Sharryn Jackson (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to speak this morning about the Dare to Lead Excellence in Leadership in Indigenous Education Awards, which have been presented annually since 2004. These awards recognise schools that demonstrate high levels of effective leadership, Indigenous community involvement and improvements in targeted outcomes. The schools that are considered for the awards must demonstrate that they have implemented programs and strategies that measurably improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

I was delighted recently to learn that two schools in my electorate of Hasluck have been recognised as high achievers in the latest round of those awards. The first I want to mention is Yule Brook Community College in Maddington. This school has a dedicated teaching and administrative staff, who are held in very high regard by the local community. Over the last few years, they have had outstanding success in genuinely engaging with the local Aboriginal community. The college has a compact with the Aboriginal community, especially the Aboriginal parent community. The compact outlines how the school and the community can work together in partnership to improve the outcomes for Aboriginal students within the school. The simple lesson involved in this compact—one that we can all learn from—is: take the time, listen to each other, find out what people genuinely require and expect and then begin to implement and work towards those goals together. Last year the school was also recognised by the local community leadership awards presented by the Maddington Kenwick Community Leadership Network. I want to commend the school for its outstanding efforts and congratulate it for receiving this award.

The second school in Hasluck to be recognised is Governor Stirling Senior High School—or ‘Govo’, as it is more affectionately referred to locally. ‘Govo’ is part of a partnership with Swan View Senior High School and my own former school, Lockridge High School, in the Midland-Swan region. The partnership they have created is with industry and the community to improve the opportunities for Indigenous students to complete year 12 and to move into meaningful vocational training and/or employment. The project, which is called the Midland Indigenous Youth Project, is an excellent one. All three schools are excellent government schools. The program targets kids who do not usually complete year 12 and directs them towards meaningful employment and/or training opportunities.

I want to commend and congratulate those schools for their involvement in the program and congratulate them for receiving their award. I look forward to meeting with the staff and the parents and citizens of Governor Stirling Senior High School in the not too distant future, as we concentrate on other ways to improve the resources and standing of the school.