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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-06-20 Daily Xml
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King Electorate

Ms LUETHEN (King) (15:25): I have been focused on discussing how I can best support the schools and the school communities in King. There is so much good news to share that I will continue to use this time in future to highlight our King schools' great outcomes.

A concern raised by independent schools has been fee remission, with more families struggling with the cost of living. Schools are now finding that they need more fundraising to support families struggling in these situations, to support individual students in their pursuits and to fund school-based trips. The Marshall Liberal government's focus on and delivery of more jobs and on lowering costs of living will help families who are feeling this pressure and enable them to continue to have the choice of where to send their children to school.

Across King, at public and private schools student wellbeing, mental health support and child protection issues have been raised with me. Salisbury East High School discussed with me their strong focus on wellbeing programs at their school. Examples of these include psychology programs for students, GP visits to see students, and counselling services available for students. They say these programs are working well. The school also has effective alternative learning programs, which include the SEAL program and a special support class.

I wish to commend Salisbury East High School star 10-pin bowler Josh Keen-Copland, who recently finished 19th overall while representing Team SA in an Australia-wide competition. Taking part in the State Shield in Frankston, our year 10 student did exceptionally well against the country's best bowlers. In addition, our highly talented year 9 specialist soccer boys from Salisbury East High School were successful in winning both divisions of the northern zone competition.

At the Golden Grove Primary School, which I visited with the federal education minister, we were told about the strong focus on improvements to literacy and numeracy, as well as a strong focus on stretch in learning across all ages and abilities. The school also believes in focusing on wellbeing for students and supporting students to make them aware and more resilient on issues including bullying, anxiety, mental health support and child protection.

The Golden Grove Primary School leadership and teaching team is very committed to effectively delivering the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum to help children and young people to, in an age-appropriate way, recognise abuse, tell a trusted adult, and learn strategies to keep themselves safe. The federal education minister and I were able to observe the delivery of a topic from this curriculum to a class, and it was extremely interactive. Children were actively engaged in describing what it feels like to be safe and to be unsafe.

We were told that the children also have the opportunity to submit feedback to teachers in a more private way, such as submitting notes to teachers if they do not want to share their concerns or thoughts with the class. I thank Wendy Moore, principal of Golden Grove Primary School, for her years of ongoing dedication in leading the way on delivery of this important curriculum.

Student wellbeing has been a big growth area for Pedare Christian College recently, as well, around awareness and supporting peers. We were also fortunate to view a video walk-through at Pedare Christian College of the new premises, where they will have the junior campus co-located with the middle and senior campuses. This is delivery of their 'one college, one campus' vision.

The health and wellbeing of students is also really important to Tindale Christian School. The school has now hired two social workers and offers a separate counselling program. There are even two gorgeous dogs on the premises available for wellbeing uses for children. Last year, I attended the year 12 graduation ceremony for Tyndale. A special memory for me was hearing the students say that they are 'Tyndalians', a word which they fondly use and which reflects their pride in being part of this special community. I visited many schools, and I thank the Speaker, and will continue to share the good job that is happening in these communities.

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