Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I would like to speak about the opening of a new 21st century learning space and classrooms for the year 5 and year 6 students at Old Orchard Primary School in the suburb of Blackburn North, which is, of course, in my electorate of Deakin. This new multipurpose classroom project was delivered under the federal Labor government’s Building the Education Revolution program, as part of the Primary Schools for the 21st Century program. It has certainly made a difference to what was a very well-loved and very well-used school.

I would like to thank the principal at the school, Duncan Cant, and Assistant Principal, Christine Hodder, for their help in organising the event on the opening day. School captains, Ashlen Campbell and Joshua Halliday, took me on a tour of their new facilities and showed me what each new room was being used for and, importantly, what each new room could be used for, as the rooms were all quite interchangeable. They had some really good features like moveable walls and different learning spaces, which their old school classrooms simply did not have.

I would also like to thank the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood. Their regional office—the eastern metropolitan region—were certainly a great help in getting that project through to delivery so that the school can now use it. I would also like to thank the builders and the tradies—the workers on the project—who did a fantastic, quality job that will stand the test of time. The building is now being used by the year 5 and year 6 students and teachers, and other classes use it when they have a need for a space that is bigger than their existing classrooms.

I also acknowledge the school community, who had to put up with so much during the construction. Unfortunately, when you build things you get in people’s way. The students had to spend time in portables and it was quite difficult to get around a lot of the school during that time. But the final result is well worth it. Anyone who goes there can immediately see what a difference it has made to the school.

The school is big and growing. It is one of the biggest primary schools in the electorate of Deakin and now, in 2011, has over 550 students enrolled. It has a great reputation as a successful school. Students come to attend Old Orchard Primary School not just from the local area but also from many suburbs beyond.

I have been a regular visitor to Old Orchard Primary School since I was elected in 2007. It has been a great privilege to go out to the school and find out what it was that they wanted from the new building project. It was a privilege to be able to advocate on their behalf to make sure that they got what they were after in terms of design—a school that they could use and that they wanted to use. That is very important.

Even though those on the other side have tried to vote this program down in this House so many times, schools like this really know the difference. Those on the other side of the chamber who do not appreciate that should most certainly not go out in their electorates and try to claim credit for something that they voted against in this House.

Old Orchard Primary School is a $3 million project. It is a very big building. The day I was there it rained an awful lot—as it has so much in recent times. For Melbourne it was quite unseasonable for that time of year and we have had a lot more rain since then. The best thing about the new building is that it joins on to their existing building so that students can get to and from the new wing of the school without getting wet. That certainly helped on the opening day.

There are six new general-purpose classrooms and meeting spaces in the new wing. We used the meeting space, which was very large, to do a school assembly and official opening. There is also a wet area and kitchen facilities in the new building. The old part of the school just did not have these. There are also offices and a staff room. And that is important as well.

This is the first new building put in at the school since the 1970s. Like so many schools in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne it was built many years ago and the infrastructure has not kept up. So the new buildings actually give the school a new lease of life. It looks so much better. Parents and the local community are thrilled that it is there.

Many more schools in my electorate of Deakin are getting new buildings. Old Orchard Primary School is only one of 40 schools where projects are happening. A lot have already opened and a lot more will be opening in the next few months. I know that every single school community is waiting for that day. The communities that have already received it are very happy. I look forward to going out and opening new school buildings on each and every one of those sites when they are completed. I will remind each and every school that those in the Liberal Party voted against their school buildings.