Our engagement with the Principals of the second stage of the New Schools Public Private Partnership Project (Tranche 2) in the Southwestern growing areas of Melbourne – North Geelong, Torquay, Armstrong Creek and Bannockburn – have been ramping up as we approach 2018 when these schools open their doors for their first intake of students.

In May & June, the Community Information Sessions were attended by Principals, Architects, Community Engagement partners and ourselves as the Sustainability Partner to meet prospective parents and present values and features of the school. The sustainability focus was well received by the community from these pristine parts of Victoria near the coast!

In August we met with the Principals at Featherbrook College, a Tranche 1 school, to go through our services and how we will be supporting them on their sustainability journey. We took the opportunity to touch on shared values, benefit mindset and how to promote intrinsic values for a more compassionate society and better world; key components of our work which were recently reinforced at our team professional development sessions with Common Cause Australia and Cohere.

Later that month we joined the fun Principal retreat organised by the YMCA in Queenscliff, an opportunity to get to know the Principals and build connections among us. We also met newly appointed Assistant Principals and Business Managers. CoDesign Studio ran an inspiring and interactive Placemaker Masterclass on the second day of the retreat to support the Principals in identifying opportunities to create great relationships with their school’s community and ‘activate’ their open spaces and facilities.

The following month, we visited the sites of the four new schools along with their respective Principals and Assistant Principals/Business Managers. Construction is tracking really well to all be completed on schedule. Everyone was thrilled to see the sites coming to life and a lot of the leanings from Tranche 1 being incorporated!

Between October and November, a series of workshops have been organised by the Facilities Management partner, Spotless, to provide Principals with information on the ongoing operation of their schools and the interactions with other parties such as CERES and the YMCA. In October, CERES attended one of these in the city where we shared our learnings and success stories from Tranche 1.

We are very excited to be hosting the next engagement with Principals here at CERES later this month. A day that promises to be packed with Sustainability tips, inspiration, great food and a stroll around the park!

By Emmanuelle Delomenede
Outreach Educator