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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-10-29 Daily Xml
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Playford Electorate Early Childhood Services

Mr FULBROOK (Playford) (15:30): Last week was a time of celebration for early learning within my electorate, with two fantastic awards being given to two very hardworking teams. Our community is blessed with many people who put in an amazing effort beyond the mainstream classroom to make sure our children are safe and developing in outstanding, caring environments. While I am proud of the great schools we have within the community, in the wake of World Teachers' Day I feel it is also timely to give credit to those services that also play a pivotal role in shaping our young people for great futures.

To begin, the brilliant staff at Lantana Kindergarten and the Parafield Gardens Goodstart Early Learning Centre really must stand and take a bow. As a proud local MP, it is my honour to celebrate and weld into Hansard Lantana Kindergarten as the recipients of the inaugural Minister's Preschool Arts Award. This was awarded on Friday night as part of the prestigious World Teachers' Day awards night, hosted by Educators SA.

On the same night, staff at Parafield Gardens Goodstart Early Learning Centre attended the South Australian Goodstart awards night, also known as 'the Goodies', and took out Centre of the Year. In speaking with Sarah Chircop, centre director, she believed that her dedicated team of over 25 staff committed to inclusion and supporting children with additional needs is the key reason behind its success. With over 70 children a day in their care, they go above and beyond by encouraging children to have fun and build friendships in a safe, secure and well-supervised environment.

As is the term, it takes a village to raise a child, and through the many amazing community connections the centre has established, this is also an opportunity to highlight how this success extends well beyond its front gate. This includes access to speech pathology, occupational therapy, social inclusion consultants, child and safety practitioners, as well as many other amazing suppliers and services within our community.

I also note recently how team member Raji is now working hard to upskill herself to become an early childhood teacher as part of the government's $96.6 million Early Years Workforce Strategy. As a government, we recognise that the first 1,000 days of a child's life is their most pivotal, and it is fantastic that staff members like Raji share this vision.

Across town, my good friends at Lantana Kindergarten are overjoyed with their recognition through the inaugural Minister's Preschool Arts Award. I can vouch personally how much pride they take in their artwork, and for the past two years my office has been emblazoned with many wonderful examples. This talented team, consisting of director Kylie Millington, Bethany Burton, Cecilia Ferrira, Susana Zozuk, Sean Gunn, Ling Ji, Samantha Ballard and Rosie Keen, do an incredible job. I am really looking forward to hosting them at what one of their children has dubbed 'Mr Fulbrook's big office', also known as Parliament House, very soon.

In many ways art is just scratching the surface on all the incredible work achieved at Lantana, and I would not at all be surprised if there were more accolades to follow. That said, in many ways ensuring our kids are in the best possible position to excel at primary school is reward enough. I am pleased to say that Lantana and the many great preschools in the community are doing an outstanding job.

Noting that this speech aims to highlight some of the services beyond the conventional classroom, I would like to highlight the work of the OSHC service at Parafield Gardens Primary School. Only the other day, I was on the phone to director Aida Chapman, congratulating her and her team as the only public school to be featured in the OSHC Showcase in August. There are a lot of amazing things going on in this space and we cannot ignore the significant role these services play in shaping young lives.

Special mention also goes to Ella-Louise Ailmore, Belinda Carol and the dedicated team at Karrendi Primary School for working hard in recent years to establish an OSHC service. This was deeply needed by the community and it is fantastic how they have worked hard to make it all happen. Be it child care, preschool or OSHC, amazing things across our community are achieved daily. While I have highlighted a few successes, I end by extending my deep appreciation to everyone embedded within these vital services.

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