We are blessed with incredible teaching and learning spaces at St Hilda’s due to the strategic planning and forward-thinking of past Council affiliates, Principals and generous donors.
We know that learning happens anywhere and everywhere in the global interactive era that we all live in. We also know that contemporary learning spaces can play a part in how our students learn and how teaching is delivered.
Over the last 125 years, it has been through the generosity of our parents, Council members and the Foundation that our Bay View, Chidley and Yeagarup campuses are what they are today. Every building has been built with money that has been raised through our community and we have an obligation to continue to maintain and preserve these buildings while looking at what our future needs will be.
Our school’s history, character and environment play a significant role within our community. It has brought together educators, students and families for 125 years. Our campuses provide us all with a sense of place and belonging that is uniquely St Hilda’s. A more mature school often brings with it great beauty (and interesting moments in architectural history) along with additional challenges and expenses to modernise and refurbish. Often significant infrastructure costs are all behind the scenes. Furniture, painting, carpet and classroom resources are often the cheapest part of any renovation. Structural work is usually a larger investment.
With this in mind, significant improvements have taken place over the December and January period for our students and staff.
Bay View Campus:
The Boarding House improvements continued, with the completion of the Year 12 area of upper Capel by our Facilities Team to match Stage 1 and 2 refurbishments completed over previous Christmas breaks.
The School Hall received a facelift with replacement bi-fold doors and painting of beams to bring some light to the space.
ICT infrastructure was substantially upgraded to improve WiFi access across the campus to support the Student Assigned Learning Device (SALD) program.
Yeagarup Campus:
In September building works started at our beautiful Yeagarup campus giving us more accommodation and better activity hubs for students attending camps on site. This work has been funded by a substantial donation from our Foundation.
The scope of works includes three additional dormitory-style accommodation units that will sleep up to 90 students with wet and dry areas for camping equipment and bathroom facilities. Each dorm will have sleeping facilities for two supervisors. This will allow us to take whole of year cohorts from Years 5 upwards. An undercover camp kitchen, covered pergola and activity hub will also be built over the coming months. These facilities will give the girls access to undercover cooking facilities, including barbeques, a pizza oven and a large indoor recreation hall. Next to the dormitories, a large campground will be available for the younger students as they learn essential outdoor education skills. Two new sheds will store outdoor education equipment and a drying hall for wet clothes and equipment.
There has been significant progress in the construction program with slabs poured for the new sheds, footings installed for dormitories, preparation for water tanks, installation of the sewage systems and assembly of steelwork for the Activity Hub.
While many of these areas you will not see on a daily basis, they are all critical to the success of the whole school and maintaining the St Hilda’s identity that our girls and community love and cherish.
