By EMMA SUN
EMERALD Primary School will be looking brand new by next year after receiving $6 million in State Government funding.
The whole building at the front of the school, which includes the reception, library, art, music and science rooms, a sports hall and classrooms, will be totally replaced.
The announcement was made by Premier Denis Napthine, who visited the school on Tuesday with education minister Martin Dixon and Gembrook MP Brad Battin.
School principal Mark Carver said the funding had been more than seven years in the making, and came at a good time as the building was infested with termites.
“They talked about it taking about a year to build, so it’s like the old saying – you’ll have a year of pain, but then you’ll have the gain after that,” he said.
“The place is starting to fall down and we need modern facilities for our students, so it’s just nice that something special is going to happen for our school.
“As much as the kids are great kids, everyone likes to see something new and I think it engenders a bit of pride in the school community.”
Dr Napthine said the exciting project would provide much-needed new facilities for the school.
“This $6 million project will provide students and teachers with access to state-of-the-art facilities,” he said.
“It’s a fantastic school, but when you look at the facilities, they’re past their use-by date and a bit tired, not built for modern teaching methodologies.
“This will bring the whole school into modern standard, into 21st century teaching systems and the school and the whole community will benefit greatly.”
Mr Battin said he was pleased to be able to help the school.
“As the local member, I regularly receive letters, phone calls and emails from parents and teachers concerned about the state of the school,” he said.
“Some of the maintenance they were looking at doing, you’re better off just replacing it, rather replacing something just for it to be pulled down later.”
Works are expected to start later this year in three stages and finish before October next year.
