Mr Pallas (Tarneit) —  On 14  August I  had the  great pleasure  of attending Baden Powell  College in my electorate and serving as principal for  a day.  The school’s motto is ‘Looking forward, staying ahead’, and  I  must  say  that from what I observed  and what I know  of  the school, with its  highly motivated and committed teaching staff and  proud  student body, there is much to look forward to. I was hosted by the  college’s  principal,  Julie  Mason,  who  involved  me throughout the day in  interschool  conference planning, school leadership group discussions and a tour  of the  school’s facilities  and of  some of the classes undergoing   lessons.   While   observing   lessons,  I  was  impressed  by  the professionalism of the staff, the intensive training in the prep classes and the efforts made towards early detection of extra learning needs.

Baden Powell College operates two campuses, a P-9  campus  in  Tarneit  and  the Derrimut Heath P-6 campus in Hoppers Crossing. I inspected both campuses and was impressed at the efforts made  by the school body to ensure a united culture and administration across the two geographically dispersed locations. I also had the opportunity to speak to the student leadership body, a very impressive group of young people who were thoughtful and inquisitive.

I met with young Rotarians  who are part of the student body, who are putting together charitable  donations, developing  antibullying  videos for  the  community  and collecting books  for schools in Cambodia. It was great to see  that the  school encourages  the  students  and is motivated to make a contribution to the  local community.

See Tim’s speech in Hansard here.