Capital Building Works Updates

In our capital works newsletter item today, you will find information regarding:

-Wembley PS Capital Works Construction Team Information

-Capital Works Update 17.2.23

Wembley PS Capital Works Construction Team Information

Please read below information regarding the Capital Work Project Construction Team who meet every fortnight, and discuss the progress,  project timeline. 

We will share this information with our students to help them learn about the people working hard to help our community. The construction team members have also been asked to feature as guest speakers in classrooms, and will be booked in throughout the year!

Angela Wang 

Senior Project Officer - Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA)

Angela is the senior project officer at the VSBA. 

Every Victorian child deserves access to a great school that prepares them to thrive in the 21st century. The Victorian School Building Authority is managing the education construction boom that will help ensure that. We are a division of the Department of Education and Training, established in 2016, to oversee the design and construction of new schools and early childhood centres, as well as the modernisation and upgrade of existing ones. 

The Victorian Government has committed $7.2 billion for these infrastructure projects as part of its Education State reforms. We are a team made up of building experts, project managers, architects and specialists in relocatable buildings, community engagement and asbestos removal. We’ve put Victoria at the cutting-edge of school design, and we innovate in everything we do. 

Angela is the project manager for the Wembley PS Capital works project, and has worked with Vassie and Terry on the project from its inception. 

Pam Drakopoulos B.Arch BPD ARBV AIA

Senior Lead Architect - AOA Architect Firm

As a Registered Architect and Design Manager with a background in planning and design and thirty years’ experience in project delivery, Pam Drakopoulos has successfully lead design, and documentation teams on education, retirement living, childcare projects, as well as large scale residential subdivisions, and industrial projects. Pam has also worked as a Project Manager and Contracts Superintendent. Her tenacity and commitment in project delivery have provided Pam with the ability to lead, connect and provide mentorship with the project team to deliver exceptional solutions.

Ronan Reid BSc MArch ARBV AIA

Senior Associate - AOA Architect Firm

Ronan has been working in architectural practice for 20 years, in Ireland, the UK, and including over 11 years practice in Australia focusing on education projects. This experience has given him a wealth of understanding of the project design process, from inception through documentation, to construction and completion. In collaborative and team leadership roles, he has successfully helped deliver projects large and small for education and commercial institutions across Ireland, UK, Australia and New Zealand. He has detailed skills in BIM (Building Information Modeling), documentation, coordination, and creative problem-solving.  He has a core interest in environmentally sustainable design and is a certified Passive House Designer. He is a sessional tutor at the University of Melbourne and a mentor through the Australian Institute of Architects.

Victor Umeobi

Project Manager - John Staff Construction Services

Responsibilities:

• Managing the construction schedule and activities
• Ensure work is done in compliance with all relevant building and safety regulations
• Select and manage subcontractor and supplier relationships
• Managing project expectations across the entire project delivery and between relevant stakeholders both on-site and in an administrative capacity

Mitch Dean

Project Coordinator - John Staff Construction Services

Responsibilities:

• Trade contractor procurement, trade letting & contracts
• Project cost control/management
• Work with site manager and consultant team to resolve issues onsite & plan upcoming works with required stakeholders.

Ryan Wilson

Site Manager - John Staff Construction Services

Responsibilities:

• Co-ordinating activities on site and supervision of construction workers
• Review building practices to verify compliance with health and safety standards and project management procedures
• Day to day problem solving and dealing with any issues that arise

Grant Hobson - B. Ed Sec.

Wembley PS grounds and facilities coordinator

Grant has a background in education, arts, media and communication and coordinating large scale environmental projects on South Australia’s far west coast. Grant and Lisa’s three boys are past Wembley students. Grant has worked at Wembley as a facilities coordinator for the past 7 years. During his tenure he has co-managed the design and development of new outdoor learning spaces including our beautiful Envirodeck area.  Grant has worked to improve and maintain our play and work areas while also responding to the day to day running of our evolving learning environment at Wembley. Grant is a keen surfer and fisher and is passionate about issues around reconciliation and the environment.

Vassie Vatsilas-D'Arcangelo

Principal-Wembley Primary School

Vassie's core role at Wembley PS is to support all students to feel safe and happy at school, so that they can learn; within the realms of this Capital Works Project, this is still Vassie's core role. 

Vassie is working in partnership with the VSBA, AOA, JohnStaff Construction Team and Wembley team, as well as the Wembley PS School Council, staff and students, to seek approval of building works process, throughout the planning, design, tender and now construction phase of the build. 

Vassie will be attending fortnightly site meetings, and communicating this information with staff, students and parents for the life of the build. Very exciting and groundbreaking stuff for current and future generations of Wembley students. 

Capital Works Building Project Update 17.2.23

As you would be aware, Wembley Primary School was fortunate enough to have been allocated $10.219m for an upgrade and modernisation of the school's main building. This ensures students are learning in an environment designed for delivering modern education.

As you may have seen, there has been quite a bit of movement regarding our Capital Building Works Project and progression towards demolition of the main building, 'Block A'.

Over the holidays, John Staff Construction Services set up their construction site.

Demolition of the chimney and the two-metre separation was completed on Saturday 18 February, with stage 1a demolition to follow from 21 February. The final stages of Asbestos removal will be taking place on the following weekends also - 25 February, 4 March & 11 March. No one will be allowed on school grounds on these days and the JohnStaff Construction Team will set up an exclusion zone for public access to the playground on the corner of St Leonards and Wembley Ave. 

The demolition process will be facilitated by Hickman Demolition Services, and the projected demolition timeline is Saturday 18 February through to mid-March. 

Please note, regarding noise violations, works conducted onsite are in line with the Moonee Valley City Council hours.

There has been a wall built in the main building next to our Year 1 classrooms, and the two-metre separation was installed weekend between the existing building and the boundary of where the new building will stand. 

The Prep Playground has also been impacted and will be unavailable at different points throughout term one, however we have allocated another playground to the preps to support their transition to the yard. The prep teachers have supported the students in understanding that they can play across the school, and also have the options of playing in the designated prep area. Student buddies will also assist them in the yard.

Our students and teachers have been demonstrating our school value of resilience, as they have and will continue to work together over the next 18 months with limited play space. Our leadership team has worked hard behind the scenes to ensure alternative play spaces, including quiet club in the BER, the Envirodeck, as well as including the hall as a supervised play space. We are going to seek student captain input into our lunch and recess play options, and review throughout the year. We will also utilise our year 6 peer mediators in assisting in social interaction and play breaks.

Year 1 classes will be moved to other classroom spaces during the most impactful days over the next three weeks, using the year 6 classrooms whilst they're on camp, and engaging in excursions, etc. Some days they will simply enjoy watching the works occurring outside their classroom windows!

We are pleased to share that Building Appeals Board has approved all gender facilities in this building, which is a remarkable achievement for our community which is setting a standard in demonstrating our school value of inclusion. These decisions, considerations, codes and regulations actually have an impact on all people, in particular young people, at a time in their life when these small gestures of respect, inclusivity and dignity, could be indelibly significant. We will develop norms with students regarding how to use this shared space.

We will be sharing photos with the students and the community throughout the building process, and this will form an album capturing moments in Wembley's historical journey. Time lapse photos will also be taken. A camera has been set up and will be taking a photo every 10 minutes of the 18 month project duration, from thevantage point of corner of Wembley Avenue and Hawkhurst Street.

The construction personnel from Johnstaff Construction Services, AOA Architect Group and VSBA (Victorian Schools BuildingAuthority) have been asked to provide a bio and photo, to share with students which is posted in this newsletter edition. The construction team members have also been asked to feature as guest speakers in classrooms, and will be booked in throughout the year!

I will continue to have fortnightly site meetings together with representatives from the VSBA (Victorian School Building Authority), AOA Architect team, and the John Staff Construction Services Team, and will update our community accordingly. We receive fortnightly 'look-ahead' updates regarding the stages of the building process. We would also like to note that we receive fortnightly 'Working with Children Check' reports, for all contractors working onsite.

Come April 2024 we will have a state of the art learning facility. 

The Wembley PS Capital Works Project stages can be found on the VSBA website:

 https://www.schoolbuildings.vic.gov.au/wembley-primary-school