I was honoured to be invited to the opening of St Sava College in Varroville last month with my colleague the member for Macarthur, the state member for Macquarie Fields and the member for Hughes. St Sava College will be an open, friendly and inclusive educational institution. The student body of the college will predominantly come from the Serbian community, who have a large presence in the south-west. However, it is anticipated that students will come from the Greek, Russian and Arabic Orthodox communities and the broader community in surrounding suburbs. The college is named after the patron saint Sava, who was a Serbian prince, the first Archbishop of the Serbian Church and widely considered to be the founder of Serbian medieval literature.

Although the idea of establishing an Orthodox college in Sydney was conceived in the early 90s, the project was postponed due to the war in the Balkans. After the purchase of the land in 2003 and the laying of the foundation stone by the Crown Prince of Yugoslavia in 2005, building approvals were finalised by Campbelltown City Council in 2007. It is due to the many years of hard work and the labour of love of volunteers and workers that the college is now open for K to year 2. I congratulate the Serbian Orthodox community and wish the college a fantastic inaugural year of schooling.