ADJOURNMENT

Mr LEESER (Berowra) (19:30): Tonight I'd like to honour Dr Ted Boyce. Ted Boyce is more than just a principal and leader of the Pacific Hills Christian School and one of the great people in the broader Christian education movement. He is indeed one of the most globally significant education figures that this country has produced.

He's touched the lives of tens of thousands of people—not only those who've gone to the Pacific Group of Christian Schools, for which he's been the shepherd for the last 41 years, but people all across the world who he's helped form in their knowledge of Christian teaching and whose God given gifts he's helped bring out through his care and concern for every student, for every staff member and indeed for everyone he's come across.

Tonight I want to put on the national record in this parliament the grateful thanks of a nation for an extraordinary man, an extraordinary servant of God, an extraordinary educator, and wish him well in the next chapter of his life. Ted Boyce began teaching at the Bush School and later lectured at Macquarie University. His own studies took him from the University of Sydney to Canada, where his doctoral research focused on supporting teachers.

That concern for the people in the classroom has remained central to his work. In 1985, he became the second principal of what was then Pennant Hills Christian School. The school began in 1979 with eight students and one teacher.

This year, Ted leaves the school, the Pacific Group of Christian Schools, with 10 schools and an early learning centre across six locations, educating around 3½ thousand students. Families in regional New South Wales have gained access to a Christian education through schools including Pacific Coast and Pacific Valley. Building one school requires enormous work, but growing a group of schools while sustaining the faith and the purpose of the original community is an achievement that deserves particular recognition.

Ted has given successive generations of staff a clear understanding of the responsibility entrusted to them; he's backed them and he's backed their vision, too. His leadership has also expanded opportunities for students who needed additional support. New Hope Christian School opened at the Dural campus in 2015.

Alongside Pacific Hope and Valley Hope, they continue the group's commitment to students with disabilities. Ted also established the Pacific Gulgangali Jarjums Christian School, a dedicated school for Indigenous students. These developments reflect his determination to offer an education that recognises the needs and abilities of every child.

I've been particularly influenced in my work as the shadow minister for education by the conversations I've had with some of the outstanding educators at the school, including their outstanding Indigenous educators. I saw the Pacific Group's philosophy of education in action when I opened the new early learning centre. I spoke with a mother who was a former student and a current drama teacher.

I remarked to her that Pacific Hills has produced some remarkable performers over the years, and I asked how the school had developed such exceptional standards in music and drama. She explained that, at a Christian school, they believed God had given students gifts that they could not completely understand. Their responsibility was to honour God by allowing students to explore those gifts as fully as possible.

I thought this was a beautiful explanation of the school's approach and of Ted's guidance. Ted has encouraged that approach across the life of the school. The school's missions program, which began in 1991, has given students opportunities to serve here and overseas.

Ted's contribution to Christian education was deservedly recognised with the Medal of the Order of Australia in the year 2000. Throughout his leadership, Ted has continued to support teachers and their professional development. His involvement in tertiary education has also continued, including the development of Southland College.

He has understood that the future of these schools depends on preparing and encouraging people who will teach in them. As a Jewish Australian, I've got a deep appreciation for the contribution of wonderful Christian educators like Ted. At the Christian schools summit earlier this year, I spoke about the religious leaders that regularly check in with me and offer encouragement in good times and difficult ones.

Ted is a particularly good example, and I'm grateful for his friendship. I've deeply valued his private encouragement and the way his Christian faith finds expression in his work and his words. Ted describes his grandmother as his greatest teacher.

After preparing a meal, she'd give thanks that she'd been able to serve others. That simple example stayed with him, and it's a fitting way to understand the servant heart he has brought to his work. Thousands of students and families have benefited from that heart.

I want to encourage all of them to take a moment over the next few weeks, as Ted finishes his time at Pacific Hills, to write to him and say something of what he's meant to you in your life. I want to say to Ted: thank you for enriching my life. Thank you for showing me what it is to be a good servant, what it is to be somebody who sees God and the Bible as the centre of their life.

Thank you for your example. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for being what God has called you to be.

May he continue to bless the work of your hands and the prayer of your heart. On behalf of the Parliament of Australia, we all wish you good luck and godspeed.