Kingston Education Project

 

 

The Kingston Education Project forms part of the Department of Education’s Capital Investment Program from 2006/07 to 2010/11. The project is to relocate the Kingston High School in time for the new school year of 2011.

The proposed site is in Kingston View Drive, adjacent to the existing Kingborough Sports Centre and associated facilities. Key features of the site include views of the Derwent River and Mt Wellington, the corner aspect on both Summerleas Road and Kingston View Drive and the community presence adjacent to the site.

The new high school will accommodate approximately 700 students and provide state-of-the-art general and specialist teaching and learning. It is anticipated that construction will commence in late 2008 with a view to the school being completed and ready for the 2011 school year. The design objectives include:

 

• provide a leading edge learning environment and enterprise oriented education
• increasing student participation, retention and success
• be a model for curriculum, teaching and learning both nationally and internationally, and
• support community use of facilities.  

 

Substantial work has been undertaken by the Department of Education on the project, including:

 

• engaging with the school and wider community and exploring innovations in education and the design of facilities
• establishing a working group of leading edge practitioners to develop an Educational Concept Brief
• engaging with Kingborough Council regarding the site and management of facilities
• engaged consultants to undertake cost planning, land survey, traffic impact assessment, flora and fauna and infrastructure needs, and
• engaged consulting architects Hassell in association with JAWS Architects as project consultants.

The school will include general and specialist learning areas such as:

 

• learning studios with a variety of spaces to support different teaching modes.
• science, vocational and applied learning
• visual and performing arts, assembly, music, dance, drama, multimedia and theatre production
• vocational and applied learning to incorporate foods, textiles and catering studies
• health and wellbeing, fitness, outdoor education and sport
• library/resource centre
• administration, staff accommodation and teacher training
• car parking, bus lay-by and parking
• covered and landscaped external areas including extensive grassed areas, and
• canteen and student amenities.

 

The Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) strategy maximises sustainable design features such as:

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Information Communications and Technology

The school will be a model school in the use of technology in support of high student achievement. The emerging trends for wireless technology will be accommodated in the design of the new school that will enable ‘anytime, anywhere’ learning. A strategy is under development to identify the technological requirements to ensure the Kingston Education Project is a learning showcase for other schools.

 

Community Access to Facilities

The new facility will promote and support the potential for sharing facilities with the wider community. There will be opportunities for community use of the Performance and Cafeteria building and school use of sporting facilities provided by Kingborough Council at the Kingborough Sports Centre.

Management agreements between Kingborough Council and the Department of Education are currently being drafted to enable the sharing of resources.

 

Communication and Consultation

The State Government and the Department of Education are committed to the development of this project in consultation with important stakeholder groups, including the Kingborough Council, other local councils, education and training related groups, parents, the local community and local developers.

A communication plan has been developed that provides a range of opportunities for the community to provide input into the school design and use arrangements.

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