A unique piece of architecture, St Luke’s Catholic Primary School’s building shakes up the usual spaced out design that most schools follow.
The building contains an auditorium surrounded by 16 general learning spaces designed to incorporate an open learning environment between classrooms.
Although the building has been in use since late May, the official opening ceremony was held on Wednesday, November 16.
The ceremony had several MPs and Catholic Education executive director Paul Desmond in attendance alongside Bishop of Sandhurst Shane Mackinlay, who finished the ceremony with a blessing of the new building and the individual crosses that sit in each classroom.
School principal David Keenan said the open space was designed to encourage further interaction between students and staff during the day.
“It's not just the amazing institution that you walk through, we're all together and actually see each other every day,” Mr Keenan said.
“It's doing a lot to bring people together and it’s now not just during the normal curriculum time where students are building relationships.”
Mr Desmond commended the clever design, saying it was one he hoped could be integrated into more schools in the future.
“I’ve advised other principals to come and have a look at St Luke’s, with the internal corridor and the classrooms going off the internal corridor,” Mr Desmond said.
“Have a look at how that can benefit this sense of community and building things up and having the kids in the one space.
“It’s all about having the kids in vibrant, dynamic learning areas, and if you look around here, that's exactly what they've achieved.”
Composite Year 3/4 teacher Grace Maher has seen how much of a difference the new areas have made for the students.
“They really love using the space and being able to move around a bit more,” Mrs Maher said.
“They enjoy working with the other classes and being able to use all the areas of it to improve their learning.”
Funding for the building was made possible through a $5 million grant from the Victorian Government in 2019 and an additional $1 million from past and present funds at St Luke’s.
The school was originally operating out of demountables, which are still in use for specialist classes.
However, Mr Keenan has found a better use for them.
“Although we're celebrating today, we've got to remember that some schools and communities don't have what we have today because of the floods,” he said.
“We’re going to support Rochester and give some demountables to St Joseph’s in Rochester to help them out over the next 12 months as they recover from the floods.”