By Micah Edmeades
The brand new Croydon Community School (CCS) campus officially opened on Wednesday 13 July, welcoming students for the first time to the grounds.
It has taken 15 years of planning and several delays but this massive project has now been successfully completed.
The $18 million grounds provide a wealth of new facilities and aim to equip students with better resources for learning.
Assistant Principal Kaye Bahn was confident the new spaces and equipment would empower students to further their education.
“These beautiful facilities will expose our young people to more opportunities or to explore their learning,” Ms Bahn said.
“They choose and we’ve got it here on site, which is an absolute blessing compared with what we had.”
Past students admit they are jealous of the new facilities but they still have fond memories of the old campus.
“It was small, old and patched together,” one said.
“I liked the close knit community we had,” another commented.
“It didn’t really matter what year level you were in, you socialised with everyone.”
Past student Taylah even reflected that she wouldn’t be in her current field of work if she hadn’t attended the school.
“I wouldn’t be nursing if it wasn’t for them actually putting time into me, and wanting me to do something,” she said.
The new classrooms were constructed in such a way to place the courtyard as the heart of the whole campus.
Every classroom has been fitted with windows to view the centre and its surrounding environment.
It features a multipurpose sport court, sustainably grown garden beds and various seated areas for students to convene at.
Also included within the campus is a full sized kitchen, several science labs and state of the art visual and audio technology.
The opening of the school began with an indigenious smoking ceremony, which was then followed by speeches by principal Bronwyn Harcourt and past students.
Ms Harcourt encouraged students to not only thrive in their learning but thrive in their attitude towards fellow peers.
“Having support, having friends, standing up for them, I hope that’s the values that you learn here,” Ms Harcourt said.
