The first sod was turned today as work begins on improving facilities for students and teachers at St Mary’s School, Warwick.
Federal Member for Maranoa David Littleproud said the Australian Government had committed $4.5 million towards the cost of the capital works project which will help transform St Mary’s and create new, modern learning spaces for teachers and their students.
“This is an exciting project for the St Mary’s School and the Warwick community as it will bring together the lower and upper campuses onto the one site for the first time in the school’s history,” Mr Littleproud said.
“The work will involve the demolition of two general areas and the current administration area to make way for the construction of eight new general learning areas, a multipurpose area, a covered lunch area, as well as student amenities and a covered area for students in Prep.
“Other existing spaces will be converted into Prep-year rooms, four general learning areas as well as a new administration area, learning support, and other facilities for teachers, school staff and students.”
The total project is worth more than $5 million and is predominantly funded through the Australian Government’s Capital Grants Program (CGP) which helps non-government schools improve their school infrastructure when they don’t have enough funding to pay for the whole project.
Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge said that the up-to-date facilities would benefit the students and teachers at St Mary’s School as well as the wider school community.
“Students and teachers thrive when their school has high-quality, modern facilities which is why the Morrison Government is proud of the Capital Grants Program,” Mr Tudge said.
“The Government has approved more than $150 million for capital works projects at 159 schools throughout Australia in 2021.
“Our Government is ensuring that every child gets a quality education no matter where they go to school, with a record $314.7 billion being provided for all Australian schools, over the period 2018 to 2029.
“We are delivering real, needs-based funding matched by national reforms to drive better educational results and outcomes for students, as recommended by David Gonski in his Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools.”
Mr Littleproud congratulated St Mary’s on their successful grant to fund the development work and said he looked forward to the positive impact the new facilities would have on the staff and students.
“St Mary’s is already a wonderful school community, and these new facilities will further enhance the learning environment for everyone,” Mr Littleproud said.
Minister Littleproud said the funding announcement was one of 158 projects approved for funding under the Capital Grants Program to commence in 2021.
Schools that want to learn more about the Capital Grants Program can visit https://www.education.gov.au/capital-grants-non-government-schools.
