Preparation for 2017

Preparation for 2017 move to the Blakeley Road Site.

CSC one step closer to achieving Master Plan

Last month CSC moved one step closer to achieving our vision with the completion of Stage 2 of our four stage Master Plan, the Engineers’ Precinct.

The Master Plan was developed by CSC School Council back in 2010 around an innovative model for educational excellence.    With both the Wellbeing and Engineers precincts at the Blakeley Road campus now complete, we can move on to the next project; commencing a portion of the planned Stage 4, the Performers’ Precinct.

The Performers’ Precinct includes Music, Drama, Media and the core subjects of English, Maths, Humanities and LOTE.  With funds saved from Stage 2, we are building half of this precinct (the Music and Drama spaces) in the first half of 2017.  Plans have already been developed by a special project team including students, staff and parents and are with the Department of Education for approval.  To make way for this next building project, the eastern end of the 300 and 200 blocks will be demolished.

Moving to Blakeley Road

Expanding the Blakeley Road campus to accommodate all our students on one site is also well underway.  The old technology rooms are being refurbished to create more general purpose classrooms, the Music Centre will be spruced up with assistance from the Music Support Group, the canteen will be moved to cater for a larger student group and special spaces for senior students created (such as a senior study space and kitchenette areas).  Until the new Music spaces are built, some senior music students will travel to the Etty St campus for their lessons, as will Ceramics students.

Course selection and class sizes

At CSC, our timetable is built around student choice.  We offer a wide range of subjects and invite students and families to discuss these options through our Course Counselling interviews.  Once these choices have been made, we finalise subjects, classes and teaching staff.  This process allows us to respond to our students’ interests and passions with 85% of students receiving their subject preferences.

For 2017, our current average class size of 17 students will remain at this level, or be slightly reduced. In the senior years many of our classes are less than 15 students allowing for more intensive support to be provided by our teachers.

Step Up 2016

This year the Step Up Program (21-25 November) will be run entirely at the Blakeley Road campus. In addition to the students trying out their chosen subjects, we will be able to test our timetabling of rooms and mentor groups in preparation for the historic coming together of the two campuses in January 2017.  Significantly, the “Technical College” at Etty Street turns 130 in 2017 and it will be 50 years since the “High School” at was first opened at Blakeley Road.  The merging of CSC onto one site in 2017 will be another significant part of the history of education in Castlemaine.

Thank you…..

It is a busy time for at CSC and I would like to thank all of our students, families and community members for their support. Back in 2009 when I started as Principal, a feasibility study had just been completed to identify which campus we should develop. Over the past 7 years School Council and the CSC Leadership Team have worked with our community to develop a vision for our school. It is very exciting to see those dreams come to fruition with a school that we can all be very proud of.

Mary McPherson