By Mikayla van Loon
After a year of classroom changes and construction noise, St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School in Lilydale was able to officially open its new building last week.
Taking the opportunity to celebrate the milestone on Friday 17 March, or better known as St Patrick’s Day, it was a fitting tribute to mark the special occasion.
The new classrooms, courtyard and staff room were part of a $1.5 million upgrade funded through the Federal government’s Capital Grants Program.
School principal Geoff Klep said the final result was a culmination of many grant applications and the production of a five to 10 year master plan for campus.
“When I came to St Patrick’s I could see that our school was a really well maintained, well run school and it was well set out,” he said.
“We just got to a point where we’d been living in it for a while and we thought this school could do things just a little bit better and the school community certainly deserved that.
“We wanted to partake in some of those modern flexible learning spaces that we know some of the schools in the area had been achieving.”
Receiving the news that St Patrick’s was successful for funding, Mr Klep said “to say we were pleased…would be an understatement.”
The classroom spaces themselves challenge traditional learning, with a more open plan and free flowing movement between rooms.
“We were really keen to make increased use of available space that our very generous corridors enabled. We wanted to turn that into more productive and flexible learning spaces,” Mr Klep said.
Construction started in December 2021 seeing much of the 2022 school year disturbed by building, with students using the library and hall as classrooms but they were able to finish out the year in the newly refurbished rooms.
“I look at all the works that have taken place and I’m really proud of the vision that our teachers had and that that’s been able to be manifested through the skills of the architects in the buildings,” Mr Klep said.
“We now have resources that are equal to or I think better than some of the other schools in the area and resources that our community fully deserves.”
Helping unveil the plaque and plant a tree was Senator Linda White who said it was exciting for her as a newly elected member of parliament to see the facilities herself.
“It’s going to make a real difference to your school’s teachers, students as well as the wider school community,” she said.
“These facilities will help teachers nurture and inspire the students to do the best you can just as it will help our generations of schoolchildren who will come here after you.”
As just one of many schools Ms White has visited in recent weeks in the Yarra Ranges, she said the Australian government was committed to providing schools with the funding they need to offer the best education possible.
“Our government strongly believes in providing the best possible resources so that local students can realise their potential and develop the skills they need to go onto further study or to find a job.
“This is a fabulous facility…but at the end of the day it’s not the building that delivers a great education, it’s what happens inside of it.”
