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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-03-04 Daily Xml
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Public Works Committee: Greenwith Primary School Redevelopment

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:24): I move:

That the 92nd report of the committee for the Fifty-Fourth Parliament, entitled Greenwith Primary School Redevelopment Project, be noted.

Mr Speaker, as you will know, but particularly the member for King will also know, Greenwith Primary School is located on Golden Grove Road, Greenwith, in the City of Tea Tree Gully. Greenwith Primary School was allocated funding of $5 million as part of the Department for Education's capital works program.

The proposed redevelopment will consist of demolition and new works to accommodate 750 students on the Greenwith Primary School site. The key drivers for the redevelopment proposal are to provide accommodation and support contemporary teaching and learning, to demolish aged relocatable accommodation on the school site, including removing asbestos, and to improve street presence and the school's connectivity to the community.

The redevelopment project will provide modern educational accommodation, will meet legislative compliance requirements and deliver the department's benchmark accommodation for students in a primary school. The key outcomes at the completion of this project will be to provide contemporary learning areas to support 21st century learning pedagogy, to develop creative, flexible learning spaces to enhance student engagement and allow collaborative teaching practices, and to replace aged buildings with new, more efficient facilities.

The proposed redevelopment at Greenwith Primary School will be staged, with construction expected to be completed in the course of this year. The committee examined written and oral evidence in relation to this project and received assurances that the appropriate consultation had been undertaken. The committee is satisfied that the proposal has been subject to the appropriate agency consultation and 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 proposed public works. It is also important for me to emphasise the passion, commitment and determination of the member for King to see this project through. She is closely familiar with the needs of this school community and of students across her community and families, who are very appreciative of her ongoing advocacy, and she should be particularly proud this day, as we are as well.

Ms LUETHEN (King) (11:26): It is with great pleasure that I rise to speak about this upgrade at the Greenwith Primary School. I thank the Public Works Committee and the member for Kavel for all their fantastic work to recommend this and get it to this point as well. This is a $5 million facility upgrade, thanks to the Marshall Liberal government, delivering for the local King community. It is a new two-storey permanent modular facility, including general learning areas, service learning areas, performance-based practice, withdrawal rooms, breakout spaces, teacher preparation space and disability access toilets in this upgrade.

It has been going since November 2020, and we have had to make quite a few changes with the construction going on. I want to thank the local community for their patience and adjusting the way that they do their drop-offs so that this construction can take place. I want to thank the school for the wonderful communications they have put out, letting people know how this will take place, how we can adjust in terms of where we are kissing and dropping our children with the gates closed around this area.

What has also been excellent is the way that this build has been planned so it is both on site and off site, to help the school community be able to get on with going to school while this exciting build takes place and to ensure the safety of everyone during this time. I am advised that the construction is expected to be completed over the next couple of months, which is very exciting. The Department for Education is keeping the community and stakeholders updated as this important project progresses.

I want to thank all the stakeholders, the school and local community for their ongoing support for Greenwith Primary School. We look forward to celebrating these wonderful new school facilities once they are all complete. We were very fortunate to have the input of our 2020 school leaders into the important learning information on what this new building would look like. I want to thank every community member and every student who had input into how we could create a world-class environment in Greenwith and how we will deliver our school services, both now and after this build takes place.

I commend the educators and leaders at Greenwith Primary School for the way they have included the students in this build. There are lots of fantastic photos of the students being involved in the planning of this site and the students having their say. In addition, during the pandemic, even more widely in the seat of King, the Marshall Liberal government has fast-tracked maintenance on projects as part of the $32 million stimulus package to support our schools. There is certainly lots of building going on in the seat of King.

Just over a week ago, I attended the Greenwith Primary School AGM and I want to thank every member there and the principal for running an excellent AGM. The principal, Tanja Antoun, gave her update, and what really stood out was the amount that has been achieved in the past 12 months during the pandemic, not only on this build but also at the school. So much progress has been made and the school community should feel proud of what is happening at Greenwith Primary School.

I want to thank all the new members of the committee who put their hand up to be part of the governing council as well. I look forward to catching up with the new chair and the principal in Parliament House very soon as well. I also want to thank the Minister for Education for his visits to Greenwith Primary School and for supporting the collaborative way in which the build and the designs have been taking place and for his support for all the schools in the King community. Thank you to everyone involved for helping us make the progress to deliver what matters in the seat of King.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (11:31): I will not repeat some of the excellent words that have been put forward already by the member for Kavel as the Chair of the Public Works Committee and the member for King as the passionate local member who is very interested in the redevelopment of the Greenwith Primary School. But I would like to say a couple of extra things to briefly summarise what is a $5 million project.

They are outstanding 21st century world-class modular facilities that are replacing some very aged and dated facilities at a school that is thriving, a school that when I have visited it has had engaged students, passionate educators and very strong leadership from the principal, Tanja Antoun. The governing council I am sure—which, as we have been advised by the member for King, has a number of new members—will find the completion of this project in the coming months an outstanding launch for the rest of their term and for all the students who will benefit from it in the years ahead.

I would like to briefly congratulate the architects, Das Studio, and the builders, Sarah Constructions, an outstanding South Australian firm, who are working with the department and with the project managers at Sensum to make sure this project goes extremely well. We cannot wait to see the completed works not too far away. I look forward to seeing the students being able to access these facilities before the end of this year.

Greenwith Primary School is an interesting location in that it shares its campus with one of the local Catholic primary schools. There is even a shared reception area and a number of shared facilities. The kids get along very well, as kids tend to do. I commend the leadership and the schools for the way that they can do that in a collaborative way. I also identify their collaboration with the local council and I am pleased to say that some of the shared use facilities are with the council.

We have been working with the school, through the department's legal services team and the council, and that long discussion has concluded in what I believe is a positive way. The school's continued use and the council's continued shared facilities will be an outstanding benefit to the local community, particularly to the students of this school. I look forward to seeing the project completed on time and on budget.

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:33): I earlier mentioned that it is a great pleasure to bring this project forward. I think that all members present have benefited from the member for King outlining some of the benefits for her community, in addition to the benefits that the minister and I have outlined. I said earlier that it is a proud day for all of us. It should be a very proud day too for the member for King.

I emphasise that point because she has been a very strong advocate, not just in relation to this project but also in relation to a large number of other projects that come before the Public Works Committee. I am very appreciative of her consistently raising with me matters important to her community in relation to public works and I am sure the minister, if he were still on his feet and had additional time, would emphasise that too. The number of times that she is in front of ministers is extraordinary. She is an absolute champion for her community, and we are very appreciative of the work that she has done to see this project to completion.

Motion carried.

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