Designer set for school makeover

AS part of this year’s State budget it was announced that Forest St Primary School was getting a more than five and-a-half-million-dollar upgrade.

Now, as part of that overhaul, Member for Wendouree Julianna Addison has revealed Ballarat-based architect Morton Dunn Architects have been appointed to design the project.

Principal Jill Burt said she was excited to hear the news and there are many areas of the school that need addressing.

She said many of the school’s classrooms “are just not suitable” for student collaboration, many windows of classrooms currently can’t be opened, and there is asbestos in several rooms.

“One of the things in COVID times, we’ve been asked to have good ventilation and there’s not a window that opens in the whole front of the school,” she said.

“We’d like to see some improvements in those areas.”

The school has a student population of 300 and Ms Burt said she’d like to see more open areas in classrooms and office spaces, but also prioritise quiet learning areas.

“That’ll be a real challenge to have those spaces where we can collaborate and have the quiet areas where we can take students that need additional support,” she said.

“We have a large Koori cohort, and we want to set up an area, a cultural type of area, where they can work.”

Director of Morton Dunn Architects Alan Morton said he worked with the school to build the gym and other spaces 20 years ago and has worked with many schools across Victoria to help modernise them.

“The opportunities in terms of collaborative spaces, smaller spaces, spaces where the children can work in different types of learning experiences and spaces where teachers can work together as well, we just see that as being really exciting,” he said.