A rundown school with an uncertain future has been transformed into a creative learning space by a $1.075 million federal building project. After a 14-year search for a permanent home, Blue Gum Community School was officially opened yesterday.
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The transformation of the independent school was funded by the federal government's Building an Education Revolution project. Principal Maureen Hartung said the opening was a long time coming.
''We have been looking for a permanent location for our school for 14 years,'' Ms Hartung said.
''Our school was fortunate and was one of the Australian primary schools that received at least $1 million for capital works.''
The school's creative vision for learning and emphasis of the outdoors was at the forefront of the design process for Blue Gum's Hackett and Dickson campuses.
''Part of being Australian is the importance of the outdoors and we feel it is something young people are losing today,'' Ms Hartung said.
The outdoor adventure playground focuses on natural materials and elements that entice children to use their imagination.
''It is for open-ended exploration rather than fixed playground equipment that have a very limited range of uses,'' Ms Hartung said. The Fibonacci Treehouse Stage, at the Hackett campus and designed by landscape architect Rob Wilson, was inspired by its namesake's mathematical formula (the Fibonacci sequence) behind spirals in nature.
Ms Hartung said: ''The notion of a treehouse-stage that flowed around the tree in a spiral brings mathematics into the children's world so that mathematics isn't something to be feared.'' The Paul Barnett Design Group also worked alongside Gino Monteleone to create a woodwork sculpture in the foyer of the school from recycled and reclaimed materials.
Director Paul Barnett said he tried to evoke the ''artistic impulse'' of the school and natural geometric shapes also inspired the refurbishments of the school buildings, including the administration area and its commercial-style kitchen.