Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to open the 2014 year with a bit of a celebration of some of the achievements of the schools in Forde during 2013. I would like to begin by recognising the efforts of Kimberley College, who for the second year running claimed the title of the highest fundraising school in Australia for World Vision. The students involved in last year's fundraising efforts raised $44,000. This is a very impressive effort and a credit to the school, Principal Paul Thompson, the students, the staff, and all their parents. Before the end of the school year, Mount Warren Park State School encouraged students to dress in colours representing special positive behaviours under their school wide Positive Behaviour Support Framework. This is a fantastic initiative aimed at creating a positive learning environment, and I commend the principal, Mr Colin Torr, and the school community for their efforts.

Our schools also recognise the importance of building positive cultures, not only from within the school but within the wider community. For the past four years, Eagleby State School has been partnering with the seniors of the nearby Palm Lake Resort through a volunteer program. From volunteering on Anzac Day, in reading projects, at the homework club and in many other classroom activities, our local seniors have been assisting students at Eagleby State School. One of these activities includes students working together with teachers and senior volunteers in creating a vegetable and herb garden for the school's use each week. The kids are being encouraged to eat fresh foods and to prepare a weekly healthy lunch, which they all sit down and enjoy together. The now retired principal, Suzanne Jolley, also arranged for seniors to volunteer at the school's annual grandparent day, filling the gaps in children's lives where there is no grandparent around. This has been a fantastic arrangement, and I congratulate the school and the volunteers from Palm Lake in Eagleby for their support. I also wish to acknowledge the efforts of Suzanne Jolley and wish her all the best in her retirement. I know that she will be dearly missed by the teachers, staff, parents and students.

I have always been a fan of football, or soccer as it is known here. A few weeks before Christmas I had the pleasure of meeting a young dynamo football player, who at the age of 10 has been drafted into a training camp for West Ham United. I wish young Joshua Moreland all the best for his adventure in 2014. He is the youngest sportsman who I have met in Forde to reach an international level. I am sure that he will do very well at West Ham and also in the United States.