Ms ADDISON (Wendouree) (19:03): My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education, and the action I seek is for the minister to visit Yuille Park P–8 Community College in my electorate of Wendouree. The school is truly one of the greatest examples of staff and families working together to support students and provide them with opportunities to grow and thrive.

Under the transformative leadership of principal Brett Shillito and deputy principal Daniel O’Kelly, the staff at Yuille Park are always willing to go the extra step to support their students and families. I would particularly like to acknowledge Shay McInerney and Bri Dredge for their work in the literacy program at the school. I have spoken before in this place about Bri’s leadership as a performing arts teacher, but it is worth mentioning again.

The school choir at Yuille Park has 50 members—that is, a third of the students on the campus are in the choir. The choir recently performed at the opening of the Wathaurong co-op offices and was a part of the 1000-voice-strong choir to launch Patricia Piccinini’s Skywhale as part of the City of Ballarat’s winter festival.

The school continues to provide opportunities for the students to experience new things like this once-in-a-lifetime outdoor art event. I understand that 16 of Bri’s students will be off to perform at the State Schools Spectacular next weekend in Melbourne, and three of the students will be doing the welcome to country at the event. I wish them all the best.

At the beginning of each school year I always look forward to attending the smoking ceremony at Yuille Park. This year the school reached out to the local Aboriginal community, and there were a number of elders who attended the event. It was a wonderful experience for the Aboriginal students to spend time with and learn from the elders, and the elders I spoke to on that day found it incredible to see the way that students’ education had changed since their days as students. At Yuille Park, Aboriginal culture is valued and celebrated, and the school community is proud of their Aboriginal families.

Throughout the pandemic I have missed doing the breakfast program at Yuille Park and missed my chats with parents and students. The school also has a fantastic cafe. I am told that after two years of disruption due to the pandemic the students are currently working hard to learn money handling and cooking and serving skills at the cafe, and I cannot wait for it to be open again to the public soon.

I look forward to hearing from the minister, and I hope to welcome her to this very, very wonderful school in the heart of my electorate and introduce her to Brett and his team of inspirational teachers and staff.

Watch and read more of my speeches to Parliament here, including responses from ministers on how we’re working for Wendouree.

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