Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to talk about the wonderful work being done in the schools in my electorate. With over 30 schools in the electorate, there are always an overwhelming number of inspirational stories about the activities being undertaken, but today I would like to mention two particular schools. The first is Aspley Special School, which recently won a Showcase Award for Excellence in Schools for its school based skills training for students with disabilities. The school won $1,000 to spend on its student coffee shop and recycling centre facilities. It currently has a fully functioning cafe that it opens to the public every Friday and that is teaching children with disabilities in the school and surrounding schools how to use both front and back-of-house hospitality skills, which is fantastic.

The school has also created a sensory garden for stimulation. The principal, Chris Lassig, has said the new garden would help disabled students at the school to use their five senses more effectively. As we know, students with a disability often have associated sensory impairments that mean they have difficulty accessing information through all their senses. The purpose-built sensory garden will incorporate features that rely less on sight and enable students to use their senses of touch, smell, taste and hearing. I visited the new garden a couple of weeks ago. There is still a lot of work being done. I congratulate the students and the school for their tremendous efforts, but I also congratulate the local Good Guys store, at Carseldine, which has helped fund this project. It is always great to see local businesses contributing to such important initiatives in our local community.

At the second school I would like to mention, teacher Noel Gibson yesterday received an Australian Government National Award for Quality Schooling. He received a highly commended award for excellence by a teacher in his area of information and communication technology. Mr Gibson’s dedication and inspiring work have provided new vocational pathways for students and brought about an increase in student enrolments in information and communication technology courses. Noel has greatly improved the way teachers work and communicate throughout the school and has influenced primary and secondary teaching of information and communication technology across the state. He has done this through the use of interactive teaching strategies and resources. He has fostered high-order thinking and problem-solving skills that connect students to learning anywhere, anytime. The year 10 transition course he introduced enables students to develop multimedia skills through self-paced online activities, providing them with successful pathways to senior learning. (Time expired)