Students from St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School in Berwick will soon be able to enjoy classes in brand new and refurbished learning spaces, as the school continues to recover from a fire which gutted 12 classrooms a year ago.
Repairs to the damaged building, along with the construction of new classrooms and administration areas, is nearing completion.
Firefighters responded to a fire after a gas rupture caused a building to explode into flames about 11.40am on Monday 8 April. The fire is believed to be related to work on a construction site at the school.
Acting principal Pauline Moran said that the students, staff and parents at the school had shown outstanding resilience over the past 12 months.
“Our wonderful school community has maintained a really positive attitude. They have coped with a range of challenges, including moving into relocatable classrooms. We have even noticed some pleasing benefits as result of the changes, such as splitting break times for students,” Ms Moran said,“We still have two construction sites at the school, which has affected our parking areas. We would like to thank the City of Casey for their assistance with traffic management planning, our school community for their cooperation, and neighbouring residents for their patience, as we try to keep everyone safe on their journey to and from school.
“We hope that this construction phase will be completed in the coming months, and we are all looking forward to having full use of our new and refurbished facilities,” she said.
Director of Catholic Education for the Diocese of Sale, Maria Kirkwood, said she was pleased St Catherine’s had managed such a seamless recovery.
“It’s a testament to the hard work of the school leaders at St Catherine’s and the Catholic Education Office that classes were able to continue almost without interruption after such a major incident.
“We thank God for the good health of the young builder who was injured, and pray for the continued safety of everyone involved in construction work at the school,” she said.
Students will be starting school holidays from Tuesday 24 March – in line with advice from Premier Daniel Andrews who announced all Victorian schools would have their last day of school for the term on Monday 23 March to limit the spread of coronavirus.
