Hansard NSW State Parliament
Private Members Statements
KELLYVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOL
Mr RAY WILLIAMS: I advise the House of the achievements of an excellent school in my electorate, Kellyville Public School. First, I pay tribute to its outstanding principal, Jenny Walker, and to the many teachers within the school. One of the wonderful initiatives implemented by Jenny Walker has been the leadership program whereby each year she brings the leaders of her primary school—the school captains and prefects—to undertake a tour of Parliament. I congratulate the parents and citizens organisation's president, Trish McCahon, who has completed a significant list of contributions on behalf of the school. The fundraising efforts by the parents and citizens team, who are all volunteers, should be commended. The main focus of fundraising activities was providing financial support to the school for the new covered walkway areas and a cooling system consisting of a very large fan in the hall. A combined effort from all functions has enabled the parents and citizens team to donate at least $70,000 towards the enrichment of Kellyville Public School.
The parents and citizens team has provided continued support for the youth liaison program, which has been invaluable for the children, families and staff of Kellyville Public School. The program has made a significant difference in the wellbeing of students and parents, with a focus on grief and loss, leadership and transitions through the school environment, together with teamwork, resilience and skill building. The compassion of Kellyville Public School and its community was demonstrated following the holding of a Black and White Day to support students from Winmalee and Ellison public schools, who last year were affected by the bushfires at Springwood. Many generous donations were received and this money was used to purchase individual gift packs for children affected by the fires. School leaders and selected Students' Representative Council [SRC] students travelled to Springwood to deliver the gifts personally.
The school captains and sport captains attended a Young Leaders' Day, where they listened to several inspirational speakers, including Nathan Hindmarsh and Jessica Fox. The captains stated they had a wonderful day and felt more equipped and inspired to become future great leaders. The school has in place appropriate representation at Anzac day events and commemorations. The captains, principal and Mrs Petra Hocking, who has served as the relieving principal, attended the launch of the Castle Hill RSL Anzac school program. Kellyville Public School also nominated a year 6 student to serve as a Castle Hill RSL Youth Anzac Ambassador. Xanthia, a year 6 student who was selected for this role, gave an outstanding speech. The captains also attended the Anzac memorial service held in Hyde Park and the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Castle Hill with their families.
The Kellyville Public School ballroom dancers made their debut in the Sydney Dance Sports Championships at the Penrith Basketball Stadium. They exceeded expectations, with 11 couples making the semifinals, five couples proceeding to the finals, and then placing in four out of six individual events. In the progressive team events, stage two placed second and stage three placed third. Overall, Kellyville came third out of 18 schools, with 432 students competing. In 2013 Kellyville Public School had a total of three performance choirs. The stage one choir, under the leadership of Mrs Matthews, consisted of 26 students—22 girls and 4 boys—from years 1 and 2.
The choir performed at many events throughout the year, including Grandparents Day, the Hills Performing Arts Festival, Education Week at Castle Towers and the K-2 Presentation Day Assembly. The stage two choir, under the direction of Mrs Burt, consisted of 21 students. The choir began their year by performing the song, Everything's Coming Up Roses, at the Grandparents Day Assembly. The main performance during semester one for the stage two choir was as part of a combined choir at the twenty-fifth anniversary Hills Performing Arts Festival at Castle Hill. In semester two, the choir's main performance was at the Primary Proms Festival at Sydney Town Hall.
The stage three choir, under the leadership of Mrs Knight, worked hard throughout the year practising a number of different songs to be performed at the Opera House for the Pulse Arts Festival. The choir also performed at Book Week celebrations, Education Week celebrations at Castle Towers and at the Presentation Day Assembly. The 2013 Kellyville Recorder Ensemble performed at the Sydney Opera House in a concert of the combined schools Festival of Instrumental Music. They were part of a spectacular massed recorder group consisting of approximately 1,000 students from public schools across New South Wales.
The Kellyville Public School Junior Band was the biggest for many years and their members excelled throughout the first year. Kellyville Public School encourages students to participate in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools [ICAS]. This assessment program is coordinated by the University of New South Wales. All students in years 3 to 6 were offered the opportunity to gain a measure of their academic achievement in an external testing situation. Each ICAS test is designed to assess the academic ability of students in aspects of computer skills, English, mathematics, science, spelling and writing. Kellyville students received 18 distinctions and 48 credits.
Students at Kellyville Public School enthusiastically participated in the 2013 Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads. Thirteen Kellyville Public School students achieved a ranking in the top 10 per cent and the school was placed on the 2013 awards honour roll for Division J teams. Five students received the excellent score of 25 out of 25, which was obtained by only 160 students from a total of 29,795 students who completed the Division J Olympiads. Kellyville Public School is an outstanding school. There are 36 schools across my electorate and they all punch well above their weight, but Kellyville Public School is proving to be providing fantastic education opportunities to students in my electorate.