Federal funds for new school buildings

STAFF, parents, and students within Creswick’s St Augustine’s Primary School community received big news on Tuesday morning.

During a special school assembly with Federal Member for Ballarat, Catherine King, $3.3 million worth of new facilities were announced.

With the cash coming from the Capital Grants Program, Ms King said St Augustine’s is well-deserving of the overhaul, which will be its first instance of major development since 2009.

“[It’s] been offering education for over 100 years in this community,” she said.

“We know how important it is for education to be undertaken in modern, fit-for-purpose facilities.

“The investment here in a school that has been offering great care to the community for generations is really a delight to have been able to announce.

“All the evidence is that capital improvements to schools actually do influence learning outcomes. Making sure there are modern learning opportunities for children… is very important.”

The new facilities are set to be located between the current school buildings and St Augustine’s Catholic Church.

Works are slated to begin by late next year, with the new facilities to include an administration space as well as staffrooms and a new general learning area for specialist subjects like art, science, and language classes.

St Augustine’s Primary School principal Michael Heenan said the new buildings will provide a much-needed overhaul.

“Our buildings need a big refurbishment and we need to move on,” he said. “[The conditions are currently] pretty awful.

“We’ve got glass that doesn’t keep [students] warm in winter and glass that makes it hotter in summer. This is really something great for our teachers and for our kids especially.

“We have 126 students and next year we’ve got 134, so we’re growing as well.”