Lake Munmorah’s St Brendan’s Catholic Primary School has finished construction on its new state-of-the-art education space.
A $1.3M State Government grant helped complete construction of the new building, which replaces six demountable classrooms and features eight different learning spaces.
Principal, Craig McNee, said the space included new classrooms, a library and collaboration areas that will help students develop the critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills needed to excel in the future jobs market.
“These children are entering a world where the jobs that they will be doing aren’t even invented yet, so it’s important to introduce them to a modern learning environment like this,” McNee said.
“This is an opportunity for collaboration, where we can occasionally put different grades within the same space, where they can work, share and learn together, which is extremely important.”
McNee said the building had space to link students and staff for large activities as well as break out areas, and moveable furniture to adapt to each lesson.
“We will be really pushing forward with utilising the new space for parents once restrictions ease, we want to get them back and involved within their children’s education,” he said.
Modern technology has been embedded in each classroom, with collaboration spaces on every floor designed to accommodate gatherings of prayer, liturgy, and mass.
“The students absolutely love it, they’ve been in there and had a look around, and are extremely excited about it, they understand how much it is going to help them with their education,” McNee said.
“The building will stand out not only for its size but for what kind of learning will actually be taking place, and I think it’s going to be a really big bonus for the whole community.
“We are all looking forward to moving in.”
Hayley McMahon