NSW Hansard Articles : LA : 19/09/2003 : #14

Extract from NSW Legislative Assembly Hansard. 2003-09-19

KAHIBAH PUBLIC SCHOOL HALL
Mr MORRIS (Charlestown) [11.56 a.m.]: On 13 September 2003 Kahibah Public School held an open day. I attended the open day to participate in the celebration of the new community/school hall, which is not like any other. When I say it is not like any other, I simply refer to its grandeur. This hall is massive, and is certainly the biggest hall within any school across the Charlestown electorate. The hall has been a joint initiative between the State Department of Education and Training and the local community. The Kahibah community traditionally had access to a hall until its closure in recent years because it had reached the end of its useful life. After much research, the school site was found to be the most suitable location for a new hall as it could be utilised by the school students and the community at large.

What makes the development of the new hall more significant is the level of community support offered to assist in its construction. Local trades people offered their services and donated materials, spending many hours of their time on site assisting and supervising the work. I thank those community trades people for assisting in this project, and thank them for their professionalism and skilful services. It is pleasing that for many years the community of Kahibah has consistently delivered an enormous amount of time and resources for their community and school. Regardless of the scale of projects or programs, time and time again the community has met the challenge. I acknowledge the efforts of Principal Mrs Pam Richardson, Mr Col Curry, the President of the Parents and Citizens and the School Council, and the school staff, who contributed many hours of time and effort to improve the facilities and services of the school.

I must also acknowledge the support and efforts of the students who assisted with works in any way they could. Many students spent time, as part of their learning outcomes, landscaping the surrounds and learning about the various trade skills. I point out that this hall is multipurpose and is accessible to the community of Kahibah to hold functions and various community meetings. I would like to see more joint shared facilities within our school infrastructure. Sporting fields often sit idle after hours and during weekends while local councils struggle to provide and maintain their own grounds, in some cases immediately outside school grounds. Economically the continued practice of different levels of government providing like facilities in isolation is not feasible or sustainable. It is not logical considering the potential savings to councils and the State through true partnership arrangements. I congratulate Kahibah Public School and the community of Kahibah. I look forward to the official opening of the hall in the near future. I wish them all the very best for their programs and services.

Mr GAUDRY (Newcastle—Parliamentary Secretary) [11.59 a.m.]: As Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Training, I compliment the honourable member for Charlestown on bringing this matter before the House. I also congratulate the Kahibah community on its involvement in this valuable project. As the honourable member said, the more we link community and education facilities and get more bang for the buck—to put it bluntly—the better it will be for the community and for schools. The honourable member congratulated the tradespeople who supplied the materials, community members, and works supervisors on their involvement in this project. It was a particular pleasure to hear the honourable member compliment Pam Richardson, who is a long-term friend of mine. She is a very dedicated school principal who has taken the lead on primary school issues for some time. The honourable member also mentioned the involvement of Col Curry, the president of the parents and citizens association, and school staff and students. I am sure that the honourable member looks forward to attending the hall opening with his community.