By Callum Ludwig
An exciting development at Gladysdale Primary School is nearing completion, with an expected opening this September.
Construction of a new office and entryway, new student engagement spaces, a kid-friendly kitchen, upgraded bathroom facilities and improved disability access are all ongoing.
Principal Tara Jenner said the modernisation of the school will be excellent when it’s done.
“We’re up to the foundations so the kids can actually see where the building is going to go and have an idea what it will look like,” she said.
“We’re very happy to have this happen and students and parents are all really excited, we think it will really benefit the school and really be able to make things come along much better than they have been in the past.”
Gladysdale received $2.187 million in the 2020-21 State budget for the upgrade and a further $0.446 million in 2022 to help support the works.
Ms Jenner said the new kitchen facility will support the school’s Patch 2 Plate program.
“Our Patch 2 Plate program is a fantastic success here, we grow vegetables and food before we put it into use in our own cooking, and it will grow the work we do in our garden and in sustainability,” she said.
“It will also be useful for a lot of the ideas we explore in STEM as well, such as the process of turning a liquid into a solid and a solid into a liquid and so forth, it’ll just be fantastic and hopefully will increase our enrolment.”
The new facilities will add to the offerings at Gladysdale Primary School, including specialist Art, Auslan, PE, coding, Performing Arts teaching, the Patch 2 Plate sustainable garden program, excursions and incursions, camps, the new Outside School Hours program and clubs and bus transport to and from Powelltown.
