Constituency Question - Elwood Primary School

CONSTITUENCY QUESTION

‘ELWOOD PRIMARY SCHOOL’.

Wednesday, 8 March 2023.

Mr NEWBURY (Brighton) (14:43):

My constituency question is to the Premier, and I ask: can the Premier confirm when the State Government will ensure that all students at Elwood Primary School have equal opportunities and access to school?

Young children should not be treated differently because of a lack of State investment in certain schools.

Elwood Primary School is a historic school that is at the heart of the Elwood community, but upgrades are needed, and the school does not have a proper lift.

The school only has an automatic stairwell chairlift that takes 20 minutes to move between two floors, and each time it does the school stairwell is blocked, students surround the stairs to watch the chair being lifted and the 20-minute ride cuts into half of any disabled child’s 40-minute lesson.

The Department’s advice has been to refuse the funding fix and suggest that all classes for a disabled child be moved to the ground floor.

We should be doing better than that – a lot better than that – and I call on the Premier to intervene and ensure that all children have equal opportunities.