Wednesday, 28 August 2024

 Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (19:13): (807) My adjournment matter is to the Minister for Education. I am asking the minister to visit Docklands Primary School in my electorate and meet with parents and staff so he can see for himself the success of this great school but also the significant challenges the school is facing, which the state government must fix urgently. This is a school that opened in 2021 – just three years ago – to great fanfare as one of Victoria’s first high-rise schools, and it is already showing great success. They have been nominated for several awards and their evidence-based explicit phonics teaching has been a huge success, with other schools using it as a model. The students are thriving, and more and more parents are sending their children to Docklands, but the school is finding it almost impossible to get the government to fix some issues that need urgent attention.

Firstly, the existing school building has a number of defects back from when it was originally built three years ago, including significant leaking, doors that will not open and close and brick tiles falling off the outside of the building. While the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) is aware of these, there does not seem to be any urgency in getting them fixed. The issues are clearly building defects from when the school was built, but the school is now being asked to fix them out of its own pocket, which is really not fair to students at the school.

Secondly, the school needs more space. They are near their capacity of 535 students already, after just three years, and they will see another 100 or so preps join next year – a great testament to how good the school is and their reputation, but the government has failed to properly plan for space for these kids. The VSBA has had to rent space down the road in the shopping centre to create enough classrooms for all the kids, but they need a permanent solution for this growth. Luckily there are a number of high-rise development sites adjacent to the school, and if the state government and Melbourne City Council work together, they can be used in innovative ways to create extra classrooms and also play spaces for the school. In one case, land owned by Development Victoria right next to the school is already earmarked for civic use. It could be used for a permanent expansion of the school if the government decided to do so.

Thirdly, there are a number of maintenance issues with the new campus that need to be urgently addressed. Some are significant safety issues, and some are really affecting the kids’ learning, such as the department saying they have run out of money to put blinds on the west- and north-facing windows so kids cannot even see the whiteboards due to the glare and the teachers have to stick paper on the windows to deal with it.

I would be happy to talk to the minister with more information about the specifics of some of these issues and to help get them addressed. Docklands is a great school with a wonderful community, but the staff and parents should not have to spend all their time advocating for basic maintenance needs or sufficient classrooms and facilities for their students, especially in a school that is just a few years old. I very much hope that the minister will arrange a visit to the school and then get these fixed.