Gippsland Region
Bairnsdale Primary School
As Bairnsdale Primary School approaches its 150th anniversary celebration, the school is embracing the new lease of life injected through the Building the Education Revolution (BER) program. Principal Debra Herbertson explained how 21st century learning is being delivered in a way that pays homage to the past.
When renowned educational architect Henry Bastow designed Bairnsdale Primary School’s main building nearly 150 years ago it was guided by the then Government’s intention that ‘buildings are not for today or tomorrow, but for all time’. And while the bricks and mortar are still standing, little consideration was given to information and communications technology when designing schools in the 19th century.
Through the expansion of the computer hub in the library, whole classes can now participate in ICT-supported activities together. In particular, the school is embracing the interactive whiteboards (IWBs) as a means of engaging students in learning.
“The teachers have found the IWBs to be brilliant for sharing information and working in small groups,” Ms Herbertson said.
“Previously we weren’t able to access a number of the eLearning tools that we now can, thanks to the funding.”
Visitors, students and staff have all been amazed at the transformation. There are many families in the Bairnsdale community who have been coming to the school for three generations and are very happy to see the building restored.
“A former student who now has a daughter in Year 2 told me that his great grandfather supplied the bricks for the original building from his brickworks in Bairnsdale. Builders working on the original building have commented often about the quality of workmanship shown in our lovely old school”.
In addition to the refurbishment works, the school also received small school classrooms which will enable it to implement effective approaches to the developmental stages.
“The larger shared teaching space will be set up with development play stations for our Prep students, be open and flexible for creative activities such as music, and support our inquiry-based learning approaches.
“We envisage this space to be a learning community where we have excellent access to ICT with the installation of IWBs.”
The open structure of the building will also support the school’s graduate teacher and her mentor teacher as they develop and reflect on teaching strategies and procedures together.
The graduate teacher is anticipating the teaching space will allow her more opportunities to work collaboratively with her mentor teacher. She will be able to observe teaching and behaviour management strategies first hand and gain valuable feedback about her own teaching.
The facility was manufactured by Grove (Aust.) at its factory in Dandenong before being relocated to the school.
Ms Herbertson believes that this process resulted in efficient installation of the building and reduced the impact upon the school environment.
“With the majority of the structure being completed off-site, our students and staff were not interrupted by construction noise other than when the installation occurred.
“Watching the modules being craned into position was a fantastic highlight for our students.”
June, 2011
