Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to recognise the outstanding work being done by schools across my electorate of Greenway, and particularly the way in which those schools have benefited from their Building the Education Revolution projects which have been wholeheartedly welcomed by teachers, parents, students and local communities generally.

Today I want to mention one school, St Joseph’s Primary School in Schofields. The school was able to refurbish and upgrade their existing library and build a multi-purpose learning space. The BER also enabled St Joseph’s to build a new resource centre in the library, refurbish eight classrooms and build a large covered outdoor learning area. These facilities are world class and will benefit the children of Schofields for years to come.

I had the pleasure of attending the opening and blessing of these new facilities, where I spoke with the Relieving Director of Schools in the Parramatta diocese, Sue Walsh, who commented that the school now has beautiful, state-of-the-art learning spaces and facilities for the students and staff.

I must acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all the staff at St Joseph’s, especially the principal, Greg Thomas, the deputy principal, Jeanette Black, the fantastic school captains, Winona Graham and Adam James, the students and their families.

I also recently had the pleasure of awarding community spirit awards to schools in Greenway. It was a fantastic experience to meet so many students across my electorate and to gain an insight into the lives of the next generation of Australians. I wait with great anticipation to hear more about the incredible talents of these young people of Greenway, including Danielle Gatt, the recipient of the St Joseph’s Primary School community spirit award which is called the Mary Mackillop Award. Danielle is a most worthy winner with a very loving family.

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