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Saturday, 28 July 2007 |
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I received an invitation to attend a special announcement by David Bartlett the Minister for Education about the new Kingston High School that was held yesterday at the Kingborough Sports Centre. I wasn't too sure what to expect, but I assumed he would just re confirm his Governments commitment to the project and announce the actual location within the Sports Centre grounds. When I arrived I was confronted by more "important" people in suits than I have ever seen before. All of the television networks had cameras there and there were heaps of newspaper photographers as well. There were even radio people there with microphones and recorders. There were names like Michael Hodgman, David Bartlett (of course), Kevin Harkins and Nick McKim as well as the Mayor and a heap of councilors. The Minister, the Mayor and the Principal all went for a walk across the grass for the benefit of the cameras and then we moved inside the soccer club rooms out of the cold. There were a heap of Kingston High students inside to serve food and drink and we were greeted by some awesome singing and music that certainly wasn't expected. These students were a credit to the school and their parents should be very proud of them! The Minister made his speech confirming the project was going ahead on the patch of land to the left of the road that leads towards the sports centre. The Mayor (who happened to be in charge of the pediatric intensive care unit at the Royal Hobart Hospital at a time when Donna and I needed it the most) gave his speech and surprised a few with talk of a pretty big redevelopment of the whole area including a performing arts centre. Then Helen Gourley our Principal gave her speech and I was a bit surprised but very grateful to hear her thank me by name (amongst others) for the work that we did at a time when it was looking as if the new school could be dropped. I was also very glad to hear Helen mention Sue Livingston as she has made a huge contribution. Of course Lex McIndoe's efforts were also mentioned. Lex was the Chairperson of the School Association during this period and was the driving force behind our combined effort. The Mayor and the Minister then signed a Heads of Agreement document before we were served food and drink by the KHS students whilst their mates played more music. It was nice of the Mayor and the Council General Manager to come up to me to thank me personally for the small part that I played. I was determined to have a chat with the Minister before he left so I wandered over and thanked him for his commitment not only to this project, but also for ensuring that no other school would suffer funding cutbacks. I guess it remains to be seen if this actually eventuates. He did make an unusual comment to me that is worth recording here. He said "Phill, this is a great result for everyone, every child wins a prize". I happened to know (from a mate of his) that he was traveling up to Launceston on Sunday to watch the Hawks and the Kangaroos play at York Park, so I left him with the comment "I hope you enjoy the footy on Sunday". You should have seen the "how the heck does he know that" look on his face! It's a pity that the date has been moved back a year. This wasn't made very clear at the time as the Minister just mentioned the old 2010 date, but what he failed to mention was that instead of opening at the start of the 2010 school year, the keys will be handed over to the Principal at the end of the 2010 school year. That means that as long as nothing slips Brad should move in for year 10 and will be amongst the first ever school leavers from the new building.
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