School victory

By Bridget Cook
DOVETON will welcome a new Prep to Year nine school and children’s centre after $14.9 million was secured for the Doveton Regeneration Program in the 2010/11 State budget.
The project will see Endeavour Hills Secondary College and Doveton Heights, Doveton North and Eumemmerring primary schools join together on the Doveton Heights site.
The Colman Foundation, which assists children from low-income families, is donating $1.8 million towards the construction of the new school.
The private donor will also contribute $500,000 annually for the provision of early childhood services on the site.
The partnership between the State Government and the Colman Foundation is the first long-term investment by a philanthropic organisation in a single Victorian Government school.
Works on the $28.9 million project, which will also include Federal Government funding, are expected to be finished in 2011.
The site has already been prepared for works to start.
Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan said co-locating schools with early childhood services, including maternal and child health facilities, helped to ensure that families had access to the services they need most to get the best start in life.
He said the children’s centre would include early childhood services and cater for the social and educational development of children from birth right up until school age.
He said the project was a win for Doveton.