In an open-plan upstairs teaching area, students sit at communal tables which can be broken into individual desks if needed. They face each other instead of the teacher, and can break into smaller, more casual areas for small-group work, including on the balcony.
On the ground floor, new rooms are fully equipped for both art and science, and can be used interchangeably to allow for flexible delivery of the curriculum.
The new building was opened on Friday 23 February by the Bishop of Broken Bay, Most Rev Peter Comensoli, and Federal Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells on behalf of Simon Birmingham, Minister for Education and Training.
“It was a pleasure to visit St Brigid’s Catholic College to see the new facilities firsthand and the impact they will have on students’ learning potential,” Minister Fierravanti-Wells said.
The Federal Government contributed $3.5 million in funding from the Capital Grants Program towards the building, which was designed to support the school’s state-of-the-art model of “student-centred learning.”
The architect, Matthew Greene from Paynter Dixon, said he and Principal Julie Terry wanted the design to reflect the collaborative approach St Brigid’s takes to teaching.
“[The student-centred learning model] means that teachers are really facilitators of learning and students have the freedom to occupy a myriad of different spaces depending on their task, including outdoors,” said Mr. Greene.
The new building is the second of several planned for St Brigid’s, with construction of a third two-storey building, including a hospitality learning space with a full commercial kitchen, set to commence in March this year.