Thursday, 6 February 2025

Coburg West Primary School

Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (17:13): (992) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education, and the action I seek is for the minister to provide an update on the investments the Victorian Labor government is making to deliver the Education State across my electorate, including for the families of Coburg West Primary School. As the state member for Pascoe Vale but also as a local parent and proud former student of Coburg West Primary, having attended there from 1990 to 1996, I am absolutely committed to doing everything I can to help improve local education for Coburg West Primary, which is one of the oldest schools in our community.

Initial plans for establishing the school began in 1912 when the education department purchased 3 hectares of land fronting then Reynards Road from landowner Mr Cook at a cost of £10 – a good deal for the Victorian School Building Authority. It was not until 3 September 1917 that Coburg West opened as a prep to grade 8 school under the stewardship of head teacher Thomas Jenkin, welcoming 332 students. And for 108 years the school has continued to grow and expand, continuing to beautifully educate and support generations of local students from many, many diverse backgrounds, in that iconic purple and yellow uniform, for their careers and lives ahead.

Under the longstanding motto ‘Honour the School’, Coburg West is today home to a vibrant cohort of just under 400 students led by the hardworking principal and my once-upon-a-time school Italian teacher Mark Colagrande. That is why I am very proud to have visited the school on several occasions since being elected, including on 18 December to celebrate the school’s grade 6 graduation, organised by Jo Rigby and Olivia Franco, where I commended the 2024 school captains Ava Nicholls and Nicholas Richardson, presented the school academic, community and sporting awards, including to Gemma Leicester and Joel Stephan, and congratulated all the families on a wonderful six years of primary education. On 7 November I had the absolute pleasure of congratulating longtime teacher Agatha Blatti on her 40 years of service and retirement by presenting a letter of thanks from the Premier. Ms Blatti was my grade 4 teacher and a pioneer in STEM education.

As we kick off the 2025 school year it was also great to catch up recently with the principal and commend the 2025 school community, including school council president Donald Parton, assistant principal Dan Copping, leading teachers Patrizia Amerena and Fiona Currie, mental health and wellbeing leader Amanda Kingsley, disability inclusion coordinator Matt Niciak, the new school captains Maggie Hegarty and William Batsakis and of course all the school parents and community volunteers.

But of course there is more to do with Coburg West, especially when it comes to building improvements, refurbishments, toilet upgrades, better outdoor spaces and opportunities, which I continue to support their advocacy efforts on. Alongside this work we are helping the families of Coburg West with the 2025 school year via the $400 school bonus, which is covering the cost of kids’ uniforms, textbooks, excursions, camps and activities and so far has saved the families there $30,000. This is on top of the free school breakfast program, free dental check-ups and Smile Squad van, free glasses and vision screening in schools and mental health and wellbeing resources in schools.

But it is also outside the school gates that we are investing to improve local education outcomes through the free rollout of three- and four-year-old kinder, saving local families $2500. We have invested $1.35 million to virtually double the capacity of the local kinder, Doris Blackburn, to accommodate 40 extra places – (Time expired)