Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I want to pay tribute today to all of the schools, particularly schools in my electorate, that have been recognised by the Showcase Awards for Excellence in Schools. Those are the main awards in my home state of Queensland that recognise the schools, the teachers, the principals and the staff who go above and beyond to deliver really amazing outcomes for local kids. It has been a bit of a tradition that schools in my electorate generally do really well in the showcase awards. In the seven years I've been the member for Rankin, and particularly this year, it has been a pretty steady stream of award winners, and I want to acknowledge that today. This year we've got four schools who have been recognised across six different categories; they've either won or received commendations across those categories.

I want to pay tribute to Berrinba East school for their Building Children's Oral Language Through Connections—Kindergarten to Prep Transition program. I want to acknowledge Kingston State College's Growth STEMs From Here program; Mabel Park State School's Our Deliberate Focus program; and Browns Plains State High School, which really did an extraordinary job with its supporting diverse learning needs program as well as a commendation in the Every Child Needs a Champion award category. Browns Plains State High School principal, Blair Hanna, received a commendation in the Griffith University award for excellence in school leadership. I want to salute every one of those schools for their awards and their commendations and their mentions. It really is another remarkable effort by our local principals, teachers, staff and students in our great local schools.

While I'm at it I also want to acknowledge all the schools of the nation, including my schools in Rankin, for the extraordinary efforts so many people have put in, in a really difficult, really interrupted year. I can't even imagine what it's like, particularly for year 12 students and their teachers and staff, at our local schools, but really right across the board. I've seen this firsthand, I've experienced this. I've got a young fellow in prep; my daughter is in early learning as well. Some of the things that our teachers and educators and staff have done on behalf of our students—and in my case for my little people—is something that I'm sure the whole parliament can acknowledge and applaud. I thank all of those people for that. It has been a difficult year. Our teachers and staff and principals and students have come through remarkably well so far. So, in addition to the award winners at the Showcase Awards for Excellence in Schools, the Queensland government's main award for state schools, I also acknowledge all the teachers, all the staff, all the principals and all the students for doing what they can to back each other in a difficult year.

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