Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I had the opportunity to again visit the very impressive Iramoo Primary School, in Wyndham Vale, named after the Wurundjeri people's word for the stretch of land upon which my electorate is situated. I was there to stand with Principal Moira Findlay and congratulate the newly announced school leadership team. It included school captains Tevita Sopu and Courtney Wenlock as well as vice-captains Jacob Bowen and Lisa Gill. I was there to wish them well in their roles.

It was great to see family and friends attending. One mother, Lesieli Sopu, was particularly proud, as her three boys, Tevita, Andrew and Isikeli, were appointed school captain, house captain and flag raiser. The smile on her face made my week.

The flag ceremony at Iramoo Primary School is treated with great respect, and the flag raiser role is an important one. Along with the blue ensign, the school will variously raise the Torres Strait Islander flag, the Aboriginal flag and the Victorian state flag. I really enjoyed the national anthem played by the band and sung—both verses—by the student body. I was also able to visit the grade 5 literacy group, who were working on narratives and sizzling starts.

It is a great privilege to visit local schools to encourage students in their civics and citizenship and to acknowledge great leaders, already, in grade 6.