From the Principal - Edition 5 - 2022

With Easter next week, many of us are looking forward to having some time off and spending time with family and friends. But just this week, we are preparing to occupy two major buildings that will be ready for all of us to use next term.

The Year 12 Centre will move from the Fricker Centre to its new location at the top of 400 Block Central, which will also become home to the Heads of House offices.

The new Forder Centre, the centrepiece of Stage 2 of the Campus Masterplan, will be operational from the first day of Term 2. This building is home to Music and Drama on the top level, enjoying the most spectacular western views over our exceptional playing fields and soon to have another stunning outlook to the east over Westminster Green. Our library with similar panoramic views will move into the middle level of the Forder Centre and our School Dining Hall for all students and staff on the ground floor will drastically reduce our Boarding students having to make the commute across the School to the old Dining Hall. For the whole community, the opening of the Community Café will provide us with a focal point to enjoy each other’s company over a well-earned coffee. After a prolonged building period, it will be fantastic to have the Forder Centre open for our students and community.

While the most significant buildings in this stage of our Campus Masterplan have been completed, we are still finishing the ‘jewels in the crown’: the Michael Murray Centre for Performing Arts foyer, Westminster Green and the upgraded drop-off zones and main roadways. It will be fantastic to share these improvements with you as they evolve over the coming months. At the same time, we fondly farewell the Fricker Centre, which originally opened in 1974 as the Fricker Library, and look to re-purpose the School Dining Hall, which since 1962 has been estimated to have served over five million meals to our students and community – an awesome effort started by the School’s kitchen staff and 60 years later carried on by our current caterers, Cater Care. Our two superseded facilities have served the School and community exceptionally well throughout the years.

We look forward to welcoming you on campus to celebrate the opening of our new precinct and seeing the School’s vision become reality. To the School community, thank you for helping us complete these projects and, of course, a special thank you to our staff, especially the Music faculty who, along with a world of instruments and equipment, will be undertaking their third move in less than 18 months!

As you would have seen from my message yesterday to all parents and caregivers, we finish Term 1 on Wednesday 13 April to allow a little extra time to enjoy Easter as the lead-in to the school holidays. I hope that you have a fantastic break and look forward to seeing you next term when our students, families and staff will be set to embrace learning and community in these fabulous, state-of-the-art spaces.

Simon Shepherd
Principal