YEAR 1 students at St Oliver Plunkett School, Cannon Hill, are enjoying their four new flexibly designed classrooms, worth almost $2.2 million.
Auxiliary Bishop Ken Howell blessed and officially opened the new classroom facilities and undercroft, named Ballygriffin in honour of Nano Nagle, foundress of the Presentation order, who was born in the County Cork village in Ireland, in 1728.
Principal Paul Blinkhoff said it was a wonderful way for the school and wider community to celebrate Nano Nagle and the Presentation Sisters who founded the school.
He acknowledged the state government for its generous funding assistance to bring Stage 1 to fruition.
“Our school community appreciates this funding, which will help us continue delivering a contemporary, faith-based education for our students.
“This support has helped us bring the first phase of our Master Plan to life, catering for growth in our local area and maximising use of our site, to ensure children have plenty of room to learn and play.
“Our Year 1s and their teachers are thoroughly enjoying the Ballygriffin building – the new contemporary, flexible learning spaces, which are helping to really engage with learning.
“We are so grateful to everyone who was involved in the project – architects, builders, representatives from BCE and the ADF, representatives from our local, state and federal governments, previous “Ollie’s” leadership team members, plus parents, extended family and most importantly, the students.”
He also thanked the parent community who contributed more than $1.4 million to the massive building project.
BCE Director - Administrative Services, Michael Kearney, said he was honoured to be at the celebrations and brought with him best wishes from BCE Executive Director, Pam Betts.
He said St Oliver Plunkett School was a shining example of how a school was not just a place of learning, but also a place of connection for the parish and local community.
“It was indeed a tribute to the faith and commitment of the Presentation Sisters, the very first teachers, who educated local children without classrooms, for the first four years of the school,” he said.
Mr Kearney said the new buildings would be places of discovery, exploration and nurture as the students continued to grow in their learning and faith.
He said Brisbane Catholic Education had recently launched its new Vision - to be a faith-filled learning community creating a better future.
“Three of our focus areas to achieve this are: celebrating our Catholic culture, inspiring a love of learning and cultivating a connected community.
“These focus areas are strongly reflected in the Vision of your school – a learning community that is dynamic, welcoming and strong in faith.
“The attendance here today gives testament to how your school is living this Vision and connected to community.”
He said the school extensions had been made possible with funding from the Queensland government and thanked them for their recurring support.
State Member for Bulimba, Dianne Farmer, representing State Education Minister Grace Grace, also congratulated the school community on the fantastic celebration.
She said the State Government was delighted to provide more than $750,000 towards the new facilities that would serve young students in the local community well into the future.
Mr Blinkhoff said he was looking forward to Stage 2, which would involve the construction of four new Prep classrooms, a new purpose-built library, office and staff facilities as well as a new Arts Room, student amenities and extension of the tuckshop.
He said construction should start early next year.