2015 provided an opportunity for the Bellevue Hill Public School community to evaluate the school's position as an educational provider and set priorities for the future.
Funding for major capital works was approved to address the crowded accommodation needs for students and staff and involved building 12 new classrooms, a library, a canteen, and refurbish the administration area. This was later increased to 24 classrooms, with the end result being the construction of a four storey building which will result in the school being able to accommodate up to 1000 students.
The new classrooms are designed to cater for 21st century learning with open plan spaces, flexible furniture and technology to cater for all students' needs. The library is a vibrant hub filled with rich resources for contemporary learning. A new canteen and refurbished administration area will also assist in setting Bellevue Hill Public School apart from other schools as a leader in future schooling.
Extensive consultation, surveys and evidence-based design trends were used to create the educational planning principles for the building project. These principles were used to guide decision making, planning and future evaluation of the learning environments from an educational perspective. A summary of the principles is listed below:
- The learning environment will project the school's desired identity: academic excellence, social responsibility and positive self-esteem within a caring and culturally enriched environment.
- The learning environment will offer a clear, welcoming and secure first experience of the school.
- The new facilities will have meaningful connections to existing facilities and will maximise the potential of the site.
- The learning environment will be healthy and environmentally sustainable and will serve as a tool for learning.
- The learning environment will excite, engage, support and resonate with learners.
- The learning environment will maximise outdoor learning opportunities.
- The learning environment will be flexible and responsibe to a range of collaborative teaching and learning modes.
- The learning environment will offer a safe and secure learning and working environment that invites community participation and engagement.
- The learning environment will shape the entire school as a library by offering a central resource hub and distributed resource nodes.
- The learning environment will support teachers in their roles as facilitators and leaders of learning and members of a wider professional community.
- The learning environment will offer technology-enabled settings with an emphasis on mobility.
- The learning environment will support the delivery of specialist programs.
Bellevue Hill Public School was recently awarded a Commendation for our innovative new school building at the 2018 Learning Environments Australasia Awards.
Learning Environments Australasia (LEA) is the peak body advocating for quality and innovation in learning environments to enhance student outcomes. Its membership includes over 800 educators, architects, designers, planners and policy makers.
The Awards ceremony in Sydney was the culmination of LEA’s 18th annual conference on innovative learning spaces, The 3 Rs in the Exponential Age.
“The Awards showcase architects and educators working together to produce excellent educational facilities. The eyes of the world have turned to Australasia for best practice in learning space design." said Deb O’Riley, Chair of Learning Environments Australasia.
See the Bellevue Hill Public School entry on the Learning Environments Australasia website.
See below an article published in the Wentworth Courier Wednesday 13 June 2018.
