The kindergarten block is at lock up stage and the landscaping and brick paving has commenced.
The Year 2/3 block is at plate height now and sits up high on the hill, the year 1 block will be along them. A walkway will connect this block to the Year 4/5 and 6, 2 story building.
The children really enjoyed watching the transportable buildings go into place. A1 even looked at angles and shapes of the crane whilst watching the move.
The new Kindergarten and Teaching Block are progressing. We are now looking at an
early Term 3 transition to these buildings. This delay has been caused by final fit-out
supply issues.
It was very exciting to arrive at work and see the bricks for the rebuild be delivered. At lunchtime the Preprimary students were very excited to see that some walls had already been build.
I wonder what it will look like after the holidays?
The progress of the rebuild is moving along nicely with cement being poured for the new Early Childhood Building.
It was great to have Premier Mark McGowan, Minister Sue Ellery and Member for Hillarys Caitlin Collins MLA at the school today to do the official SOD turn for the school rebuild. Our Head Boy Shaymus and Head Girl Florence had the privilege along with principal Mr Trevor Mitchell in participating the the event.
Thank you parents and carers for taking the time to step back and process the significant changes to our school site.
Day one progressed very smoothly and this is contributed to your acknowledgment and support of the school rebuild project and our school operations. Thank you.
Significant planning has occurred in preparation for the rebuild project and we will continue to review our operations and processes daily to enhance what we do.
I’m sure you can see that we are doing our best with what we have, to provide play space for our students and maintain continuity of teaching and learning.
Thank you to the HPS staff for their flexibility, support and solution-focused approach with managing the rebuild project.
Play Areas
Please keep in mind that any changes are for the short term and we all need to be patient and resilient.
School decisions regarding play areas are based on the playground space available, the number of students accessing the area, supervision requirements and site restrictions.
Years 1 and 2 students will play at the top of the school, including the old undercover area. As per a previous notification, the play area will be expanded as we find contractors to complete the work. The extended play space will also include the terraced area and the top sand pit.
Parents and carers can assist us by volunteering time and resources with restoring the terraces and removing the old pool fencing and wire fencing. This support will speed up the process of allowing students to access these areas. Please email us at hillarys.ps@education.wa.edu.au if you can assist. Thank you
Years 3 – 7 students have the paved, grassed and undercover sitting/playground space on the lower level of the school. The lower carpark has been provided as a hardcourt space for students and the assembly area is now included as an eating and passive play space.
The library will be available for all students, once staffing arrangements are finalised at the end of February.
New Equipment and Activities
The school has purchased additional playground equipment and hands-on activities to reflect the changes in the playground environment.
These are being offered to students and will grow and/or be adapted over time.
Parking and Traffic Flow
Thank you for your understanding and patience with the access to parking and slowing down to support student safety and general traffic flow.
Reminder – The lower carpark is now a play space for students. No entry.
Reminder – The access road near the Pre-primary is a construction entry/exit point, only. No entry. Please take extra care at the footpath crossover.
Requests – We need parents and carers to consider changing parking and drop-off and pick-up routines.
Staff have been allocated specific parking bays. These include some of the grassed verge areas at the front of the school, and at the back of the Pre-primary building. This ensures the majority of the main carpark is available for parents and visitors.
Construction Traffic
Project contractors will minimise their movements during the morning and afternoon peak school traffic times. Please drive slowly and be patient at all times. Please take extra care at the footpath crossover at the entrance of the school carpark.
Do not ‘stress’ about students being a little late for class if there’s a bank up of traffic.
Let’s focus on getting all students to class safely and calmly. Take care and take a deep breath.
Out-of-School Care Buses
The drop-off and pick-up point for the Out-of-School Care program has been moved to the front of the Administration building. This area will be marked with traffic cones.
Please keep this space free for the Out-of-School Care buses and for our Year 5/6 swimming lessons due to commence tomorrow. Thank you
Fencing and Construction Site
Please do not enter this area for any reason.
I understand it is frustrating not having a current access point at the back of the school, or from the oval.
We did request an access point from the back of the school/oval for families; however, this request was declined due to strict occupational health and safety measures for the rebuild project.
Rebuild Project Stage 1 to Stage 2
The current operations and changes are of a temporary nature.
In Term 4, we will need to pivot and adapt once again as we progress from Stage 1 and into Stage 2. Teachers and students will move into the new kindergarten buildings and playground area, as well as the new general classroom block on the hill.
Further information will be provided when needed.
Ideas / Concerns
We need your eyes and ears in assisting us to successfully manage the school rebuild project.
Please share your ideas and or report any concerns via an email – hillarys.ps@education.wa.edu.au
Communications
Ongoing CONNECT notifications will be provided to keep all families informed. Previous and current notifications and information is available on our school website.
Stay safe everyone and thanks for your anticipated patience and support
Best regards
Trevor Mitchell
Principal
01/02/22
The kindergarten play equipment has been relocated to the top of the hill on the oval this will give the students an area to play on when we have limited space on the oval throughout the rebuild. The students are loving being able to play on new equipment.
So that we can maintain the safety of students and ensure our rebuild works are not delayed we would like the following things to happen:
Thanks for your support during these exciting times.
I’m very excited to present the Hillary Primary School Redevelopment plan and a general overview of the project. More updates will be provided as further information comes to hand.
The redevelopment budget has been increased from 16.7 million to 18.7 million with a permanent enrolment capacity of around 592 students. This is great news!
The redevelopment project will take just over two years to complete and its construction will be completed in stages. Site works may start as early as September this year, with all buildings completed by January 2024.
Site characteristics have been significant factors in the school design. The most prominent factors have been the connection to utilities and services and the many level changes across the site.
The Assembly Area and the Pre-primary buildings will stay. A new purpose-built 2 classroom kindergarten centre will join this hub. Three new teaching and learning hubs will be constructed across the school site – with one building being two-storey. I’m so excited!!!! Lots of open areas, with trees, grass, gardens and wide curved pathways will connect the learning hubs.
Our classes will occupy the current buildings for as long as possible, ‘migrating’ into the new buildings as they are completed. Some additional demountable classrooms will be required during the construction phase of the project.
An amazing library resource centre will be a central feature of the new school, surrounded by professionally designed landscaping, encompassing outdoor learning areas strategically linked to our school vision and programs.
A new administration building will make a huge impression, sporting the latest design features, facilities and an electronic school sign. Yippee! The Administration block will provide additional offices and rooms for staff, students and our support services.
The school will receive new furniture throughout, reverse cycle air-conditioning, solar panels and a digital services or connectivity upgrade.
There will be 15 new parking bays which will help reduce some of the traffic congestion in the early years. Our school will be made secure and fully fenced. This ensures we no longer have the ongoing issues of vandalism to our buildings, playgrounds, sandpits and gardens, or harm to our chickens. It will provide a cleaner and safer environment for students and staff by minimising the possibility of intruders using the school as a thoroughfare and the ongoing issue of antisocial behaviour, both afterschool and on weekends.
Some changes to our day to day operations will be inevitable; however, they will be minimised as much as possible and they will not impact the quality of teaching and learning at Hillarys PS.
This is a very exciting time for us all and a time to celebrate as we watch the new school grow. Teachers will be teachers during throughout the journey, doing their best to integrate the construction process into the day to day teaching and learning programs.
A section on our school website will be allocated to keeping parents and interested community members up-to-date with the project’s progress. This will of course include lots of photos.
Bring it on, Hillarys has waited a long time for this! Enjoy the process everyone!
