Year seven Hillcrest Christian College students Max Bracher and Ashleigh Derrick and principal Daniel Pampuch are excited about the school’s development of four new classrooms. Picture: Meagan Rogers.By Marc McGowan
HILLCREST Christian College has big plans for the next 12 months and the first of those involves the building of four new classrooms for its middle school students.
The college’s Clyde North campus caters for pre-school to Year 12 and has experienced exponential growth in student numbers in recent years.
The foundations are being set and the project is expected to be completed by September at a cost of $740,000.
On top of the classrooms, there will also be student and staff toilets, office spaces and a self-sustaining water system within the new development.
Hillcrest Christian College marketing promotions officer Stuart Alsop explained that the classrooms have been a work in progress.
“They were meant to be started at the start of this year, but with planning permits it has been a long process and the school is growing so fast,” he said.
“We currently have four classes in year seven and they will flow through again and we will have a full stream of year eight students next year that will use the classrooms.
“Our middle school this year goes from year five to eight, whereas last year it was only up to year seven, but we added year eight for an extra year of transition to the senior school.”
Mr Alsop believes the biggest positive is that the classrooms will bring the middle school into a cluster formation and provide more of a community feel for students.
The college’s plans for its new Multi Purpose Building are also well advanced and will include two indoor basketball courts, a canteen, classrooms, changerooms, showers and a stage area.
Other planned facilities for Hillcrest Christian College include a new library, which it will name the Discovery Centre, and an Early Learning Centre, both of which the college hopes to begin construction in 2008.
“We grew by 150 students at the start of the year, so as the school grows we need more facilities,” Mr Alsop said.
