New block opened at Maiden Gully PS

A NEW building with six classrooms and refurbished amenities at Maiden Gully Primary School has been completed and was officially opened on Wednesday by Member for Bendigo West, Maree Edwards. 

The $5.3 million upgrade was made up of a $200,000 grant from the Inclusive Schools Fund, $510,000 from the Infrastructure Planning and Acceleration Fund, and $4.59 million through the 2020-2021 Victorian budget. 

“It is just stage one though,” said Ms Edwards. “We know that the projected enrolments in this part of Bendigo are going to be significant over the coming years. 

“This growth corridor between Maiden Gully and Marong is one of the largest in Bendigo. 

“But the school is fantastic, they provide excellence in education, the teachers are amazing, and the principal has been truly incredible in his advocacy for this project.  

“It has been a good effort to get the money for the funding.” 

Ms Edwards said the incentives to encourage people to study teaching “have been a start.” 

“That of course takes time because teaching is a four-year degree at university,” she said. 

The project was part of a bigger goal to add six more classrooms to the back end of the new block.  

Ms Edwards said now that the first part is complete, planning can start on the stage two. 

The State Government plans to open 100 new schools in Victoria before 2026, 75 of those by 2024. 

“I think that we have upgraded almost every single school in Bendigo West over the last few years and I’m very proud of that,” said Ms Edwards. 

“That’s our commitment to education, our commitment to making sure that not just the students, but also teaching staff, have the best possible facilities to work in and to educate our youngest people.” 

The project came from a master plan for an upgrade of the school created in 2021, a redo of an earlier master plan never realised from 2010.  

“It was important that we redid the master plan to give this site the opportunity to look at what could be done,” said Ms Edwards. 

“I will continue to work with the school community to deliver the next stage.”