Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Schools Assistance Bill 2008 which represents the primary funding instrument for non-government primary and secondary education in Australia for 2009 to 2013 and involves an appropriation of $28 billion. This bill is very important for schools in my electorate of Cowan. I have 12 non-government schools in the electorate. All of the non-government schools are modest-fee schools.

When we talk about non-government schools we on this side think of choice—choice for parents who want a formal religious aspect to the education their children receive, or perhaps they want another system of learning like the Kingsley Montessori School provides. But in any case they have elected to look outside the state government system for an education for their children. It is also appropriate for the federal government to provide support for them through recurrent grants and establishment grants.

It is clear that since 1996 non-government schools in my electorate have developed in response to the demand of Cowan parents. In 1996 general recurrent grants stood at over $8 million. In 2001 they were over $13 million, and in 2005 over $21 million. Later I will come back to where that money goes and how useful it really is for these schools that are so much a part of our community in Cowan.

Now in consideration of the bill I would like to move to an area of concern I have with the Rudd government’s plan to remove access to the non-government schools’ establishment grants for any new schools. This of course will make it harder for new schools to be established, and it looks like the government and the Deputy Prime Minister are committed to making it harder for more non-government schools to be built.

With regard to the Rudd government plan of putting up obstacles to new non-government schools being developed, I think immediately of the parents of the Seventh Day Adventist school in Cowan that desperately wants to create a high school in Landsdale and thereby provide secondary education in the northern suburbs for those seeking it, an education guided by the Adventist faith. Similarly I worry for the establishment of new Roman Catholic high schools in the northern suburbs, as they will also not have access to these grants.

The next point of this bill that I would like to pursue is the matter of the additional reporting of funding sources. Section 24 deals with the need to provide reports on the financial operations including financial viability and funding sources. It is my view that in this context the term ‘funding sources’ will enable the minister to demand access to internal financial affairs of a school. What then would happen with scholarship funds? What about bequests and community fundraisers? What is all this about? That is the question. Will we get to the position where the SES funding system will be substantially altered? Will we get to the point where philanthropy by parents or former students will be penalised through reduced support? Will it be a system that thereby discourages effort and innovation? The SES system is fair and it should remain as it is.

Before I move on to other matters I also raise a concern I have with the national curriculum. For those schools that offer alternative curricula, such as the Montessori and the International Baccalaureate, I am concerned about them being forced to comply with this curriculum. I make this point because one of the main differences between the Montessori schools and the mainstream education is the philosophical and educational objection to competition and comparisons between students. In fact the Montessori schools carefully avoid them, instead, focusing on individual observation and the careful tailoring of offerings to each student. Even so, there is a well-recognised progression of curricula in Montessori schools worldwide which does not always match the progression in ‘mainstream’ schools.

The same can be said for the IB, although those curricula are very flexible for the very reason that they need to be acceptable in countries all over the world. It is my understanding that both Montessori and the International Baccalaureate have been acknowledged as ‘world best practice’, and we should say that here in parliament. It is therefore very important that the government takes this into account and that is why the opposition wants the removal of section 22.

I would now turn my attention to the schools that will be affected by this bill. Firstly, I will speak of the Emmanuel Christian Community School in Girrawheen under the leadership of Mr Pedro Cruz. The school is very aware of the challenges and the needs of those who live in a low socioeconomic area. For 27 years the school has been there providing stability, care and leadership. The staff are caring and committed individuals who consider their work a ‘ministry’ and staff turnover is consequently very low. The school provides opportunities for families to have an alternative education with a low-fee structure. Local families have this opportunity. In the local area there are social problems such as drugs, suicide and the breakdown of families, and in Emmanuel there is pastoral care both through the non-government schools psychology service and through the local church represented by its pastors.

One of the many good things about Emmanuel Christian Community School is its history of accepting students with learning difficulties, and with the support of parents, grandparents, government financial assistance and staff it has been able to meet the needs of students with Down syndrome, hearing impairment, myotonic dystrophy, ADHD, global developmental delay and other learning difficulties. The school works very hard to help the students strive for excellence in literacy and numeracy using strategies which include a high priority placed on human resources and a whole-school approach to literacy and numeracy. The staff are highly qualified, including those with master’s degrees. What has always impressed me about Emmanuel Christian Community School is the way they are totally committed to helping the children, the families and the local community. I consider the school a great part of the Girrawheen community and the Cowan electorate.

Not far away, Our Lady of Mercy Primary School is a Catholic primary school also in Girrawheen. The school has 380 children with a wide range of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. The challenges are significant, but the staff are dedicated and highly committed people and they provide a high quality of care and educational tuition. The school is managed and supported by volunteer school board representatives and an exceptionally active parents and friends committee. These individuals freely give immense amounts of their personal time to help in the important decision making, fundraising, pastoral care and special projects within the school community. This not only benefits all students and community member but provides a very good example to the children. The P&F demonstrate its commitment in the form of monthly meetings and many hours of assistance to the drama, music, liturgy, sporting, charity, working bees and many other varied school community events and projects.

Of course, 380 children makes it a big school in Girrawheen. The principal, Drew Jago, attributes the demand for places at the school to the exceptional teachers working at Our Lady of Mercy. He tells me that they walk the extra mile to deliver comprehensive and valued spiritual, academic, social, physical and cultural learning programs to the students. We should also remember the context of the school. They have many children who commenced school with little or no English language skills, and I am greatly impressed at the way these students progress through the grades and the learning programs. I know that the parents are immensely proud of the school. I congratulate parents, staff and Drew Jago for what they have achieved in the past and continue to achieve.

Just over in Koondoola is Mercy College. The Catholic school has 1,500 students, from kindergarten to year 12. Having been to the school and spoken to the young adults there, I was impressed with their positive outlook and determination to succeed. I even had one of their senior students at my office under a structured workplace learning arrangement, and I will take this opportunity to thank Hayley Gebbie for her efforts. Hayley, who is finishing school this year, was a great asset to me and I am sure she will succeed in the future. Mercy College is a very multicultural education centre, with students originating from more than 50 countries. While the Mercy College parents are very positive about the school and proud of their ability to access a Catholic education for their children, nevertheless the surrounding suburbs contain quite modest homes. The school’s current SES is 92, and about 35 per cent of the Mercy College families are on healthcare cards or pensioner concession cards.

Mercy College commenced in Northbridge, an inner-city suburb, but the Sisters of Mercy decided to move the school in 1972 to assist with the education of many families who had moved to the then outer suburbs. The college’s first principal—and the most longstanding one—was Mr Dick Finucane, who led the college from 1976 until his retirement in 1996. The size of the school today is clearly a testament to the efforts of Mr Finucane and the Sisters of Mercy, the staff whom they employ and the thousands of students and their families who have been associated with the college since then. Mercy College has a strong culture of achieving a high-class education in a Christian, Catholic setting. The school achieves success with the assistance of a wonderfully committed school community, many of whom are recently arrived migrants or refugees who see an education for their children as a very high priority. Overcoming the challenges of a lower socioeconomic surrounding area, the school achieved a 100 per cent graduation rate in 2007. I commend the school for that, and Dr Tony Curry for the leadership he has shown as principal at Mercy College.

The next school that adds great value in Cowan is the Liwara Catholic Primary School in Greenwood, near where I live. Liwara Catholic school is renowned for its community spirit. Before I talk about their efforts in education I have to mention the annual Liwara Fair. It is something of a legend in the northern suburbs of Perth. About three years ago I was talking to some young people there who said that they had come from 10 kilometres away. That was because of the fair’s reputation over 25 years. The fair is a testament to the community spirit, as I understand that the fair committee is bigger than the P&F. I would describe it as the best fair in Perth. It is held on a Friday evening in early November and is the culmination of months of hard work by the P&F and the committee. While the fair raises around $20,000 each year and is very important to the school’s budget, the community spirit engendered by a large group of parents working together with assistance from staff and students to stage this event is simply priceless.

However much Liwara is famous for its fair, their attitude to education is also outstanding. The philosophy of Liwara is that education is best delivered in an atmosphere where parents and staff work as partners for the good of the students. To that end, the school encourages parent participation in every area of school activity, including classroom, canteen, uniform shop, library and sports. The school has an amazing parents and friends group. Of all the P&Cs and P&Fs I have been to, theirs was the greatest in number. I also like to judge a school by the attitude of its students, and the one Liwara student I know very well is Miss Deanna Tognolini. Deanna is a very well mannered young lady, always polite, and a great credit to Liwara and to her parents, my friends Gary and June.

The next school I would like to mention is the Banksia Grove Catholic Primary School in the suburb of Banksia Grove. The school was established in 2004 to meet the needs of the rapidly growing suburbs of the Wanneroo district. The school has children of 18 nationalities enrolled, often bringing a variety of needs. There are 120 children and 12 have recognised disabilities. There are children with disabilities in every class. I visited the Banksia Grove Catholic Primary School recently with the member for Warringah, the Hon. Tony Abbott, and we were impressed with the way the leadership of the school, Mrs Tricia Davis and her staff, have developed an environment which is inclusive and tolerant. A great deal of time, energy and money has gone into establishing and supporting this. This has meant employing additional staff to assist in the classrooms and also a social worker.

The school is yet another example of where federal grants are so important. As a result of the challenges, professional development has also been required and the school has instigated supplementary programs such as Rainbows, art therapy, protective behaviours, collaborative learning, reading recovery, and EMU, which is enhancing mathematical understandings. You Can Do It and Crunch & Sip have also been introduced. All the children are involved in all activities, such as performing arts. Class buddies are well established. In addition to the religious education program across the curriculum, Aboriginal studies and sustainability are also core elements. They are proudly a waterwise, a wastewise and an asthma friendly school. A healthy foods canteen is run voluntarily by parents and complements the school’s health program, which includes Crunch & Sip and the establishment of an edible garden watered from the rainwater tanks at the school. Children are supplied with meals when necessary, as well as those available for purchase from the canteen. It is clear that Banksia Grove is an area with its challenges, yet the school is rising to meet those challenges, and the children will be the winners. I congratulate principal Tricia Davis, deputy Joy Ketteringham, Father John Daly, social worker Leslie Bird and the dedicated education and admin staff at the Banksia Grove Catholic Primary School for the great work they do for the children.

At Landsdale Gardens Christian School, an Adventist school, they know each of the children very well. It is a small school that is very family oriented. The school is staffed with teachers that closely reflect the values of the families. As an Adventist school they do cater for students of varying religious, economic and ethnic backgrounds, but one common thread goes through all of their families, and that is their desire to entrust their children into the care of staff who will endeavour to model and uphold the golden rule of treating others as you would like to be treated yourself. I find this golden rule that they espouse very positive and I can see why parents like the school.

Pastoral care is paramount and I think that the size of the school lends itself to families who are concerned that their children will get lost in a bigger school, or fall through the cracks academically, socially or emotionally. The smaller class size allows children who are at risk for various reasons more accessibility to assistance, especially given that all of the classrooms are provided with a good level of literacy and numeracy support from qualified teacher assistants. They value academic excellence and endeavour to provide for the needs of individual children so that they are able to reach their individual potential. Smaller class sizes and dedicated teachers make this a reality, with children who are considered at risk demonstrating a level of achievement that far exceeds what assessment says they should be able to achieve.

It is right to also make mention of some of the dedicated volunteers on the management committee and the home and school committee for Landsdale Gardens Christian School. Ruth Sharp has given one day in the library each week for over 10 years and is also a member of the home and school committee. Del Dierckx, treasurer of the home and school committee for several years, has also undertaken much other volunteer work. There are the forever faithful volunteers Barb Goodnough, Lo-Anne Jenke and Narelle Duncan. Kylie Degenaar has worked in several volunteer positions over the last six years. There are also Peter and Letitia Dose. Peter volunteers his time as the management committee chairperson and Letitia is a home and school committee member.

Before concluding my comments on non-government schools, I will inform the parliament of the Montessori school in Kingsley that was founded by Mrs Duyker in 1962. It was expanded to include primary in 1965, lower secondary in 1972 and the International Baccalaureate Diploma in 1993. The Kingsley school is the longest established Montessori school in Australia. The difference in approach for Montessori is that while they are proud of all students, their philosophy is to specifically avoid ‘the glittering prizes’ and are glad that their students become well-adjusted, positive, contributing members of society. School graduates have learnt to develop a ‘can-do’ attitude and a love of learning which inform their whole lives.

The school was a recipient of a large capital grant and with a low interest loan they are constructing new buildings to replace the old ones which had passed their useful life. Kingsley Montessori’s new buildings are constructed according to passive solar principles, using materials which so far as possible are ecologically friendly. The design also incorporates the re-use of stormwater for flushing toilets and allows for the retro-fitting of solar energy panels. This has been a massive undertaking, both financially and in effort, for this very small school community and they are certainly proud of and delighted with the buildings, as they should be.

A further environmental contribution by the school community has been in the maintenance and preservation of the 2.2 hectares of remnant bushland which surrounds the school. The school has always taken great care to avoid unnecessary encroachment on the bushland. A small volunteer committee of parents takes responsibility for care of the bush, including keeping weeds down and educating the children about the bush. The school has also taken part in programs to revegetate the area around Lake Goollelal, as well as undertaking an annual tree-planting program in Gingin. I commend the co-principals, Ms Coffey and Ms Beasley, for their commitment to the children and Montessori education.

Today I have mentioned a number of schools in Cowan that undertake great work for not only the students but also the community in general. These are schools that are available for the people in the nearby suburbs and they are an option for families in lower socioeconomic suburbs. They represent choice for parents, because they represent an option for alternative education systems such as the Montessori school or education in a Christian context. There is nothing bad about this; there is nothing elite about this. This is all about parents making choices for their children, choices that the parents see as being in the child’s best interests. That is a good thing and the coalition has always supported this.

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