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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-02-04 Daily Xml
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Public Works Committee: Wirreanda Secondary School Redevelopment

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:47): I move:

That the 78th report of the committee for the Fifty-Fourth Parliament, entitled Wirreanda Secondary School Redevelopment Project, be noted.

Mr Deputy Speaker, as you would be aware, Wirreanda Secondary School is located on Richards Drive, Morphett Vale, in the City of Onkaparinga. The school was selected as a pilot school offering year 7 in high school in 2020. In consequence, the school now provides for years 7 to 12 and runs a number of programs, including specialist sports, special options, the Wirreanda Adaptive Vocational Education (WAVE) program, a specialist program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) students and vocational education and training, and it is linked to the Science and Maths Academy at Flinders.

The proposed redevelopment of Wirreanda Secondary School will provide sufficient capacity to accommodate 1,300 students. That scope for future enrolment is expected to cater for enrolment growth, which includes the transition of year 7 into high school, as I have earlier mentioned.

The proposed scope of the redevelopment works includes refurbishment of existing facilities and new construction as well as demolition of aged transportable buildings and landscaping works. The total project funding for the redevelopment is $11.46 million. Construction of the Wirreanda Secondary School project is expected to be complete by October 2021.

The committee examined written evidence in relation to this project and received assurances that the appropriate agency consultation had been undertaken. The committee is satisfied in consequence that the proposal meets the criteria for the examination of projects as described in the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991. Based on the evidence considered and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the scope of the proposed public works that I have described to the house.

Ms COOK (Hurtle Vale) (11:49): I would like to speak in support of the project from the Public Works Committee for Wirreanda Secondary School, which currently sits in the electorate of Hurtle Vale. Moving forward, it will serve the electorate of Hurtle Vale on the boundaries, but it will sit just outside. It flicks around a little bit.

I have had a good connection with Wirreanda Secondary School for a long time. It is very ably led by an amazing principal, Caroline Fishpool, who is a no-nonsense, highly connected and very intuitive principal for a school that has quite a diverse community. There is a reasonably high percentage of young people at the school who have increased needs, and young people from Aboriginal background. Caroline Fishpool, along with chair Colin Jevons, who I think will be re-elected as chair; he certainly has signed up for another two years on the governing council—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: Tell us more.

Ms COOK: Yes, I would hope that he continues in that role, because they are a formidable team of advocacy and very connected to the community. This project, which now totals more than $11 million, originally had $9 million committed in 2017 under Building Better Schools. It has had a little bit of additional funding put into it, and the school and the community are very grateful to the government and the education minister for doing that. This project backs onto a beautiful project in the STEM space that was completed and opened. I attended the opening with the education minister probably the year before last now—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: June 2019.

Ms COOK: —yes, 2019—to see a really open, light and innovative space that is being used wonderfully well by the school.

I have every confidence, given this large amount of money, in the vision around the upgrade to entrances, for getting rid of transportable classrooms that are outdated and uncomfortable, and for providing a wonderful upgrade to the gym so that we can see some additional offerings in terms of the performing arts opportunities from a school that has such an enormously talented bunch of students. They are very creative. I always enjoy going to their performing arts shows and end-of-year functions and seeing what the school offers.

Wirreanda has had a long history as a specialist sports school. Of course, it is not that long ago, because I was only a teenager of course—so it is very recent—that they were highly competitive in netball, football and other team sports, and that continues. Their sports days are outstanding. I wanted to speak not just in support of the project but about the school itself, which is growing. It has tipped the 1,000 student mark and is anticipated to tip up to the 1,200 student mark. That is probably their sweet spot in terms of their growth, and I look forward to continuing the relationship with the school.

Again, I thank the principal, Caroline Fishpool, and the governing council chair (perhaps in the future as well), Colin Jevons. We await the election in the democratic way. I thank all involved in the planning and support of this project, including the government. I look forward to seeing it evolve over the next 12 months.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (11:53): It is a real pleasure to be able to speak about the building works underway at Wirreanda Secondary School and the other works that have been underway for some time in terms of some of their other projects. Particularly, as one of our pilot sites for bringing year 7 into high school a couple of years before the rest of the state, and for some of the lessons that we have learnt from Wirreanda, the innovations that have been undertaken there have been terrific.

I do not think I have ever heard a speech by the member for Hurtle Vale with which I have agreed so much, so I just commend the member for Hurtle Vale for that outstanding contribution—definitely at the peak of her list today—and I also thank the member for Kavel who summarised the work on the Public Works Committee in an outstanding way. I make no reflection on the governing council arrangements there which, from the sounds of things, there may be things that the member for Hurtle Vale knows that I do not. Other than that, I endorse every single thing she said.

Wiltshire Swain are the architects. The builders are FDC Construction and Fitout. As the member for Hurtle Vale and the member for Kavel identified, it is an $11.5 million commitment. The former government put forward some of that money. The current government has enhanced that offering so that the capacity of the school will be built to 1,300. Indeed, the year 7s are already on site at Wirreanda, and every piece of feedback I have had is that that has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for those students, for those families and for the school community.

The work that is done at Wirreanda in the teaching and learning space is exemplary. I commend Caroline Fishpool and her team for doing that. Caroline, I am sure, will not mind me saying that it is being enhanced as a result of the year 7 project, as this is one of the schools where we have already identified a number of experienced primary school teachers who had an interest in working in a secondary school going forward as a result of the move of year 7 to high school.

Every year around South Australia we have retirements and we have 1,000 new teachers needed, and we have population growth. Next year, that increases substantially with the move of year 7 into high school, because the high school effectively has a lower teacher-to-student ratio spread across the school as we have more specialist teachers.

There is a big intake of teachers coming next year, and we are eager for a number of those to be former primary school teachers, not just to satisfy the requirements of the number of teachers in each school—that will resolve itself, I am confident, reasonably easily—but also because primary school teachers, while they need to develop the specialisation to teach in a high school, bring with them an understanding of the needs of 12, 13 and 14 year olds, which enhances the junior secondary offering in the high school context.

Across our high schools around South Australia, there is some significant professional development work being done from both directions, ensuring that we are giving those primary school teachers who want to move to the depth and understanding of teaching a specialist subject in high school. Many of them, of course, are people who are able to find the thing that they were passionate about before they became a primary school teacher and then go into that.

It could be that they were a history major before they did a teaching degree and now they can become a history teacher. It could be, as was the teacher I met at Wirreanda, somebody who loved teaching art. Although they could do that at bit in primary school, now they are at Wirreanda—I think I have the right person—they are a specialist arts teacher and loving it, but they bring the experience and understanding of teaching in a primary school setting to people at the junior secondary year levels. That is one body of work.

The second body of work we are doing is to ensure that people whose background is entirely high school, whether it is principals or teachers in certain areas, have an understanding of the dispositions of a junior secondary student as well. The year 7 project has really inspired the system to enhance that junior secondary offering. That will be great for the year 7s, who will have the benefits of us understanding the way that they think and the way that they act as well as them being able to do specialist subjects.

It is also going to have massive flow-on benefits for the year 8s and 9s, who will benefit from the extra expertise in the junior secondary mindset of teachers across our high schools. That is a really positive outcome, and it is certainly something that has been drilled home to me in the number of times I have engaged with the teaching staff at Wirreanda Secondary School. Caroline and her team welcomed the former primary school teachers who are with them, as I am sure high schools around South Australia will welcome the primary school teachers who will be joining their ranks shortly.

Time is short, so I will leave it there, other than to say I cannot wait to see this work completed. I do not want to jinx it, but I can inform the house that at this moment in time this project is running well ahead of schedule. We hope that, although the promised completion date is the end of October, we may well have some of these buildings ready to use in term 3. That is not a promise but an aspiration, but it is one I hope will come true.

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:58): I acknowledge and thank the member for Hurtle Vale and, of course, the minister for their contributions. Also, it is right for me to emphasise the considerable role of the school community, the school governing council and of course the principal in ensuring that this project can be seen through and ensuring that it meets the ongoing needs of the school community. Of course, the member for Hurtle Vale and the minister have rightly identified Caroline Fishpool and her extraordinary work in ensuring the needs of the school can be met, and Colin Jevons, notwithstanding the election forthcoming for the governing council. We await the outcome and advice further from the member for Hurtle Vale in the respect.

Can I say, too, that it is always pleasing to hear an informed and passionate local member give a strong endorsement of the work that is being undertaken by the government but also to hear specifically that member's deep knowledge and commitment to a school community. We certainly appreciate the member for Hurtle Vale's contribution today. As I have earlier remarked, the minister has seen through an extraordinary scope of work right across the state for public education, and I am very appreciative and proud to have seen that as a member of this government.

Motion carried.

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