By Jessica Anstice and Brendan Rees
A Berwick school is about to be completely transformed following the allocation of $2.61 million by the State Government.
Tired old classrooms and facilities at Timbarra P-9 College will be turned into modern learning environments thanks to a share in $388.8 million government funding.
Member for Narre Warren North, Luke Donnellan, made the announcement on Tuesday 19 May.
“We know how critical education will be to our state’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, and that’s why we’re investing in the future of our students across early childhood, schools and TAFE,” he said.
“We’re investing record funding in education so all people in Berwick, regardless of their background or circumstances, get a world-class education.
“The project at Timbarra P-9 College is yet another great example of the school building boom that is happening right across Victoria.”
This new funding is in addition to the $290,000 the college received in the 2019-20 State Budget.
College principal, Jan Adamson, said the school community was “ecstatic” with the news.
“We have been working really closely with the architects Ian McEwan Designs and we’ve come up with fantastic very contemporary design that should really see the school well and truly into the 21st century,” she said.
“We are very, very pleased. We were worried it might have been put on the back burner with everything else.”
A new single-storey building will deliver five to six learning spaces which will be an expansion of the school’s current secondary science wing.
Tender applications close by 30 June, however, when asked when the turning of the first sod may occur, Ms Adamson said a date had not been set but was hopeful for later this year.
The project is part of the State Government’s overall Building Works package, which will deliver $2.7 billion in shovel-ready projects – big and small.
