Classroom bid successful

By Paul Dunlop
THE longawaited arrival of muchneeded classrooms made for a very merry Christmas at Cardinia Primary School.
The new school year will also start on a happy note, with staff and students finally able to get rid of an asbestoslined portable building and other run down classrooms that had been the subject of major concern in the community.
Teachers and parents are thrilled that their longrunning bid to fix problems caused by cramped conditions and inadequate classroom space at the rural school has ended in success.
On the last day of school last year, two new double classrooms were delivered to Cardinia Primary School.
They will be fitted out and ready when classes resume in February.
The asbestoslined classrooms and the other older portable buildings at the school were earmarked for replacement several years ago but, despite growing pressure on the school facilities, staff and students were kept waiting.
The new classrooms came after an inspection of the school by Department of Education and Training officials and follow a campaign, highlighted in the PakenhamGazette, by teachers, parents and local politicians to lobby the State Government for improvements.
Federal MP Greg Hunt, who helped lead the campaign, was at the school, along with school council president Linda English, teachers, students and parents, to see the classrooms delivered on Wednesday, 21 December.
Cardinia Primary School principal Allan Armstrong said he was thrilled to see the issue finally resolved.
“We’re getting two new ‘mod fives’ double classrooms and will leave the best of the current portables and they will be in place for the new school year,” Mr Armstrong said.
Mr Armstrong paid tribute to the efforts of Ms English and the school community.
He said the school had heard about a month ago that it was likely to receive the new classrooms and was very happy to see them arrive.
“We said all along we did not want anything lavish, just the extra classroom space we had been promised. It is certainly good news for the school, it should have happened without all the fuss but at least it has happened,” Mr Armstrong said.
Schools around the fastgrowing area have recently been lobbying to ease cramped and crowded conditions. Kooweerup Primary School officials said last year that facilities at the school were inadequate and had not been upgraded for years.
A Department of Education and Training spokesperson said the Bracks Government had invested strongly in schools in the Cardinia Shire since 1999, to a total value of more than $24 million.