General News
11 December, 2023
Government funding for Talbot school
In significant news for the Talbot community, the town’s primary school has received nearly $300,000 in funding, providing a massive boost to its outdoor learning and gathering space. Talbot Primary School will use the allocated $299,741 to build...
In significant news for the Talbot community, the town’s primary school has received nearly $300,000 in funding, providing a massive boost to its outdoor learning and gathering space.
Talbot Primary School will use the allocated $299,741 to build an engaging and stimulating play and learning space over the existing basketball court, the first upgrade to the schools playground in over 20 years.
The current court will be resurfaced with non-slip durable material and an all weather shelter will be constructed over the surface.
The project will also have a storage area at the end of the basketball court for sporting equipment, archives and extra furniture.
Talbot Primary School principal Tess Kelly said that she was shocked when she heard the relatively small school would get this level of funding.
“We had worked on this for a good two months before we put in the application in July — we took it to school council, to the Student Representative Council (SRC), and to the staff so everyone could have input,” Ms Kelly said.
“We applied for two grants, we put in for the minor capital works fund and we were unsuccessful for that, so when we got confirmation for this grant it was a great surprise and we were just delighted.”
The funding comes from the Victorian Government’s Inclusive Schools Fund, where $9 million will be given to 37 schools across the state to create facilities to support students of all abilities and create safe spaces for students with disabilities.
It marks the first time the school has received funding for a capital works project since 2006.
Ms Kelly said these funds are essential for rural schools to continue to supply quality education.
“Being able to access funds like this is vital for schools that have really small budgets to continue to evolve and offer sufficient education,” she said.
“This project is something that we could never fund — this effectively almost equals half of our annual budget and to be able to direct that to one project is huge for us.
“It is not about strengthening top schools, it is about strengthening every school to give every kid the chance to succeed.”
Talbot Primary School currently has 13 students recorded under the Nationally Consistant Collection of Data on School Students with Disability, and Ms Kelly said the new facilities will allow the school to run classes for all students no matter the situation.
“Whether it is boiling hot, or freezing cold and raining, we are still going to be able to use that space for all students to access throughout the day,” Ms Kelly said.
“It will also be used for students who need sensory relief or active brain breaks outside of the classroom to have a quiet shaded spot where they are able to use it in their own way, and not miss out on valuable learning.”
Ms Kelly oversaw a similar project as principal at Nattie Yallock Primary School, which took 10 years of fundraising and prioritising before it was completed.
Ms Kelly said that students have, and will, continue to play a big role in mapping out details of the facility.
“The SRC is really vocal and active about what is happening at our school — they really have a bigger view on not what is best for the school but when we leave school what can we do to improve the community,” she said.
“The line marking will be entirely student driven, they can create sensory walks, hopscotch, an area to draw with chalk, they can design it all.”
A 2022 parent survey at the school showed that 47 percent of parents believed that a stimulating learning environment was an area that required attention and 53 percent wanted more parent participation and involvement with assemblies, concerts and graduations.
Ms Kelly is optimistic that the facility can be beneficial to the community as well as connect the primary schools in the Dunolly cluster, which includes the schools in Timor, Tarnagulla, Newstead, Bealiba and Dunolly in a way that isn’t currently possible.
“We are also hoping for some two level seating to go down the side so that we can have school assemblys, presentations, concerts and even community gathering and events,” she said.
“I have great hopes that this space can bring all of the cluster schools together and have one big assembly every year or commemorative services with the whole community.
“We got letters of recommendation from principals from other schools in our cluster, who know how important it is to have a facility of this size to really bring the cluster together.”
The Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) will oversee the project and will take recommendations from Talbot Primary School, but will have final say on labourers, materials and safety measures.
Start and completion dates have not been set for the project, however a timeline overview by the VSBA suggests that work could commence late next year.