PEET grants - Hills area

10/2/99

Four local schools have received grants from a special trust fund which supports innovative projects designed to benefit Western Australian students.

Education Minister Colin Barnett announced today Swan View Senior High School, Parkerville Primary School, Kalamunda Education Support Centre and St Brigid's College in Lesmurdie had received funding of between $1,000 and $10,000.

The funding was provided from the Public Education Endowment Trust which was established by State Parliament in 1909 to support outstanding educational programs which have the potential to help a wide cross-section of students.

The trust, chaired by Mr Barnett, has funded many thousands of innovative and successful educational projects in its 90 years.

More than 180 applications were received for 1998 funding. Over 50 of these were awarded grants of between $350 and $21,000 to a total of almost $170,000.

Swan View Senior High School received $10,000 from the trust for its Collaborative Learning through Technology Curriculum Innovation project.

The funding will help the school develop a Technology Project Development Centre through which to operate its Genesis program.

The centre will allow other schools to participate in Genesis, a Swan View SHS-UWA project designed to stimulate higher levels of learning in maths, physics, electronics, computing and design.

Parkerville Primary School will put its $6,000 grant towards its History on Wheels project. The money will allow the school to pay a teacher to develop a set of lessons on local heritage for junior, middle and senior school students.

The lesson, to be developed in consultation with Mundaring and Hills Historical Society, will be trialled this year, the Centenary of Public Education in Parkerville.

Kalamunda Education Support Centre at Kalamunda Primary School has received $1,000 to put towards a Reciprocal Integration Music Project.

The project will see a pan pipe-percussion band established as the centrepiece of a reciprocal integration program between students of the centre and Kalamunda Primary.

The band will make its own instruments and help design and make costumes and backdrops for public performances.

St Brigid's College's $5,000 grant will enable the school to set up its community clubs project.

The clubs, which will be manned by skilled volunteers from the local area, are aimed at expanding the college's involvement in the community.

The six areas the clubs will deal with are science, athletics, art and craft, books, Women Beyond 2001 and computers.

Mr Barnett said PEET grants complemented education funding provided by the State Government.

"There are many worthwhile projects devised by educators in our community and the PEET grants ensure these very exciting initiatives get off the ground," he said.

"Thousands of very worthy projects have been started or given a boost over the years thanks to this funding."

Media contact: Inga Butefisch, Education Department, (08) 9264 5348