In a school with only 40 pupils, students are taking an active role in helping shape the future of a regional South Australian town.

Ten students from the year 5/6 composite class at Padthaway Primary School, about 250 kilometres south-east of Adelaide, have presented suggestions to the Tatiara District Council about how the school and town could be improved.

Their ideas included installing a pool, renovating the school hall and upgrading the tennis courts.

Tatiara District Council holds its meeting at Padthaway twice a year to give students an opportunity to propose improvements for the town.(ABC South East SA: Grace Whiteside)

Bryce Rothe proposed a safer crossing on the Riddoch Highway, which about half the student population had to cross daily to reach the school.

“The council should be lowering the speed limit to 50 or 60 kilometres an hour, and we should be putting more signs up,” he said.

“It’s just dangerous crossing a main highway when there are plenty of trucks going past.

“When you’re halfway past, a truck might come around the corner and you’re like, ‘Oh, better hop across quick’.”

Bryce Rothe describes crossing the Riddoch Highway as “dangerous”.(ABC South East SA: Grace Whiteside)

School and childcare requests

Several students lobbied for better road infrastructure around the school.

Elsie Orton suggested more signs, flashing lights and a zebra crossing.

“Just to make it more obvious for the drivers, because some drivers are going very fast past our school,” she said.

“I don’t think they would be locals — I think the locals are more aware that the school is there.”

Jack Orton spoke about the need for more local childcare facilities.

“There’s a lot of children that are heading to Naracoorte, Keith and Bordertown because there’s no childcare centre here,” he said.

“It just saves money and fuel if there’s [a centre] here, and it will attract more people to our town.”

Elsie Orton (left) suggested ways to reduce motorists’ speed near the school and Eliza Ward would like to see improvements to public toilets.(ABC South East SA: Grace Whiteside)

Eliza Ward said she wanted to talk about the “very disgusting and very dirty” public toilets.

“There are only two toilets available in the girls’ toilets – I’m not sure about the boys’ – and there’s only one sink.

“There are no sanitary bins, and there’s lots of gum on the walls and it’s just overdue for a clean.”

She said Padthaway should follow in the footsteps of nearby town Naracoorte, which has a cockatoo mural on the side of the public rest rooms.

“If we had something like that on our toilets, it would make it a little bit more inviting and [more] tourists [would] want to stop,” Eliza said.

“Not even just to go to the toilet, but to look at it; maybe take a picture because lots of people travel everywhere to just see paintings and art.”

Students wrote letters to council and read them aloud during the meeting.(ABC South East SA: Grace Whiteside)

Council’s response

Tatiara District Council director of infrastructure and operations Aaron Hillier said the students had come up with “very good suggestions”.

He said council had installed traffic calming around the school a few years ago, but may be able to look at other options to help reduce the speed of motorists.

Mr Hillier said Bryce’s idea of a crossing for the Riddoch Highway was “possible”.

He said council could investigate working with the Department of Infrastructure and Transport to install a pedestrian crossing over the highway.

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