The Sunshine Coast newest “state-of-the-art” schools are launching into the future by going almost paperless.
The Coast’s fastest-growing suburbs are home to three of five new Queensland schools that will welcome their first students this week.
The $127.5 million Baringa State Secondary College was built from scratch in Caloundra’s burgeoning city of Aura, while Palmview State Primary School and Palmview State Special School are located in an area that will eventually house 16,000 people.
Baringa principal Matt Samson said the high school’s 200 first enrolments in years 7 and 8 would no longer have to carry heavy textbooks or numerous notepads.
“We’re a fully iPad school so all the students will have their iPad and most of our curriculum will be delivered by the App,” Mr Samson told sunshinecoastnews.com.au
“Textbooks are digital so they will be downloaded onto their iPad as well, so basically the days of bringing massive bags of books to school isn’t happening any more.
“We’re almost paperless; it’s the closest to paperless I’ve ever been. It’s quite amazing, I haven’t printed a piece of paper since I’ve been here.”
Every student at Palmview primary will also have an iPad as an e-learning tool to complement traditional handwriting and other mechanical tasks.
Palmview principal Andrew Walker said another key focus of the school was its Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program complete with garden beds and first-class kitchen with induction stoves.
“The students will plant and propagate the seeds and fruits and vegetables, harvest them, cook the food, eat the food and then, the most fun part, do the washing up,” Mr Walker said.
Mr Walker said the primary and special schools would share some teaching staff and work closely on programs like the kitchen garden.
Baringa will initially welcome 130 year 7 students and 70 year 8 students and add another grade each year until 2025, eventually reaching about 1400 enrolments.
Palmview is commencing with 190 prep to year 6 students and is co-located with the special school which has about 30 students. In the future, a high school will complete the campus.
The three new schools are situated near master-planned communities which are among Queensland’s fastest-growing suburbs specially designed for close community living.
Mr Samson said nearly every student he had spoken to had indicated they would be walking or riding to school on bikes or scooters from their homes nearby.
Among them will be Lailah Finn, and Charlee and Jack Roulston whose mother Shayne said the suburb’s connected pathways made riding to school easy and safe.
“Living here is like going back to those days when the kids could play outside and meet at the park and knock on their friends’ doors,” Mrs Roulston said.
For Lailah and Jack, Wednesday will be their first day of high school when they start year 7 while Charlee is entering year eight.
Jack said he was looking forward to exploring a campus where everything was new and where technology was a key aspect of learning his favourite subjects like maths, science and woodwork.
Mr Samson said Baringa students would have access to 3D printers and laser cutters.
“The whole community has been eagerly awaiting the opening of Baringa SSC and are looking forward to making the most of the fabulous facilities on offer for students,” he said.
“One of our school’s best features is a state-of-the-art lecture theatre which will allow us to have university-style lectures for students and is the perfect venue for guest speakers, further enhancing the quality educational experiences we can offer.”
Caloundra MP Jason Hunt said the schools would “provide world-class education services for families in one of the fastest-growing areas of Queensland”.
“Our government continues to provide Queensland families access to world-class public education – no matter where they live,” he said.
Another primary school is due for construction in Caloundra South in 2022.
