The Snowy Mountains Grammar School have unveiled an update on their masterplan and subject to approvals, building works are planned to commence later this year on both Stage 1 – Learning Hub and Stage 2 – Sports Precinct.
School Principal Dr Andrew Bell declared the development as ‘one of the more important milestones for the School in its short 25 Years’ and was thankful to the NSW Government and Mr Barilaro for their assistance with funding.
“I am elated for our whole school community, who deserve a high-quality facility, where our students and teachers will benefit from a beautiful yet practical and inspiring environment to enjoy now and well into the future,” said Dr Bell.
The School, a K-12 co-educational boarding school in Jindabyne, was founded in 1996. The new Master Plan for SMGS was unveiled in December 2019 which outlined the vision for future campus development.
The vision for the campus is to create a contemporary state-of-the-art environment to further optimise a learning experience for their students that is in harmony with its local alpine environment and respects the heritage of its historic site, formerly part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority.
Member for Monaro John Barilaro and local MLC Bronnie Taylor joined students, teachers and members of the Jindabyne community last week to announce funding to help deliver the new Learning Hub.
Mr Barilaro said the NSW Government will provide $4.5 million under the Building Grants Assistance Scheme (BGAS), with the remainder of the funding to be contributed by the school.
“The new Learning Hub is going to make a huge difference to the lives of students, teachers and staff, ensuring they have the resources they need to learn and thrive,” Mr Barilaro said.
“This is an exciting milestone for SMGS, with the funding helping deliver the first stage of a major upgrade to the school. Our students deserve the very best and this funding will help ensure parents can choose the right educational setting for their child, whether that be at a government or non-government school.”
Mr Barilaro said the announcement is part of a significant investment by the NSW Government in education across the Snowy Mountains.
“It is exciting to see the plans for a new education campus at the Jindabyne Sport and Recreation Centre continue to progress. On top of that we are seeing significant upgrades to Monaro High School, ensuring our students have access to the best facilities available,” Mr Barilaro said.
“Since becoming Member for Monaro, one of my absolute top priorities has been ensuring we give our children the best start possible by investing in education. This new learning hub at SMGS is another step forward in delivering on that.”
Stage 1 – Learning Hub
As a multi-award-winner of the Educator Magazine’s Innovative Schools Award, it is not surprising that the detailed design for the New Learning Hub is intuitive, considered and forward-thinking.
The large two-storey Learning Hub will house a wide range of stimulating internal learning facilities, equipped with the latest technology, diverse flexible learning areas, modern science laboratories, a digital technology and robotics room, art room and display gallery, a state-of-the-art design and technology workshop, conference rooms, study spaces and student and staff amenities. A key feature of the design will enable the outdoor spaces to be incorporated into the learning environment.
With students and teachers scheduled to commence Term 1, 2023 in the new building, Dr Bell said that the new Stage 1 Learning Hub will ‘perfectly complement our focus on people and programs and provide an ideal balance to further optimise learning’.
Stage 2 – Sports Precinct
The new Sports Precinct is to be built on the north-east side of the current campus. This area will provide access to more green space and a sports oval, two high-quality multi-purpose outdoor courts and cricket nets, and a shade structure for spectators.
The fully fenced facility will offer potential opportunities to add other recreational and competitive sports in the future. It will also enable us to expand lunchtime play areas, with more room to move and socially gather, all while looking out onto beautiful Lake Jindabyne and the Snowy Mountains.
Chairman of the Board, Mr Michael Jones (OAM) also acknowledged the dedication and hard work of many individuals and the Physical Resources Group sub-committee of the Board throughout the extensive planning stage and now looks forward to the physical component of the project evolving.
The School has partnered with several specialist firms who enabled the inspired vision of the School to come to fruition. These include Munns Sly Moore Architects, New Learning Environments, Spectrum Property and Projects, and Dabyne Planning. Arising from the collective work, the School Board has now submitted a Development Application (DA) for each project to the Snowy Monaro Regional Council for consideration, subject to approval.
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