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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-05-27 Daily Xml
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Public Works Committee: Christies Beach High School Redevelopment

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:10): I move:

That the 108th report of the committee for the Fifty-Fourth Parliament, entitled Christies Beach High School Redevelopment Project, be noted.

Christies Beach High School is located on Morton Road, Christie Downs, within the City of Onkaparinga. Christies Beach High School provides a curriculum that focuses on a number of specialist areas, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), arts and design technology.

The Department for Education has advised that Christies Beach High School was allocated funding of $8 million as part of the Department for Education's capital works program announced in October 2017. This funding was confirmed on the change of government in March 2018. The budget is currently under review and is proposed to increase to $7.586 million, partly as a result of the high school contributing additional funds to the project.

The redevelopment will consist of demolition, new works and refurbishment of existing facilities to accommodate 1,100 students on the Christies Beach High School site. For the benefit of members, the Christies Beach High School redevelopment project includes the following scope of works:

extension and refurbishment to create administration facilities, student services, the library resource centre, science laboratories and general learning areas;

refurbishment to create general learning areas and breakout spaces to accommodate year 7;

extension and refurbishment to accommodate relocated art facilities;

the demolition of transportable buildings;

provision of a new school entryway and frontage; and,

provision of car parks and associated external works, including external lighting, as would be required.

Construction for the redevelopment project is expected to be complete by about October this year.

The committee examined written and oral evidence in relation to this project and received assurances that the appropriate consultation in respect to the project had been undertaken. The committee is satisfied that the proposal has been subject to the appropriate consultation required for the criteria for 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 has pleasure in reporting to the house that it recommends the proposed scope of public works that I have described to the house this morning.

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (11:13): More good news from the south, with funding provided by the previous Labor government in this upgrade to the Christies Beach High School. As I mentioned earlier, just last night the member for Reynell and I hosted the Student Voice leaders from Christies Beach High School, some inspiring young people who have put up their hands to represent people at Christies Beach High School, into the parliament.

We were absolutely impressed by the strength of character, leadership, ethics and values on display by those students who visited the parliament. All those students were very excited about what is happening at their school, including these massive redevelopments underway thanks to the funding that was provided under the previous Labor government for substantial works.

Three batches of works were provided funding over the time that I have been elected to parliament. The first was in relation to the disability unit at Christies Beach High School, which was in a very dire state with very poor facilities. These have now been completely remodelled into some absolutely first-rate facilities for those very important classes that take place at Christies Beach High School. Secondly, we were able to get the funding for the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) units at the school, which has really improved the standard of those learning facilities for students. Lastly, this additional funding, provided in 2017 under the previous Labor government, provided for significant upgrades across the school.

The combination of works that were provided funding in the last term of government are now leading to the school being transformed, students having access to the best possible learning facilities and Christies Beach High School now really being an exemplar in terms of the facilities it has available for students.

Christies Beach High School is in the electorate of Reynell at the moment, but of course some of its catchment is in the electorate of Kaurna. However, the new electoral boundaries mean that the school will then be in the electorate of Kaurna. I am looking forward to working closely with the school, as I have been, and really strengthening it as it moves into the Kaurna electorate.

We have an opening coming up for these facilities, which will be very exciting. I understand that the school has now put in a significant amount of its own funding as well to see these facilities developed. I believe there was some scaling back of the funding provided from central funds when the Liberal government came to office, as they diverted some funds to other facilities across the state.

Luckily, the school was able to provide some funds from its own account to enable the scope of works to continue and to make sure that the appropriate level of facilities are being built so that we can see the kids who are at Christies Beach get the best possible facilities and the best possible start in life. Investing in our young people in the south is what I am absolutely passionate about. I am really delighted to see this project come to fruition.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (11:17): I am pleased to contribute briefly in noting the Public Works Committee's report on the upgrade of the Christies Beach High School. In doing so, I indicate that I am very pleased to be part of a government that is delivering on $1.3 billion of works across our public education system. This includes, of course, some $700 million of works for a range of facilities, identified in 2017 at the end of Labor's time in office when they sold the lands titles office.

It includes the delivery of three new schools that were announced at the end of 2017 and committed to by the Liberal government, newly elected in 2018, and a fourth new school in Goolwa that was committed to by the Liberal government since coming to office. It includes hundreds of millions of dollars of extra works required to upgrade old facilities in our public school system around South Australia to increase the capacity of our schools to meet the growing population in our state and to deliver on our commitment to move year 7s into high schools.

This is a school, along with many other high schools across South Australia, that is looking forward to welcoming year 7s into high school next year. It is a very exciting opportunity for our current year 6 students to know that they will be the first group of year 7s in high school across the whole of the South Australian public school system, albeit the last group of year 7s to be in high school in any sector in any state in Australia. This is something we should have done years and years ago. Nevertheless, we are very excited to be delivering on the opportunity for these students to have subject specialist teachers in specialist learning environments, as designed by the national curriculum.

The work that is being done at Christies Beach High School is tremendous. I congratulate principal, Graham Clark, and his team on the work that they are doing, as did the member for Kaurna, and as I think he did on behalf of the member for Reynell, and indeed as the member for Kavel did as the Chair of the Public Works Committee. I was at Christies Beach High School in August last year and spent some significant time with Graham and some of the staff and in talking with some of the students.

They have some terrific programs. They have a vocational education program that is being delivered by a teacher I met who had substantial experience in industry, working in the field that he was then engaged in as a teacher. His life experience, in addition to his high-quality teaching practice, is supporting many students at that school in their vocational pathways going forward already.

The work that he will be able to do and the work that the other teachers will be able to do when they have that earlier exposure to students—who are maybe considering having a vocational pathway at the year 7 and year 8 level, having some exposure to the career counselling enhancements at year 9 and year 10 and the vocational flexible industry pathways at year 11 and year 12 as a result of the Marshall Liberal government's reforms to vocational education—will be transformative and will help those students to excel even more.

The member for Kaurna reflected on some of the enhancements to the disability units and the STEM facilities that were delivered in recent years at Christies Beach High School. They are not only spaces where teaching and learning are able to be done in a fresher, more modern environment, but the teachers at the school are really grasping the opportunity and running with it, reforming the way that they are delivering the curriculum. The students I spoke to, who are enjoying those facilities, very much appreciate them. I think this further enhancement will enable the quality practice that is underway at the Christies Beach High School to touch the lives of more students in a positive way.

The current enrolment is 712, and the capacity next year will be 1,100. I congratulate Flightpath Architects and Pike Constructions on the work they are doing. We are on track for completion in August. This is also enhanced by the work that the Marshall Liberal government did in 2018 to deliver high-speed internet technology to all our schools around South Australia. Christies Beach High School was one of the first schools to be connected in March 2019 and that was part of a project that saw this critical part of infrastructure in our schools.

Internet technology is not an optional extra in our schools; it is a critical part of what must be delivered in the curriculum, particularly in high schools. Taking South Australia's public schools from being on the lowest and slowest internet speeds in the nation, certainly on the mainland, to the fastest in the nation—some schools reporting more than 1,000 times faster connectivity—has also transformed the way that particularly technology subjects, and also a range of other things, are able to be delivered in the classroom.

The redevelopment includes the redevelopment of three buildings to provide modern learning environments with additional capacity for the year 7 transition, refurbishment of two levels of the senior school science, humanities and the relocated resource centre, student services, reception and administration, including a new entry foyer on the ground level. There is also refurbishment of the ground floor of a building to accommodate the relocation of year 9 students and the refurbishment of the ground floor of another building to accommodate art studies.

There is an upgrade to the front of the school to improve street appeal and presence within the Noarlunga Regional Centre, including landscaping, a seismic upgrade to a building with additional steel bracing, additional staff car parks, external lighting and the demolition of some aged infrastructure.

I commend the comments of the member for Kavel in particular. I thank the member for Reynell and the member for Kaurna for the engagement they had with their students at this exceptional school last night. I look forward to hearing the member from Reynell, who I am sure will also reflect on last night's function with students. It sounds like it was a tremendous night and it certainly reflects the positive engagement I had with the school in August last year.

I think the students at Christies Beach High School are very much going to enjoy these upgrades, as they have the other upgrades delivered in recent years at Christies Beach High School, where the staff are doing a tremendous job. Certainly, the staff I met last year were very passionate and engaged and looking forward to what their students will be able to achieve in the years ahead. I cannot wait to see what those students will do in the years ahead. I have very, very high expectations that they will be contributing greatly to their community and their state.

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (11:23): I rise to make a few brief comments in support of the Christies Beach High School community and to make a few remarks about the redevelopment that is happening at that school. As the member for Kaurna did, I want to reflect briefly on the visit that the member for Kaurna and I were very blessed to have last night from the principal, Graham Clark, teachers and a range of student voice leaders from the Christies Beach High School. I have had the opportunity to visit and participate in many activities with the Christies Beach High School community, and it is an extraordinary community: it is resilient and kind and inclusive.

I was thinking about that when we were here late last night. After having dinner with the student leaders, I was reflecting on what we spoke about. One of the questions that I asked the Student Voice leaders was why they decided to step up and become part of that committee at the school. Every single one of them spoke about their desire to make sure the voice of other students was heard and their desire to make sure that other students knew that there were people there who cared about them, would listen to them and help them to raise those issues that were important to them. They had a deep care for the other students around them and for their whole community.

It was really quite inspiring to hear this group of students talk about their reasons for stepping up and supporting others. It was also lovely to hear about their hopes and aspirations for the future. It was lovely to hear about other issues in our community beyond their school community that they were very passionate about. I am intrigued as to whether others in the dining room heard one particular student speaking vociferously about his desire to save the Adelaide 500. He is a very passionate motor car enthusiast and his dream is to become a marshal at an Australian grand prix. He spoke at length about this and I am surprised he did not spend time lobbying people around offices here last night.

Every one of those students was equally passionate about their school community and also about broader issues in the community. Every experience I have had with Christies Beach High School, including last night, and all the experience I have had with that school at school assemblies, the White Ribbon assembly day, IDAHOBIT, the acknowledgement of NAIDOC Week, Reconciliation Week and every activity that they have at that school has been inspiring.

I am always absolutely inspired by what each of these students, each of the staff members and their wonderful principal, Graham Clark, does to strengthen that school community and the fabric of our entire southern community. So it was lovely to have them here last night but it is always lovely to visit them. As I said, I am eternally inspired by the leadership, the resilience and the passion to make a difference of every one of the students there.

I am very pleased that the various redevelopments—and there are quite a number that are happening at the school at the moment. A number were funded by our former Labor government that I and other members advocated very strongly for and I am really glad to see those improvements coming to fruition. I know that the school community is incredibly excited about all those redevelopments. I know that, in every phase of those redevelopments, students have been able to have a voice about what is important to them in that redevelopment and I know that it will be very well engaged with.

So I am very pleased to see this report come to the parliament. I am very pleased to see the redevelopment progressing very well at this stage. I am particularly pleased, as always, to continue that wonderful relationship and interaction with the Christies Beach High School community.

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:28): I acknowledge the contributions of the members for Kaurna and Reynell and their passionate commitment to their school community. I acknowledge, too, that they had their school community and student leaders present in Parliament House last night. It is very interesting to hear the reflections on the integrity, commitment and passion of those students.

I also want to take this opportunity to recognise principal, Graham Clark, and the governing council for seeing through this project. There is necessarily and understandably some disruption to the school site to ensure that these significant capital works can be completed. But with grace and in seeing the utility of these works, they have been able to ensure they can continue to deliver a very significant and expansive program at the school for their school community and to maintain their very high standards while still ensuring that this work can progress through to completion.

Motion carried.

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