Latest News

Four Catholic schools across South Australia have been awarded $6.34 million in grants for capital works to improve learning spaces, increase opportunities for disadvantaged students and cater for more diverse learning needs.

The State Government grants — $6.34 million for Catholic schools and $6.38 million for independent schools — are for building projects to commence over the next year.

Introduced in 2018 to ensure all students have access to a first-class education, the latest funding under the scheme has been approved for four projects at Catholic schools and 103 smaller projects at independent schools.

The Catholic school projects, funded by calendar year, are:

• Our Lady of Grace, Glengowrie - $2.6 million - The school is experiencing a strong demand in enrolments. The grant will go towards a new building with six classrooms and breakout spaces to cater for the school’s anticipated growth.
• Dominican School, Semaphore - $2.34 million - The school will restore its Heritage-listed convent building, creating a functional space for future use. This will become a central hub for the school’s administration, and the existing administration spaces will be refurbished to provide more classrooms to assist with a growth in enrolment demand. A new lift and platform will be installed to improve accessibility.
• St Joseph’s School, Barmera - $800,000 - The school will create three new contemporary learning areas to replace transportable rooms. The new facilities will include breakout spaces and withdrawal rooms to cater for a range of educational approaches and learning needs.
• St Thomas School, Goodwood - $600,000 - The school will use the grant to enhance its outdoor play area to ensure it is a safe and enjoyable space for students to use. It will be landscaped to create soft play areas and improved sports amenities.

Blair Boyer MP, Minister for Education, Training and Skills made the announcement today at a press conference held at Our Lady of Grace, Glengowrie:

“All students have the right to reach their full potential, regardless of where they attend school.

“Schools across the education sector need to undertake strategic capital planning to address current issues and support future needs.

“Some non-government schools need to deal with enrolment pressures, manage accessibility concerns or update or replace spaces that are no longer suitable.

“The State Government has provided $11 million, indexed annually, since 2018-19 for infrastructure upgrades at non-government schools. The funding is split equally between the independent non-government school and Catholic school sector.”

John Neate, Chair of the South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools Chair (SACCS) added:

“We would like to extend our thanks to the State government for their continued support through this funding program.

“Since its inception in 2018 we have been able to make significant upgrades to a number of Catholic schools, across South Australia, which have benefitted the students and communities immensely.”

Image credits: Callan Forgan