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

The netball grand final and the AFL grand final are done, school is back for term 4, and we're just into the beginning of the Spring Carnival. So what is next? It's the VCE exams—that's what's next in the minds of most of the people in my community. Year 12 students across Victoria are going to sit their English expression exam tomorrow, and I want to wish all the year 12 students in the schools across my community the very best for the final step in their school journey. I wish them all calm and clear minds as they embrace the final opportunity to demonstrate their learning and their capacity, and I want them to remember that the pathways to their futures will be many and varied beyond the last days of year 12.

To their parents: please keep them fed and watered. That's what they need from you as well as your calm kiss and encouragement. To their teachers: thank you for your attention, for your care, for your dedication, for the hours you have spent preparing for their lessons—taking them through these things—and for the hours spent preparing them for these exams. I wish everyone in my community well in the VCE exams this year—the families, the students and the school communities that have wrapped themselves around them.