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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-10 Daily Xml
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Hampstead Primary School

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (16:38): In December last year, Hampstead Primary School in my electorate of Torrens was the victim of a suspected arson attack. The fire caused severe damage to the hub of the school, leaving burnt-out shells among the remaining buildings. I witnessed the devastation on some of the faces of some of the families who visited the site on the days following the fire. I spoke to the school principal to offer my support to the community and to hear plans on how the school would resume at the beginning of the 2020 school year.

On day one of the school year the Minister for Education visited Hampstead Primary School, taken by the school community as an indication that they would be supported by him on the road to a quick recovery. In fact, he did a video at the front of the school. He even posted the visit on his Facebook page, saying that this year the students were going to have 'a fantastic experience with the learning experience unimpeded'. Well, unfortunately that has not been the case.

The school community has been very patient for eight months, putting up with the untouched burnt shell in the middle of the school, a situation that has seen the year 5 to 7s isolated from the rest of the school, as there is no access through the charred building. In addition, without a general-purpose room for incursions, indoor physical education and coordination programs, students are missing out.

Also, as a result of the fire there is only one suitable space for a meeting room, which is having to be shared by occupational therapists, psychologists and other support services. The valued and much-loved Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden program has been abandoned because the kitchen has had to be the staffroom. This means that the students miss out on the associated learning of the garden, the cooking of healthy foods and related lessons.

Without an art room space, lessons this year have to take place in the performing arts room, impacting on other lessons and subsequently resulting in a loss of other school programs. This was not what was envisaged at the beginning of the 2020 school year. Students have described the burnt-out shell as being 'a bit scary' and, for potential students and their families, a school tour is not what it should be.

The leadership team, teachers and support staff have been amazing in their resilience and dedication to providing quality learning experiences for these young students, students who every day are confronted with the consequences of this appalling act of arson on their school, a place in which they should always feel safe. Some are refugees, and they have already experienced situations that cause severe anxiety.

These young children should not have to be greeted each day by metal fencing across a burnt-out shell and lessons in makeshift rooms. Together, they have waited far too long without a clear plan for their school. They deserve better than this. Our educators have been put under immense pressure this year due to COVID-19, and to have eight months without suitable infrastructure is simply not acceptable.

I am waiting to hear back from the minister regarding my letter outlining concerns about the situation and my request for an urgent meeting. I understand the need to safely remove the charred building, but it appears there have been numerous opportunities during the school holidays that have been missed, and the temporary modular classroom should have been installed months ago.

The school needs to be informed about the immediate plans being put in place for Hampstead Primary School. They need to be assured they will receive the necessary infrastructure without delay, providing the educational learning and teaching environment we expect in 2020. This needs to be a priority for the department, and the minister should ensure that the required resources are immediately made available for this to happen. It would seem sensible that the opportunity is also provided to the school to include some changes to the infrastructure as part of the build that would meet the school's need now and into the future. It should not be a missed opportunity.

Hampstead Primary School offers an excellent array of educational programs and support to its students—language learning classes, celebrations of the many cultures that make up the school community, specialist STEM centre, Aboriginal language learning and 1:1 mobile devices. Today, I call on the Minister for Education to intervene and to get moving the infrastructure build for Hampstead Primary School so the school community can put the ashes and the burnt remnants behind them. The students, teaching staff and the school community of Hampstead Primary School deserve nothing less. Eight months is a long time. The time to have it fixed is now.

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