Exciting Times

Every visitor to Blue Mountains Grammar School remarks about our idyllic environment and our amazing suite of facilities. Those of us who work and learn here are forever thankful for both. We are committed to offering superb facilities to our students for generations to come and realise that to do so, our environment requires ongoing care and our buildings must remain subject to a program of cyclic maintenance that keeps them functional and presentable. Unfortunately, buildings cannot last forever and many of those that our students know and love will soon need to be replaced or renovated. The first modern chapter of this process will start soon.

The School community is becoming increasingly excited about our plans to redevelop the Senior School Stratford Building into a purpose-built Student Centre. The largest building project undertaken at our School since the Performing Arts Centre was opened in 2012 will commence in the second half of 2021. The design is still in draft form and subject to feedback from staff and students alike.

We are commencing here because we are committed to the wellbeing of our students. This commitment gives expression each and every day in the nature of interactions between our students and the many BMGS staff that care for them. It also finds expression in our current whole-School review of our approach to student wellbeing. This revision will transform what is already a very successful approach to become best-practice. The final expression of this commitment is our plan to provide a 21st Century space fit for a 21st Century program and the students who will be the beneficiaries.

Students are at the heart of our School, so the Stratford Building being in the middle of the Senior School campus made it a natural location to create a student-focused facility. The Student Centre will serve as a warm and dry casual hub for students to use during study sessions, lesson breaks and meal breaks. It will include specialist study areas, breakout rooms and spaces where students can meet with pastoral staff and Learning Enrichment educators. It will also house all Senior School student services including Student Reception and sick bay.

At an anticipated cost of $800,000, this project has been made possible by the philanthropy of Mr John Cunningham, a generous benefactor and Blue Mountains Grammar School alumnus. For this reason, the facility will be named the John Cunningham Student Centre. Whilst Mr Cunningham’s generosity has secured the construction of the building, we will rely on additional donations to ensure the building is all that we hope it will be.

To take advantage of our benefactor’s generosity, parents, staff and students are asked to support the inaugural BMGS Giving Day on Wednesday, 5th May 2021. Organised by the School’s Foundation Committee, all funds raised on the Giving Day will contribute to dressing the Student Centre with internal fittings and plantings, tables and chairs, soft furnishings and technology.

Parents are asked to do one or both of the following.

Help us on Giving Day by collecting and recording donations from alumni and School families Please email foundation@bmgs.nsw.edu.au to join our team of student, staff and parent volunteers.
Donate on the day, or before, as little or as much as you are able. All donations are Tax Deductible and will be tripled by our benefactor. To spice the day up a bit, current School families are encouraged to associate their donations with their child’s House Team. The House that donates the most money will win the House Competition and receive the reward of a celebratory House meal (further details to follow).

I thank all School families in advance for their generous support. More information will follow when the Giving Day is launched next week.

Mr Ian Maynard

Headmaster

Senior School Photo Day