Building Saint Kentigern – Engaging with the Girls’ School Community

Following on from the Trust Board’s announcement earlier this year, that as part of the Master Plan for Saint Kentigern’s two primary schools and the Preschool, the Girls’ School would be relocated to the Shore Road campus, an interested group of Girls’ School parents gathered to hear and begin to share ideas about how the new school could look.

The Trust Board has made a real commitment to the future of single-gender primary education and is investing heavily in the development of the Shore Road Campus. A new purpose-built 19 classroom Girls’ School is planned adjacent to the Gate 5 entrance off Shore Road, with a new learning commons, library, recreational spaces and distinct road frontage.

At the same time, the Boys’ School will be further developed with 10 new classrooms, new recreational spaces and the current Senior School refurbished for the Middle School boys in Years 4-6. A fantastic new Arts, Science and Technology block will also be built and made available to both schools for specialist teaching and learning. Our Preschool families will also benefit from the plan with an exciting, new Preschool planned for the Shore Road campus..

Concept briefs and planning are currently underway with construction anticipated to take place through 2020-2021 with all new facilities completed and ready for occupation in 2022.

At the meeting, Girls’ School Principal, Ms Juliet Small, welcomed everyone with enthusiasm, stating that, ‘It’s a rare opportunity for a principal to lead the planning of a new school, it is really happening, it is very exciting, and we are all part of it!’

As part of this process, she assured staff and parents alike, that every idea was valuable and that it was an important part of the on-going dialogue which would help shape the future.

Around the room were several boards with images and ideas of what the future build could look like, and those gathered were invited to add their ideas and ask questions.  Questions were posed about learning areas, shared facilities, environmental issues, play areas, and technology and its place in the future.

Looking at how the school would be sited on the Shore Road campus brought forward questions of the physical look of the building with parents saying that it was a wonderful opportunity to make a statement through innovative design, lighting, and landscaping.

Parents really value the nature of the current school and wanted to know how that ‘small school feeling would be maintained.’ They also discussed special attributes about the current site that could be transferred, specifically mentioning the library environment, the Honours Boards that date back to when Corran School was operational on the site and the large clay mural that was created and installed by the foundation Saint Kentigern girls and staff on the site.

Added to those ideas were thoughts about honouring the past through displays which could include the history of the former Corran School, uniforms through the years, and other special items peculiar to the current site.

Ms Small thanked the parents for attending, once again reinforcing the value of their input and assuring them that consultation would continue.