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Building the Education Revolution |
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In February 2009, the Federal Government announced a program called "Building the Education Revolution" to invest $14.3 billion into primary schools in Australia. There are two sub-programs:
- National School Pride (NSP) - directed towards maintenance of existing school facilities
- Schools for the 21st Century (P21) - to build either a library, hall or other essential structures
Based on our student count of 303, our school was allocated up to $150,000 for the NSP and $2.5 million for the P21.
National School Pride
After some wrangling, our preferred project to extend the verandah beside "A" block and add extra doorways to the middle rooms was approved and the project signed off in August 2009. This project is expected to start in September and must be completed by 21 December 2009.
Impression of the new verandah
This is a good outcome for the school because the extra doors will reduce the interruptions to classes and the verandah doubles as a rain shelter. The P&C is able to provide the smaller equipment such as the Interactive White Boards but it is far more challenging to obtain the funds to undertake a major construction.
Schools for the 21st Century
Having recently extended the library to become a Learning Resource Centre, we have selected the General Purpose Hall fo the P21 program. We are constrained in where we can locate a hall and this put some restrictions on size and function. The proposal targets both performance (music, choral and drama) and indoor sports, with a few additional rooms and a kitchen.
The initial design has been completed and we are ready for the BER project staff to contact us so this can progress to formal design and subsequent construction. This is expected to happen in September or October 2009.
Concept plan for 21 Hall
An indication of the footprint of the proposed hall. This view has been taken from the landing at the east of "A" block.
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