Building Update

(from school newsletter 20 May 2017)

As you will have probably noticed, our West Hub is looking very close to being ready. I was fortunate to have a look inside again this week and the ceiling tiles and wall coverings were nearly all in. The joinery units are mostly in, and carpet is due to go down this coming week. The last major pieces of work will be the installation and commissioning of the underfloor heating system and the final landscaping pathway work around the outside of the building.



The East Hub is also moving along quickly and both are on track to be ready for our Y1-4 classes to move into them for the start of Term 3.

The new Bike Stand are is working well. Special thanks Fahey Fencing who have loaned us the temporary fencing for no charge. When we get the permanent fencing installed, we will be looking to have two gates, an 'in' and an 'out' gate, to improve the flow of traffic at peak times.

Building Update

(from school newsletter 5 May, 2017)

Our building work continues at great pace and we have been advised that they are making good progress and are well within their completion deadline for the full project. During the school holidays a stormwater retention system was installed. This involved digging a pit in the junior grass area where a network of interlocking plastic 'crates' were placed, then covered back over with topsoil. This is designed to take the stormwater from the roof of the West building, and prevent future flooding. We now have to wait for the grass to regrow before we will be able to utilise that space. We haven't had a chance to go into the West Building for a few weeks, but we are told that it is only 3-4 weeks from completion. The East Building is on track for completion by the middle of the July holidays.

HRS have begun work on the hall and foyer. The hall is getting some exterior recladding work done and the foyer is getting a new frontage, deck and roof. In the past couple of days a small amount of asbestos was found under the hall foyer so on Monday you may notice asbestos removal work happening in this area. The asbestos removal company have provided this information to confirm that this work presents no health and safety concern for our children, parents or staff:

ACM (asbestos contaminated material) located in small section of soil, stones and gravel. This has been immediately isolated / contained awaiting removal of contaminated material to be undertaken on Monday 8 th May.
Air monitoring has been conducted within the isolated area. Work in progress air quality monitoring will be performed as a control measure during the removal and disposal on Monday.

The small area of concern possess no associated health risks and has no potential for accidental airborne fibre release throughout removal works on Monday.
Suspect material is thoroughly wetted and damp and has been isolated under current regulations with 200 um plastic.
Hazardous containing material labels have been affixed to the small stock pile / area of concern.
A COC license holder from AQARL will oversee the removal of this material for immediate disposal on Monday.

New Bike storage area

If your children bring bikes or scooters to school, you will be aware that we have created a new bike stand on the Sandwich Road side of the old verandah block. This area will be our permanent new home for the bikes and will be locked during the school day. We plan to install security cameras when the new cabling has been installed. We are very grateful to one of our parents, Hamish Denny (Drainworkz), for carrying out the the groundwork for this area and donating all of the labour costs. We have temporary fencing in place at the moment, and plan to put permanent, pool-style fencing along this boundary when the fencing for the other part of that area is done. The PTA are currently fundraising for this and other landscaping work which will need doing as the building project progresses.

Building update

(from the school newsletter, 13 April, 2017)
Today has seen the office move to the Minor Room , where it will be for Term 2. The hall, hall foyer and office reception will be part of the building site now, until the end of Term 3. The hall is being partially reclad (at the park end) where it is a leaky building. The foyer is getting a new front - windows and double doors to create a more welcoming entrance to the hall, and a new roof across the foyer and office reception area (which is being retained as an additional multi-purpose space).

Completion date well ahead of schedule:

We are very pleased to be able to report that the building work is progressing at a rate that is significantly faster than expected. Our original completion date of May 2018 has been pulled back now to be January 2018, meaning that the builders are expecting to be completely finished by the start of the 2018 school year!

Hall and hall foyer work to begin:

From the beginning of Term 2, the work on the recladding of the hall and the repair and re-roofing of the foyer and reception area will begin. This is expected to take until the end of Term 3 and will mean that the hall is out of action for Terms 2 & 3.

Moving to enable the next stages to happen:

The office reception area is also being refurbished as part of the hall and foyer work so from the start of Term 2 the office reception will be located in the Major/Minor room and the staff room will be relocated to Room 13.

HRS have told us that the West and East Hubs will be able to be occupied from the start of Term 3 (mid July).  At this stage, they will begin work on refurbishing Rooms 1-4 into the new library, admin and staffroom area.

So at the start of Term 3, Year 1/2 children and teachers from Hubs 1-4 will move into the West Hub and Year 3/4 children and teachers will move into the East Hub.

Whilst we could bring all of the students back from Champion St at the start of Term 3, we are going to be in the middle of winter and will have very little outdoor space as the hall and Rooms 1-4 will be fully fenced off by then, and the council regularly close the park in the winter if it has been raining. The Champion St site has expansive netball and basketball court areas, making it very usable during the winter terms for ongoing outdoor play.  Therefore, the Year 5-8 children will stay at Champion St until the end of Term 3.

Our East Hub now has a concrete slab. The pour happened last Thursday, 26th January, just before the start of term.

Here's a timelapse video of the East Hub progress from October 2016 to now...