Les Powell School

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-106223

Hansard session: Fifty-Sixth Parliament, First Session (56-1)

Les Powell School

Mr NICK LALICH (Cabramatta) (17:42:32):

On 24 March I was delighted to attend Harmony Day celebrations at the Les Powell School at Mount Pritchard in my electorate of Cabramatta. Members will be aware of the fantastic job that the Les Powell School does for the local community and for disabled kids and their families in our area. The school motto, "Towards Independence", reflects its goal of giving students with diverse and complex learning needs the learning outcomes that are relevant to present and future community living. The school's website states:

The central aim at Les Powell School is to provide high quality educational programs that support the individual needs of students with severe intellectual and multiple disabilities.

I cannot imagine what those children must endure just to get through every day. It takes them and their families and carers a lot more effort to do all the things that people like us in this House take for granted. The most difficult thing is that most of the kids were born with disabilities or developed them at a very young age and so have not the chance to experience what the rest of us would consider to be a normal life. But the love and affection they are shown by their parents, their siblings, their grandparents and other family members is truly touching. When these children achieve something, the beaming pride, smiles and tears of joy from their loving family members would light up the darkest room. Spare a thought also for the parents who look after these wonderful children. Being a parent is hard enough, but the job these parents do certainly deserves acknowledgement.

The parents are ably supported by the school community at the Les Powell School. Led by principal Sargon Makko, the children are supported by three assistant principals, 12 teachers and 20 administration support staff. These wonderful individuals are worth every cent. One only has to visit the school to see the love and care that brings the halls to life. The classrooms are vibrant, the children are active and excited, and all the adults beam with absolute pride. Harmony Day celebrations, as always, were jubilant, with almost 20 different nationalities represented at the school. Les Powell School also uses interactive techniques to assist the students to achieve their learning outcomes. Amongst these is music therapy, which has the added benefit of helping their health and wellbeing, swimming pool sessions, taking part in activities such as School Spectacular, Riverside Theatre, positive behavioural learning techniques and many more.

The school even has a liberty swing, which can safely carry a student in a wheelchair and give them the wonderful experience of moving through the air without being pushed. Spare a thought for the fact that many of these children have never had the chance to experience the joys of being pushed on a swing by their parents due to their medical condition. Unfortunately, this echoes many other experiences that they sadly never get a chance to have. I am proud of the work that the Les Powell School and all involved do to support these youngsters, and of course, I am proud of the children themselves. They show amazing strength, patience and courage to be able to get through each day. They truly are heroes and I wish every one of them a bright future and a healthy life. I always say that Harmony Day for us in the Cabramatta electorate is every day.

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (16:47:21):

I acknowledge the member for Cabramatta and the great work that he does in his electorate, in particular with the Les Powell School and, of course, I note the great work of the liberty swings, which are in fact built in Peakhurst in my electorate. I know Robert Devine and his father, who for many years have been building liberty swings, not just for my community and throughout Sydney but overseas, in Canada and America as well. They provide an opportunity particularly for children in wheelchairs to play outside on swings and to entertain themselves. As the local member said, Les Powell School does an outstanding job in that community and has done so for many years. I acknowledge the great work of the chief executive officer of the school and the school's P&C.

TEMPORARY SPEAKER (Mr Adam Crouch):

I also want to acknowledge the member for Lake Macquarie for his earlier contribution. As a local member, I take part in some of the rubbish and clean-up days and we have an organisation called Clean For Shores on the Central Coast. They extract more than 40 tonnes of waste from our waterways annually, most of that being plastic, so I share the same concerns that the member for Lake Macquarie does, as does the member for Oatley and many others in this House.

The House adjourned, pursuant to standing and sessional orders, at 17:48 until Tuesday 30 May 2017 at 12:00.