Vic Government Confirms Docklands Primary School
A highly anticipated Docklands public primary school has been officially announced by the Victorian Government.
“We…are delivering Docklands families a great new local primary school – we’ve appointed an architect, identified a site and community consultation will begin soon,” said Minister for Education James Merlino in his April announcement of the school.
Development of the school has been put into motion with the announcement of the site at 259-269 Footscray Road, NewQuay, on the corner of Little Docklands Drive and within walking distance for over 3,500 NewQuay residents.
The new school will serve primary school students from Prep to Year 6, with anticipated accommodation for 475 students. Its student population will draw from Docklands as well as parts of the CBD and West Melbourne, with details regarding enrolment entitlement to be determined following an enrolment boundary review by the Department of Education.
The addition of the much-requested school is a valuable asset for the growing Docklands community, with the resident population of school-aged children in Docklands projected to quadruple over the next 20 years to number over 1,500 children aged 5 – 14 years by 2036.1
As NewQuay becomes increasingly vibrant with expanding retail and entertainment at Harbour Town, and sophisticated new residences like Elm & Stone and Banksia, a modern school adds yet more to the area’s all-embracing liveability.
Deriving design inspiration from its inner city location, the facility will be a vertical school employing innovative design solutions to maximize educational and outdoor space. State-of-the-art architecture, in combination with surrounding walking, cycling and public transport access, will make the school a standout for both spatial design and connectivity.
The proliferation of creatively conceived vertical schools has become a primary feature of contemporary education in Melbourne, following the January 2017 opening of Haileybury city campus near NewQuay in West Melbourne, and more vertical schools planned for Prahran, Richmond and South Melbourne.
The local NewQuay and Docklands communities will be instrumental to the delivery of the school and are invited to provide ideas and perspective during the four week Docklands Primary Community Engagement period in April and May. During the period, the Victorian School Building Authority will be welcoming input on the education framework, the design of the school, and the needs across the broader school precinct, and will use the community feedback to inform master planning and architecture, slated to begin in late 2017.