CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Mr LEESER (Berowra) (16:24): Berowra's best and brightest were on display when I attended the Cherrybrook Public School Passion Projects evening, showcasing the hard work, research skills and dedication of the school's year 5 and year 6 students. I left the event inspired and full of optimism for the future of our community and our nation. The Passion Projects were started last year under the guidance of one of Cherrybrook Public School's outstanding teachers, Jasmin Kooper.
Last year, it was offered as only an extension project to select students, but it was so successful that, this year, all of years 5 and 6 could take part. Students spent one hour a week working on their project on a topic of their choice and put in extra hours of effort at home, culminating in the showcase on 23 September. The theme for this year's Passion Projects was 'fixing it'.
Students were asked to link their passion to solving a real-world problem using their creativity to tackle practical challenges. I want to highlight just a few of the excellent projects that students shared with me. One student, Miller, created a project based on the important message of 'reduce, reuse and recycle'.
He designed a football boot library to ensure we're making the most out of our sporting gear and shared amazing research he'd done about mushroom leather as an alternative material to synthetics. Sahir in 5E took up the challenge of researching and designing sustainable tyres to be used in Formula One. Danika in 6K focused on the monumental task of cleaning up space junk and used LEGO, drawing and 3D modelling to make her ideas come to life.
Genevieve from 6E designed a sustainable dance studio, accompanied by dance costumes made from repurposed fabrics. Sebastian combined his experiences living in our local area with dedicated research to develop a new plan for improving the longevity and sustainability of the turf at Campbell Park. It's so important that children discover their passions and the way they can make a difference both to our local community and to our country.
Opportunities like these create a love of learning and help the student drive more deeply into their interests and provide solutions to real-world problems. For year 6 students, Passion Projects is a great chance to develop discipline, self-regulation and study skills that will benefit them through their high school experience, and I look forward to attending next year's Passion Projects.
I want to particularly acknowledge the wonderful work of Jasmin Cooper for the success of the program and the effort that she and the other wonderful Cherrybrook school teachers provide, including Principal Harry Vassila, Relieving Principal Glen Lakeman, Stage 3 Assistant Principal Paula Davis and teachers Joanne Sikorski, Amy Kelman, Deb Morgan, Ashley Eaton, Suzanne Sambell, Sonya Fishpool, Chaseley Roberts, Jade Bell, Rachel Owens and Jessica Carter.
It was a pleasure to speak to so many wonderful students who worked so hard across term 3 and to see how proud their teachers and their families truly were of them. Congratulations again to the wonderful Cherrybrook Public School on a great evening and a very enriching program from all the year 5s and year 6s.