Minister visits college works

Education Minister James Merlino inspects work at Beaconhills College's Year 9 centre with staff and students. Picture: CONTRIBUTED

Works on Beaconhills College Pakenham’s Year 9 centre are progressing “well”.
Construction has begun on the $5.7 million specialist centre, which will feature six general purpose and two specialist classrooms, a large multipurpose area for lectures, exhibitions and meetings, designated spaces for music and audio visual production classes and landscaping when it opens in March.
And on Friday 10 November Education Minister James Merlino visited the Toomuc Valley Road campus to see how works on its new purpose-built facility were going.
Jointly funded by the school and State Government, the facility will be used by middle secondary students as part of a specialised Year 9 program, the first of its kind in Victoria.
Introduced 20 years ago, the program aims to minimise disengagement from education which typically occurs around the Year 9 aged group.
However, Headmaster Tony Sheumack said that despite the existing centre serving its purpose well, it was well past its intended lifespan.
The school secured funding for the new facility last year and during his onsite visit Mr Merlino said he was impressed by what he had seen.
“The Year 9 students at Beaconhills are part of a tight-knit community where strong friendships are forged and this centre will help students feel comfortable, accepted and connected,” Mr Merlino said.
“It is innovations such as these that deserve the funding support of government and we are only too happy to help.”
Eastern Victoria MP Daniel Mulino also praised the school’s creative initiative.
“Beaconhills is a forward-thinking successful school and this Year 9 centre is something the entire community can be proud of,” Mr Mulino said.
The new building will be ready for the start of next year’s Term 2.