Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently I had the opportunity to visit the Tamborine Mountain State High School to present leadership certificates and badges to the school captains. The school opened in 2001 and was built to house 300 students. The grounds around the school were built in a lush tropical rainforest setting. For those of you who do not know where Mount Tamborine is, it is set in the western hinterland of the Gold Coast, a beautiful part of my electorate. I am glad I was able to share that for the benefit of the chamber. I was met by Tracey Brose, the school principal, who has been at the school since it opened—a young, focused, driven principal who has been guiding the students and teachers in a remarkable way. Tracey led us to the school hall, where the leadership presentations took place and I presented the certificates and badges to the captains, Jessie Middleton and Patrick Walters, and the student council president, Ali Guy.

When looking around the hall I could not help but notice that there were students sitting still. They were quiet and they were listening respectfully to the teachers, and they were actually all in their uniforms. After the assembly I was speaking with Tracey and commented on the students' behaviour, and Tracey explained that the school and the students particularly take great pride in their responsibility. Their motto is, 'Courage, respect and discipline.' The students quite often will self-discipline and come forward automatically if they feel they have done something not quite right. There was a situation where a kid was getting onto the bus and knew that he had done something wrong. He did not want to get dobbed in by the monitors the next day, so he fronted up to the school principal's office and said, 'Listen, I think I'm going to be in some strife; I may as well just hand myself in.' It is the whole culture of the school. It is an outstanding enforcement of discipline in a Gandhi-type way. Tracey explained that the rules of the school are explained quite plainly to the first-years and the older children mentor the younger and newer ones. It has been quite successful. There are two other rules which stood out: there will be no piercings at the school and no hair colourings other than the natural colour.

I met with Graeme Locastro, the acting deputy principal, who coordinates the Indigenous program at the school, to discuss with him ideas for funding for some of the programs taking place at the school, which is also very progressive. The school was built for 300 students, and at the present time there are 700 students and 80 dedicated staff. One of the impositions that challenge the school at the moment is that, because the school is not designed for the numbers that it has, it has to get septic-pumping people in there every single day to pump out the septic, an ongoing cost which the school will not be able to escape until more capital money can be invested in the school. I encourage the state to be mindful of that.

I would also like to thank Cameron Ross, the student coordinator, who arranged the visit and took the photos, and also Tracey Brose, who took time out of her very busy day to show me around. I would also like to acknowledge the fantastic work that the school leaders do up there in leading that community and leading the next generation of leaders.