Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate Scarborough Primary School, one of the very good primary schools within my electorate of Stirling. Its canteen has just been judged the healthiest canteen in the state of Western Australia by the WA Kids Health Alliance. Scarborough Primary beat 1,000 other schools from around the state to win the award for 2006 after making a presentation at the schools expo and submitting its menus to the judging panel of nutritionists and health experts.

The principal, Len Collier, and his dedicated and enthusiastic team of canteen volunteers—Rochelle Phelps, Willow Barker and Arti Patel—are to be congratulated for this great achievement that will not only benefit students now but also help them to learn how to make healthy food choices in the years to come. It is well known and acknowledged that healthy eating habits are developed in childhood and that these habits will set our children up for a healthy lifestyle for the rest of their lives. This includes making healthy choices about what to eat and enjoying eating as a positive social experience. Healthy lunches are an extraordinarily important part of this for both of those reasons. It is great to hear that the school has had numerous requests for sample menus from other schools around Western Australia.

The commitment of Scarborough Primary School to the health of students does not stop just with healthy eating. I recently had the privilege of joining Mr Collier, teachers and students on the Walk Safely to School Day. The students were very enthusiastic about the day and were rightly competitive about the length that they had walked to school. A bit of healthy competition in these things never goes astray amongst children. Of course, by encouraging walking to school, the school is keeping the children physically active as well as teaching them vital safety skills, like crossing the road. It can also increase family time if their parents join them on the walk, and it cuts down on pollution when families do not use their cars to take their children to school.

Once again, I would like to congratulate Len Collier and his canteen staff on such a fantastic achievement. Winning Canteen of the Year for 2006 is a great acknowledgment for Scarborough Primary School, and I hope that their hard work and results will serve as an inspiration to other schools in Western Australia and around the country.