to schools. I know that in some cases on the Eyre Peninsula some children hop onto the school bus in the dark and they get off the bus almost in the dark at night. That is a huge cultural shock to many who have never experienced it. It is all about what we do to get to school, it is all about what we do to be part of a school community, and it is all about what we accept to make sure our children are educated, but also about social inclusion and what it means to be going to one of those small regional schools.

I would also like to talk about the involvement that parents have to play, not just want to play, not just do play, but about parents' interaction with not only the schools, students, and other parents, but also about how they contribute to keeping those schools viable and ongoing. My association with the Renmark West school, with my three children attending, was not just about dropping our children off at school. It was about getting to school and then each going our own separate ways. So, for me, it was following my son into his classroom to see how I could help and following one of my two daughters into their classrooms to see how I could help.

It is not about reading with them, it is not about helping out in the classroom, but it is about the engagement with other parents before school, out in the gardens, out there upgrading playgrounds. It is about making the ovals better, it is about doing some painting where it needs to be done, and it is about engaging in the school socials, the fairs, and the Christmas occasions that all come with it. It creates another environment of excitement. It is about the communities having input into their school. It is not just about 'our' school or 'the' school that your children go to, it is about having some ownership. I think that is a reflection on many of the small schools.

In the electorate of Chaffey I have some very small schools. The smallest school that I had was at Lyrup, with six students. Sadly, that school closed this year—and understanding the social implications, the cost implications on keeping a very small school going. I attended the Lyrup primary school on a number of occasions, as it was very close to my home. They had tree planting programs and they picked produce from their working garden and had a chook house. It is giving the kids an opportunity to make their lunches out of what they are growing in the garden. It is giving them an opportunity to look at having little livestock paddocks and gardens. It really gives them a sense of ownership.

Sadly, when my two young daughters came to school in Adelaide, they would come to me and say, 'Dad, some of my friends think that milk comes out of a carton and eggs come out of a carton.' They were absolutely horrified to learn that a lot of kids do not have that grassroots understanding of what the smaller schools, these regional schools, offer and how they take it for granted that some of these other metropolitan schools do not have that opportunity to deal with some of the beliefs and ownership, which is a great thing, of some of these small regional schools.

It is also about some of the sporting programs, some of the ownership that these small country schools have. Sporting programs are another element to the school. It is about nurturing some of our state's sports stars, and many of them have come out of those country schools. I think from some of the Mallee schools, some of the Riverland schools, we have seen Olympians come out—Sophie Edington and Hayden Stoeckel—as great swimmers. There are South Australian football legends, including Neil Kerley, Russell Ebert and Bruce Light, just to name a few, who have come out into the SANFL, and there are also AFL players.

I think some of the best AFL players of all time have come out of the Riverland, with Mark Ricciuto out of Waikerie, the Fielkes, the Lindners, the Schammers and, of course, the ever-flamboyant Modra, who came out of Renmark and then later out of Loxton. That just highlights some of the sporting stars that have come out of regional schools. I think it typifies, without being too parochial, that country schools always feel as though they have to work a bit harder, try a bit harder, but they always get a result on the board. I think that is a great attribute.

As I have said, sadly we have seen one school close in the region this year due to numbers and another school has been flagged to close at the end of this year. That was through consultation, through the parents realising that they needed to broaden their horizons for better social skills and to give their children more opportunities. So, I think that natural attrition has been accepted with declining numbers in the regions, and sadly that seems to be a fact of what we face today with centralised services, government beliefs and the hardship that attending a small school can bring to communities.

I will touch on some of the issues that I have with some regional schools, and one is the school pools. A number of schools that have pool facilities have been closed because of maintenance budgetary restraints. I think that the government of the day needs to look at that, because it is a huge part of the school fabric. So, that is something that will be touched on at another time.

Again, the Cadell ferry closure—that was done without any consultation. It had a huge impact on schools, with students travelling across the river to Cadell and students travelling across the river to Morgan. It had an impact, and the government coming out and reversing that decision was a great thing. So, I commend the member for Stuart's motion.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (12:12): I have pleasure in supporting the motion, as I would suggest every other member in this place would, I hope. I have no doubt that government members will support this and that, when it is put to the vote, it will pass overwhelmingly.

I have some 13 schools in my electorate, 10 of them public schools and three private. In particular, three campuses would fit the small school category, and I would like to talk about a couple of those. I will start with Rapid Bay Primary, a little school nestled into the hills of Rapid Bay with around 40 students—it varies, going up a bit and down a bit. It is one of the most pleasurable jobs I have: I visit my schools every year, usually once but, if there is something on, I will go again or, if there is a function, I will try to get to it, like many other members in this place, I would suggest.

Rapid Bay is an absolute delight; it is a fantastic little school. It has outstanding parental support, outstanding staff and outstanding students. I guess that is exemplified by no better example than the case of young Jessie, who goes to school down there—I cannot think of her surname off the top of my head—who is blind. She had one eye removed I think at birth and she had the other eye removed a few years ago.

Rapid Bay Primary School is the only school that she knows. She knows her way around the school from just before she lost the sight in her remaining eye. It is a joy to behold the way she gets around, but it is more of a joy to behold when the students perform the annual school play, performance or concert (call it what you may), which is held in the hall at Second Valley. Jessie is in every performance.

She is led up onto the stage by her friends in hand. She goes through all the dance routines and whatever is happening and she gets a great deal of pleasure out of it, but she is not excluded. The beauty of this small school is that she is entirely included. The challenge for Jessie will be when she has to move on to secondary education, which I do not know but more than likely will be in a specialised school in the metropolitan area, and I am sure she will cope with that well.

I regard it as a privilege to have Rapid Bay Primary School in my electorate. As I said, you wind your way down the hills, duck up around the oval and you come to this tiny little school nestled under these huge hills behind it. It is a terrific feeling to go down there and get the spirit of the school. They battle for resources. They work very hard to give their kids the best of everything, which they do. As I said, the parental support is fantastic, none better than through the governing council.

I have another couple of small campuses in my electorate. There is the Penneshaw campus of KI Community Education, which in round figures has around 70 children, but that varies too from time to time. I had the pleasure of visiting that campus just recently and met with school staff. Once again, they exuded positive vibes. What they are doing in the school is wonderful. I know many schools have community support, which is closely tied to the support they get from the parents and friends of the school, and Penneshaw is another example of that. They are very ably led by the head of campus, Leanne Woods, who is an outstanding individual, and I thoroughly enjoyed going around that school the other day.

Of course, that school struggles for resources, but KI Community Education, as I quickly alluded to yesterday, gives kids across Kangaroo Island the opportunity to participate through the three campuses. A number of the children from Penneshaw travel to Kingscote campus and Parndana campus for their senior secondary education, and the buses go back and forward and they are all brought together. The friendliness and the respect that is shown in that school is terrific. I went into some of the classrooms and the kids were all polite and attentive, and I think that is something that really gels in a small school community.

Likewise, there is the Parndana campus. In my heyday at school when the soldier settlement scheme was in full swing, from memory I think that campus had some 400 or 500 kids. Now it has just over 100. That is a sign of the times and a sign of blue gums also, which have been a disaster for the centre and west of Kangaroo Island. However, once again, the Parndana campus has made do.

They have in place a barramundi production operation, which is part of the agricultural side of the school. They are upgrading all their agricultural pursuits out there. They are re-fencing and they have a couple of very keen staff who support that side of it. It is a training centre, but it does give the kids a great deal of pleasure. The fish are fantastic, incidentally, and they actually supply Southern Ocean Lodge, the six-star lodge at Hanson Bay. All their barramundi comes from the Parndana campus.

The Parndana campus has also been very clever. With all of the buildings that were put up from when the school numbers were great, they have turned that into a camp that is used by visiting schools from the mainland, who come over and hire or rent that facility out. It is also used in the event of bushfires by CFS personnel. They stayed there the other day. This is another example of a small school that is going well outside its boundaries and capacity in many respects to achieve great things.

I think the efforts of the principal of KI Community Education, Mr Ian Kent, have been outstanding in keeping these things happening. One thing that does impact on small schools is bureaucracy from Adelaide. I think that stifles education in many areas, and centralised control is not a good thing. Attempts to push budget savings on some of these schools does them no good whatsoever.

I heard the member for Chaffey talk about the closure of the Lyrup school, which is unfortunate. I will be fighting like blazes to make sure that, while I am member, none of my schools or campuses close. They are absolutely critical to the future of their communities. They are a vital, central community asset and in many small towns things revolve around the schools. That is what they are there for. They are the centre of activity and people move into those communities around them.

That is probably exemplified, I would suggest, by yet another small school in my electorate, and that is Myponga. Myponga Primary School has around 140 students and takes in the catchment from Sellicks Beach. Sellicks Beach people have the opportunity to send their children north (as the member for Kaurna knows, from his time as member there) or they have the opportunity to send their children up the hill to Myponga. Half the students at Myponga come from Sellicks Beach. It has been a great success. Around 70 students come from Sellicks each day to Myponga. It is very ably managed by the principal, Annette Slater, whom I knew in another life under another name, and when I went to meet—

Mr Venning interjecting:

Mr PENGILLY: No, Ivan. When I went to meet the new principal last year, I walked in the door to meet Annette Slater and I saw this person, I said, 'You!', and she said, 'You!' back. She was Annette Black in another life and I had no idea she had remarried, so that has been a happy reunion.

The Hon. R.B. Such: Any other old girlfriends?

Mr PENGILLY: No, she's not an old girlfriend at all, member for Fisher. The fact of the matter is that these schools are critical and, I repeat, increasing amounts of centralised bureaucracy do no good at all. I hope that, on achieving government, the Liberal Party will seek to further enhance the direction of these small schools—all schools, for that matter, not just small schools. I thank the member for Stuart for putting forward this motion. I am very much in support of it and hope that the house votes in favour of it.

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (12:22): I also want to speak on this motion, and congratulate my colleague for highlighting the importance of schools in our country towns. I could not agree more. In my 22 years-plus in this place I have had firsthand experience of what can happen. As a rural member and having grown up in the country, I have experienced and seen firsthand how important these schools are to the local towns. There are 20 schools in my electorate. Six are private and three I would put in the larger category. How many have you got, Dan?

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: Forty-two.

Mr VENNING: That's rather large.

Mr Whetstone: I've got 58.

Mr VENNING: And 58 in Chaffey. So I've got 20, and that was a quick count. Can I say, the list is growing in my area. Schools are not closing so much, although we have lost a couple recently. Country schools give people a reason to travel to the town each day. Country schools act as a central hub for the local community. They bring the community together and create a sense of pride and ownership. School employees are not just educators: they are an integral part of those little communities. Employees join local sporting clubs, committees and service clubs.

If you close these schools, it is just the beginning of the end. First, the school goes, then the local hotel closes down, then the post office and the general store. People simply stop coming to the town because there are no longer services for them to access. They are taking their children to another school and that is usually where they get their bread and groceries and everything else. So that town closes down and the other town gains. Before long, we have got a town that resembles a ghost town. I have witnessed this firsthand. It is always risky to give examples but, not far from where I grew up, is a little township of Yacka.

Mr Brock: A beautiful town.

Mr VENNING: You would know this. It is in the member for Frome's electorate. When I first represented, I represented this school and, when I went there, I was very proud of it. But the school closed down, I think because of a dispute within the school community, and some of the families took their children away. Then the school closed because it got down to a level where it was not viable to keep it open. It should not have happened because, when you go to that town today, it is quite a large town, with lovely houses and lovely streets. The school closed down and, of course, it was not long after that that the hotel closed. The lovely Broughton Arms Hotel closed. Then the shop, at which I used to stop and have a coke on the way past, closed. Now there are no services left in Yacka. It is on the highway and it is a fair—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: The shop re-opened.

Mr VENNING: It is open again now, is it?

Mr van Holst Pellekaan interjecting:

Mr VENNING: On weekends. It is a long way for those people to get their services. It is Georgetown to the north or Clare to the south. It is a fair drive, so I feel for the community in Yacka. The member has just told me that they do have services on the weekend, so I must call in. That is an example of what happens. The same thing happened many years ago in other little communities like Narridy, Sedan, which is in my current electorate, the school there closed down four or five years ago, but it battles on, and Wandearah, which of course is very close to my old days, Wandearah East and West, all gone. If you go to those communities now you can see the ruins of these places. It is sad.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: Start talking about your own electorate.

Mr VENNING: I am talking about years ago, you see. Moculta has now closed, that is in my current electorate as is Rosedale. Rosedale has gone as well and Keyneton is now under threat, historic Keyneton with its lovely wine areas. I urge the government to acknowledge the importance of these small schools and their tireless contributions to the larger community. I know that people vote with their feet and often there is no option, particularly when the school size gets down to a very low number of students and it is common sense to close them, but I think that wherever possible if the government can it should promote them, particularly in relation to Yacka. I believe that if the government had intervened, if I had been able to get through the family disputes that were happening within that school, it would probably still be there and the Broughton Arms would still be open and I could still get my Coke in the main street of Yacka. I support the motion and the member.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (12:26): I likewise support this motion. I think it is important to remember that in this place we represent all of the people of South Australia. We are the parliament of and for South Australia, so it is important that we take note and take an interest and recognise what happens in rural and regional South Australia. I have within my electorate a small school at Clarendon. It is a wonderful school. At the moment it has, I think, about 70 students, but sometimes that number can vary. I went to their recent annual general meeting. I cannot get to all council meetings of schools but I try to get to as many of them as possible. I went to their graduation last December. I go to all the school graduations. Last year, they had about 11 students graduating (normally, it is probably a few less than that).

People bring their children from the member for Kaurna's electorate to attend the school. It has a Stephanie Alexander Kitchen, it has its own poultry, it has a strawberry farm (a little area for growing strawberries and other produce), and it is a wonderful school. It is like a big family. The new principal—he looks pretty young to me; anyone under 40 looks young these days—is Josh Anderson. It is a wonderful school. It is a pity that a lot of the smaller schools have disappeared. I went to one myself, when it was more rural, and that was Coromandel Valley Primary School. We had 70 students in total, with seven in year 7. It was a great experience. It was a fantastic little school.

It is a pity, as I say, that many of the smaller schools have disappeared. If my memory is correct, Dr Dean Jaensch attended a 1 to 7 school himself; I think he taught in one. It is ironical because you often hear parents say, 'I don't want my child in a composite class', as they call them (4, 5, 6 and 7), and yet for many years a lot of people grew up and attended a 1 to 7 school where the older children helped educate the younger ones and looked after them and the people who went to those schools had a fantastic education.

In my previous life, I was involved in training teachers for 18 years. I have trained quite a few, hopefully appropriately, and many of those teachers went out into country areas, as did people when I attended teachers' college. There was always a joke about being posted to Nunjikompita; the in-joke was that one of us would end up at Nunjikompita. I never—

Mr Treloar: There's nothing wrong with that.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: There's nothing wrong with that, no, but it was like the threat of going to the other end of the earth. I ended up being posted to Whyalla, which was an interesting experience in itself. A friend of mine named Phil—I will only use his first name—was posted to Moculta, which I just heard has now been closed. When Phil arrived there he thought he could match the locals in consuming port. He regretted that; he told me the following morning that he wished he could have died, because you cannot outdrink the port drinkers from that part of the Barossa. He lived to regret his bravado because I do not think his body was used to consuming the same amount of port.

As I have said, this is an important motion—and other members have made this point—because schools are the lifeblood of local communities, and it is sad and unfortunate that we are seeing this drift away from country living. If you go out to parts of the Mallee, you will see a lot of places with signs that read, 'Former school site'. On the road between Karoonda and Lameroo, I think it is, there is a little town with a very nice community hall. Hardly anyone lives there now, but there would have been a bustling school there many years ago.

What we are seeing is this continual drift away from the country, which is not good. I do not believe there is an easy answer to address this issue. I think a lot of people, particularly in their retirement years, might like to think about moving out to country towns, whether those country towns are small, medium-sized or larger. That may not add to the school population, but it would help maintain the viability of some of these areas. I support this motion and acknowledge that—as the old saying goes—from little things, big things grow; that is certainly the case with small country schools.

Mr BROCK (Frome) (12:32): I would also like to speak on this motion, and congratulate the member for Stuart for bringing it to the attention of the house. I do not know whether everyone realises the importance of schools to the existence of small country communities. As the member for Stuart has rightly indicated, regional schools provide not only education for students in rural areas, but also an opportunity for general stores, cafes, service stations and workshops. Without those schools, opportunities for regional employment in these industries will cease or go to another location.

We need to understand the importance of maintaining these small community schools, not only for education but also for the emergency services because, whilst people are still living within those communities, they become involved with the CFS, SES and other organisations. This, in turn, can help other people from metropolitan areas who may have an accident or get stuck while travelling through these regional communities. They are also vital in providing assistance if there are fires within those regions.

The member for Schubert indicated that he attended Wandearah. I went to the Wandearah North primary school, which consisted of one classroom for grades 1 to 7—I note the member for Goyder indicated he went to a similar school—and I also attended Pirie East primary school. I was there until year 7 and then had to go to a secondary school in Port Pirie.

Mr Pengilly: Did you get expelled?

Mr BROCK: I did not get expelled, I was promoted through the system, member for Finniss. At the small community schools, like Wandearah North and Pirie East Primary School, you learnt far more than if you were at a bigger school in the metropolitan area or the city, because once you got to year 3 or year 4 you were expected to go down and tutor or read primers (in those days) or readers to the year 1s and year 2s. That gave you a far better opportunity to be able to expand on your knowledge.

One of the biggest things in the small rural areas is the lifestyle. There is a far more meaningful life than in a bigger community in a big city or township. I then went to Risdon Park Primary School to finish year 7 and the culture shock was tremendous. There was not the same camaraderie and it was a bit different but we had to move in. Those schools, unfortunately, have now closed. The member for Schubert has indicated that they are now being utilised for halls or people are living in them.

The other thing we need to look at is that governments of the day look at the cost factor and that is one issue, but we also need to look at providing a good education for kids in rural areas. The member for Stuart covers an area that I used to cover when I was an area manager for BP Australia. It is a great area and there are some beautiful communities that have lost some of their schools. We do not want to lose any more schools, and I certainly did not want to lose any more primary schools or small schools in my electorate of Frome. I am sure that everybody on this side and, hopefully, on the other side of the house will ensure that we do not have any more closures.

I have visited some of these smaller schools, after obtaining permission from the relevant authority to enter, including Tarlee Primary School, Snowtown school, and also private schools. I was also at Brinkworth the other day for the SRCs. Students show great excitement when somebody goes there as they are not only showcasing to their parents and grandparents but they are also showcasing what they have done and what they are achieving to myself, as a member of parliament, or anybody else who may go there as a guest. That is very good, because it gives the young students an opportunity to interact with people from outside. They explain what they are doing and they can get guidance from people, whether it is a member of parliament, the mayor of the community, a counsellor or somebody going through.

I have a mixture of schools in my electorate, both state public and secondary schools, Catholic schools and a couple of Lutheran schools. In smaller communities the cooperation between the state public schools and the private schools is something to be believed. They all work together to ensure that they are covering each other and make sure that all the kids, whether they elect to go to a public school or a private school, have the best educational facilities.

One of the things we also have to be very aware of is that the government—whether it is this government or whether it is any government of the day, as I said earlier—is always looking at cost saving. One of the issues that we are having challenges with is the provision of school buses in rural areas. The decision for a child's education is being made by the parents. We have to ensure that, because a school might be getting below the qualified number for the DECS policy, we do not eliminate the school bus. Once a school bus has been eliminated it puts more onus on the parents to be able to get in there and some of these parents are working, so it is a cost factor.

I have a notice of motion later on to look at reviewing the local council concessions and also to completely review the PAT scheme. People in rural areas are finding it very challenging not only to maintain their farms and their existence but also with the ever-increasing utility costs.

The other thing I will mention is that one of the students at the Georgetown Primary School wrote me a letter, with the approval of the principal there at the time. When I got permission to go to that school and actually talk to that student, the student and the other students were so elated to be able to write to a member of parliament and for me to be able to go there. They are looking for a flagpole for the Aboriginal flag. I will be exploring opportunities to be able to get that flag through some means or other.

The Hon. I.F. Evans: Federal member.

Mr BROCK: The federal member—I have already spoken to Mr Ramsey and he knows about that. We also have to be very aware that we ensure that we do not look at anymore amalgamations in schools and their communities because smaller schools are the best way to learn.

I hear that in the city here there is a new school amalgamation that has got about 1,400 or 1,500 students in it. I am not too sure how that relates to their existence and them getting their education. I find that there is a lot of potential bullying in schools and, the more that you have in there, the harder it will be to control or get camaraderie there with the students. I think the member for Finniss indicated that he will fight in every way to ensure that no more schools are closed in his electorate. I will certainly be fighting very strongly and reinforcing my support to maintain the existing schools in my electorate of Frome.

I thank very sincerely the governing school councils, all the staff, all the SOs and also the general public of these small communities. As the member for Stuart said, they get in there, they maintain the activities, they maintain the schools, they maintain the grounds. I also thank the parents and friends association. It is very, very important that we acknowledge those people out there because they and a lot of the teachers do far in excess of what they actually get paid for.

Just in closing, the other thing I am finding is that some parents have a very hard existence out there. Just in my electorate of Frome, I support four breakfast clubs. There are clubs there where, basically, the parents are providing a breakfast for the students coming in because, believe it or not, there are some students who go to school with no breakfast and do not have a lunch. It is a poor state of affairs, not only for the state of South Australia but Australia, when we have got that happening, but I am very, very proud of the schools in my electorate—both the private and the state—and I am there to reinforce my support for everybody.

Mr PEGLER (Mount Gambier) (12:42): It is becoming a very learned day today, talking about schools. I actually went to a small school called Mil Lel. I started there when I was—

The Hon. R.B. Such: Cheese.

Mr PEGLER: Yes, they are also famous for their cheese. I went there at the age of eight—I did correspondence before that—and, when I went there, I think there were about 60 pupils, and I had not known that there were so many kids in the world. The other small schools in my electorate, outside of Mount Gambier, are Glenburnie, Yahl, Moorak, Kongorong, Suttontown, Compton and Allendale East.

Unfortunately, in recent years, we have lost O.B. Flat. I did not have a problem with that school closing so much because there were two other schools fairly close to them, but the saddest school to lose was the one at Tarpeena. That small town not only lost their school, but they lost their football club about four or five years ago and the town, as a community, struggles now because they do not have either the football club or the school to gather around.

I do not think that any of us recognise well enough what the impact of our schools and footy clubs, etc., in these small communities is on the social fabric of those communities. It is also a great way for the people within those communities, and particularly when new people move into those communities, to get to know each other. The children will all go to school there together and the parents meet each other at the working bees and various other functions around the school. I think that whenever we are looking at some of these small schools, we should also take very much into consideration the social impact that those schools have on those communities.

I would also like to say that the staff of those small schools do a hell of a lot of work outside school hours in those communities. They join in community functions and certainly become part of the community, so my thanks and congratulations also go to them. I indicate that I will be supporting this motion.

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (12:45): I too rise to support the motion from the member for Stuart. It has gained overwhelming support from this side of the house today, at least, all of us recognising the importance of schools to country towns. Most members who have spoken today are from country areas and many of us are the product of schools in country towns.

Large electorates mean that there are a high number of schools. A quick tally up, just prior to standing up, indicates that I have about 25 schools in the electorate of Flinders. It is a combination of some primary schools—some only go up to year 5, so they are very small schools—about 10 or a dozen areas schools, which are scattered right across the agricultural areas of the electorate, one large high school in the city of Port Lincoln, and three private schools, one in Ceduna and two in Port Lincoln.

I really do believe that nothing is more important than the education of a child. I have long held that belief. A good education lays the foundation not just for further education but also for life. Just as important as a good education to a child is a good education to a country child. I attended the Cummins Area School for the first part of my school life and enjoyed it immensely. It was a new area school in those days, a brand-new building. I started in the late sixties as the baby boomers were in school, and there were large numbers of students. New schools were being built in my hometown of Cummins.

We had outgrown the old school buildings. The old area school came into being in 1942 when a lot of the smaller schools in the district closed and students began to come into the local towns by school buses. Of course, this was, in the first instance, often privately run, but later the Education Department itself took over the role of providing school bus services to country kids. So, country kids were brought in from farms, often from many miles away, half an hour or three-quarters of an hour drive every morning and every night on the bus. They came in and were provided with an excellent education.

Often the school teachers were boarded out with farming families and drove the buses. I think part of the motion recognises the extremely valuable contribution that school staff make to both the education of local students and their communities more broadly. My first recollection of school teachers in our country town was that they were driving school buses and bringing us all to school for the day, and also that they were involved with the local community. Many of them played sport, of course, and sport is so important in these country areas. That was good way to have staff involved. They enjoyed it and took part in community life.

It was a long-held and standing joke that, at the beginning of each school year—and I do not mind discussing this because everybody recognises that it was a true fact—young teachers would be sent out in the country, particularly female teachers, who were warned by their parents, family and friends that they would never return, that they were destined to stay wherever their first posting was, and they would scoff. However, that was often the case.

In fact, many of the young female teachers who taught me when I was a primary school student did in fact marry local farmers and made lives for themselves in the country town, bringing up their own children. Many of them are still teaching today in that same school community. So, they have made a big contribution to not just the school but also the broader community.

I think country schools provide a fundamental service, not just to the town, but to the whole community. They help hold the community together and they provide a focus. Often, the school, particularly if it is an area school, is the biggest employer in town and is so valuable and so important. It is paramount, the importance of these schools in the local community.

Good country schools—and they are all good, I am sure—can actually help attract families to a town or area and help to maintain a strong local economy. The fact that a good school and a good education can be provided in a town sort of fosters the economic prosperity of that town, I have no doubt about that. So, they are very much a part of the fabric of the community, providing a vital service to future generations of country people.

As I said, I spent part of my schooling at least at the Cummins Area School, as did my parents and at least one set of grandparents before me. My own children, who were here just earlier today, who incidentally have started university, also spent a big part of their school life at the local area school. As I said, there are about 25 schools in the electorate of Flinders. I try to maintain involvement with all of them; we have dialogue with all of them.

One of the initiatives I have taken is to provide on an annual basis a parliamentary medallion. I offer to all of the schools a medallion on behalf of myself to be offered as an end-of-year prize to be used for whatever reason the school sees fit to bestow. Many of them recognise academic excellence, but many also recognise a contribution to school life more generally. I am very supportive of that. I get along to those end-of-year celebrations as I can. Obviously with large distances and a high number of schools, it is not possible to get to every school for every end-of-year presentation day, but we certainly do our best, as do other members of parliament in this place I know.

I am also involved in particular with the Mentoring EP program, which has been fostered in the Port Lincoln High School. It is the initiative of one of the teachers there, Mr Garry Downey. He has set up an excellent program which provides a mentor to quite a large number of students—between 20 and 30 students each year. I am particularly proud of Garry and his work and would dearly love to talk about it.

I have taken on the role of patron of this particular program—it is called Mentoring EP. We all know that some students are challenged by school life and do not always have the ability or opportunity to finish their schooling. This mentoring program draws on the broader community to provide mentoring to some of these students, and not just to those students who are challenged, but also those students who are really doing well and want to achieve to their very best. Mentors are provided for those, as well. So, it has been a really successful program. I think the success is measured by the number of participants. Just this year we are looking to roll that program out into the second largest school in the electorate of Flinders up at Ceduna.

As I said, our schools are spread right from Penong to Port Lincoln to Cowell and everywhere in between. A lot of our rural schools provide trade training. Of particular note is the agricultural course at the Cleve Area School. That is renowned around the state, and students attend the Cleve Area School from right around the regional areas of South Australia just to take part in that agricultural course. Cowell is undertaking an aquaculture training course and specialises in aquaculture because Cowell, of course, is so important for its oysters.

Streaky Bay, I understand, is also offering aquaculture. Interestingly, Streaky Bay Area School is certainly the only school I have come across that has its own vineyard. I have tasted the produce of Blanche Port Estate—truly excellent. It just gives students once again the opportunity to get their hands dirty, to undertake a task that has real relevance to the broader world. The Cummins Area School, which I spoke about earlier, has a led steer program, and each year the students undertake cattle husbandry and bring their steers across to the Royal Adelaide Show.

Some of these courses and extracurricular activities are really character building and I congratulate the schools involved and the education department for supporting them. This is a fantastic motion from the member for Stuart. He has received overwhelming support from this side of the house at least. I certainly hope that the government also decide to support both this motion and education in our regional areas.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:55): I too rise to support the motion by the member for Stuart, that this house notes the importance of schools to country towns and recognises the extremely valuable contributions that the school staff make to both the education of local students and their communities more broadly. I will declare a small interest: my wife worked a few hours at the local Coomandook Area School last year and is doing so again this year, which I believe is very handy for her work-life balance and also for the education of our children.

There are many smaller schools in the electorate of Hammond, including: East Murray, Geranium, the award-winning Mypolonga school, Langhorne Creek, Milang, Jervois, Goolwa, Coonalpyn—which is a school just outside my electorate but many of my constituents' children attend—and Tailem Bend, which is a larger primary school in the area. There are also area schools, including Coomandook, Lameroo and Karoonda, and a range of public and private schools at Murray Bridge giving a broad range of education outcomes for students.

The contribution of schools to communities is undeniable. As the member for Flinders indicated, over time young teachers have come out to country areas and a lot have not gone back to the city, and it has been fantastic. Some of these newly-qualified teachers especially do not realise how good it is out in the country areas. It has been great to see, from a long way back when I was at school in the late 1960s through to the 1970s, people still teaching today who were there when I was a student. They may only be doing contract work or filling in as needed, but it is just fantastic.

I note that this tradition is still ongoing. Several young female teachers especially that have come into my local area at Coomandook have found partners on the land. I was talking to one teacher the other night at a local function and I said how fantastic it was that she had made her home in the local area and was making great advances in educating our children, along with the other teachers.

This has been going on for a long time. It used to be a bit simpler sometimes for local farmers to meet young teachers because they used to board with the families. For instance, my next door neighbour (I won't put his name in) not that many years ago—and sadly the teacher has since passed away—essentially just had to slide up the breakfast bench to meet his future partner in life, and I think that was a great outcome.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: Well chaperoned at the time.

Mr PEDERICK: Absolutely well chaperoned at the time, member for Stuart. That is a great outcome for country communities. When you are a small community and you have people come in like this—and I know I have concentrated on the female teachers, but certainly there have been some male teachers as well who have done the same thing and have stayed in communities for a long, long time. It is so pleasing to see that this has happened. Sadly, it is not as simple as that any more. People all have houses and that is fair enough, or different teachers share a house together locally, but they do make a great contribution to society.

The contribution that schools make is undeniable. The economic contribution is huge. When I look at a local school like mine at Coomandook, we have the only functioning small store between Tailem Bend and Tintinara, apart from roadhouses. It is undeniable that the economic impact of these schools on a community runs into many millions of dollars right throughout the regional areas.

Debate adjourned.


[Sitting suspended from 13:00 to 14:00]


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HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT