Page 1900 - Week 06 - Thursday, 9 June 2022
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Throsby School has also opened its doors to the local community, hiring out its brand-new facilities, including the large multipurpose gym. Annamaria Zuffo, foundation principal at Throsby School, is delighted with the school’s first-class facilities and amazing quality of build that will provide her students and staff with endless opportunities.
I am also pleased to share with you that Evelyn Scott School is the first in the ACT to be named after one of Canberra’s important Indigenous women. I am honoured to be officially opening this school at a formal naming ceremony later this month, in the presence of Evelyn Scott’s daughters and granddaughter. Jackie Vaughan, the foundation principal at Evelyn Scott School, has said:
The contemporary buildings represent a paradigm shift where students are at the centre of their learning ... Teachers have said the buildings facilitate our contemporary approach to education.
As Canberra’s second zero emissions school, Evelyn Scott was designed with a focus on sustainability. This beautiful learning facility is in its second year of operation, with construction of the high school campus now complete and with enrolments open for students to start their senior learning in the 2023 school year.
We now have three new public schools currently in the construction phase. The government’s investment of $85.9 million for the delivery of the new high school in Kenny, as well as $118 million for the new high school in Taylor and the expansion of Margaret Hendry School, will respond to the rapid population growth in the Gungahlin region. The new schools will cater for 800 students, each from years 7 to 10, and will provide state-of-the-art facilities to cater for them and to be enjoyed by community members. These schools are expected to open in 2024, in response to one of the fastest growing regions in Australia. Margaret Hendry School’s expansion will increase their school’s capacity to accommodate an additional 600 preschool to year 6 students by 2023.
As the ACT government continues to invest in ACT public school infrastructure, I recently announced a new $156.7 million package of funding for a new school in Strathnairn and the modernisation of Garran Primary School and Narrabundah College. Ginninderry’s first preschool to year 6 school and early childhood education centre is expected to open in 2025 in Strathnairn. This school will ensure that families moving to the region will have access to a high-quality local public school close to where they live. I am looking forward to seeing the designs that are underway for this $62.4 million school in west Belconnen. This school is being designed to respond to the strong connections with the nearby nature reserve and the cultural significance of the region. It will also complement the environmentally sustainable design that is seen through the Ginninderry development.
Another exciting project is the redevelopment of Garran Primary School. The Woden region continues to see high enrolment growth, and the government is investing $62.4 million to meet the school’s current and future needs. Once complete, Garran’s modernisation will increase student capacity to 800 kindergarten to year 6 students,
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