Tuesday, 15 August 2023

 Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (19:00): (281) My adjournment this evening is for the Minister for Education, and the action I seek is that the minister invest in Panton Hill Primary School to redevelop the outdated, undersized and dangerous asphalt court and replace it with a covered multi-use court. The school has applied for grants under the Minor Capital Works Fund and the Inclusive Schools Fund. This is a big project for the school and one that is so desperately needed for the 145 students there. There are so many benefits. They need an outdoor covered area which is suitable not just for sport and recreation but also for assemblies and concerts. I have been at the school so many times when the kids have had to sit on the asphalt. It is cracked, it is cold and there are tree roots, and so a new softer surface will mean students will have somewhere to play and learn that is protected from the weather, the sunshine and the rain, and a trip or a fall on that surface will do a lot less damage to their little legs.

The kids will have a proper basketball–netball size court that they can play on, and the benefits will actually extend beyond the school into the local community of Panton Hill. It will provide space for the wider community to access this area, including the local junior and senior football clubs, cricket club and netball club, because there is nothing like this that exists within that community. The current asphalt court is very outdated. It is a safety hazard and is in dire need of redevelopment. There is no physical space on the school grounds to build an indoor facility like a hall or a gym or a multipurpose room, so they need to actually go across the road to the Panton Hill hall, and that is pretty unsuitable for whole-school gatherings, and it is inconvenient as well.

The principal Kylie Richards and the committee have been on the front foot here. They have been working extremely hard for a number of years to get this project up and running. They have organised an assessment of the old court and designs for the new court, they have established a landscape design concept for a sensory garden and they have applied for grants previously and have missed out. I think now is the time that they should be commended for their work and have that investment made. It is so needed in a semirural school. It has been in the pipeline for a long time, and we have certainly made it a commitment in the past. The school’s students and parents really deserve this upgrade. They have had a condition assessment report done by Sporteng that really outlines all of the shortcomings, and I hope that the minister can see the significance of this matter for that local community in Panton Hill. It really will mean so much. The kids in the country areas, the semirural areas, should not be disadvantaged. It is a small school in a semirural area, and it would benefit not just the students but their families and friends and that wider community of Panton Hill. I hope that the minister really looks at their application seriously.