Please Sir, may

By Jade Lawton
St Margaret’s brother school, Berwick Grammar, was the big winner, with $2,500,000 approved for the construction of a junior wing at the school’s Officer-based boy’s campus under the Primary Schools for the 21st Century Program.
St Margaret’s also got $200,000 for general maintenance and refurbishment works under the National School Pride Program.
Other local schools to benefit were:
• Harkaway Primary School, with $125,000 for a facility upgrade;
• St Michael’s, with $125,000 for the upgrade of the library, administration areas, windows and grounds, and $25,000 for Information technology;
• Berwick Fields Primary School will get $200,000 for a staffroom extension
• St Catherine’s Primary School will get an upgrade of playground including synthetic surface, shade sails, decking and seating to outdoor play areas $136,000
St Margaret’s School Principal, Dr Helen McDonald, said the school was excited to hear the news.
“We are absolutely delighted. This is just fantastic news, and it means we can continue work on the campus,” she said.
The wing will be part of Berwick Grammar’s second stage, and work could start within weeks.
“We will do our best to begin in June; we have just finished the first stage so we still have all our building contacts, and we will try and get started as soon as possible.
Dr McDonald said the wing should be finished by December.
While Berwick Grammar was jumping for joy, Berwick Fields Primary School was disappointed to find their $3 million in funding came with several strings attached.
La Trobe MP Jason Wood brought up the conditions on the school in Parliament last week.
“Berwick Lodge Primary School has little to smile about because, instead of having the opportunity of using this $3 million for the construction of a new library and six classrooms as planned … the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has told the school that it needs to use this funding to build a gymnasium. You may think that is fair enough, but the school already has a gymnasium and it does not want another one,” he said.