Courier Article 2/11/2019 Premier tours Woodmans Hill Secondary College

Premier tours Woodmans Hill Secondary College

Article published in the Ballarat Courier 2nd November 2019

Three year nine science students at Woodmans Hill Secondary College got a surprise on Friday, pitching their road safety idea to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

Mr Andrews was touring the school's new facilities, which include new science rooms and a performing arts centre, when he walked into the classroom as they were beginning their class presentation.

Interestingly, the three budding engineers were pitching a drone that councils could use to scan rural roads for potholes, an ongoing issue across the district.

Moorabool Shire Council, for example, has upped its spending on road maintenance significantly to keep up with deterioration across its vast network, while Golden Plains Shire has increased its resealing budget from $850,000 to $1.15 million.

While Mr Andrews was not prepared to make any road funding announcements on Friday, the students could have passed on some thought-provoking ideas for futuristic road management.

The new buildings at the school also include a food technology space, VCE study centre - many of the students seemed nervous enough about this week's exams, let alone shaking hands with the premier - and a canteen, the first part of a $6 million upgrade.

The final stages of the upgrades are expected to be finished in the next few months.

The performing arts centre in particular has helped students in a range of subjects - year 11 student Charlie Stone said she's been able to explore different things since it's opened that she would have had access to otherwise.

Woodmans Hill performing arts centre creates new opportunities for students:

"We get to do vocal ensembles there, we have graduation there - it's just more exciting to have events at your school," she said.

Principal Stephen Fields agreed - he said there's already arrangements with other community groups to use the new rooms.

"We've got kindergartens and primary schools coming into the school to use our facilities for graduation, that means that high school's not a big scary place anymore, it's a natural progression," he said.

"We've got the east Ballarat Neighbourhood Group starting to use our facilities for adult education classes in 2020.

"East Ballarat, for a long time, has looked for a heartbeat, and I think Woodmans Hill Secondary College can be that."