On Monday 24 April, the Minister of Education and Deputy Premier, James Merlino, accompanied by Mr Tim Richardson, State Member for Mordialloc, attended Mordialloc College to officially open our new Performing Arts Centre in the morning. We had a number of specialguests attending, including Jenny Cocks and Jane Briese, the Directors of MINX Architecture, Managing Director – Mr. Duncan McPherson OAM and the Director Mr Peter Rahilly, of 2Construct Pty Ltd, Chris Ironside Education Improvement Leader, representing the South East Region,School Council president Nicky Hersey and Vice President

Ian Fox. After taking the minister on a short tour of the school, the official proceedings took place in the Performing Arts Centre, with speeches by myself and Mr Merlino, and then the official ribbon cutting! Performing Arts Coordinator, Adelle Stevenson, Performing Arts Captains Francois Van Der Berg and Hannah Blavo, School Captain Finn McHenry and Vice-Captain Scott Kingsbury, all enjoyed being part of this ceremony with me.

We look forward to the substantial contribution this facility will make to the teaching of Drama and Music at our school. The individual learning needs of all students are catered for through the integrated approach to teaching and learning possible within this facility, with the centre providing flexible and collaborative teaching spaces, both indoors and outdoors.

This was also an important opportunity for me to speak to James and Tim about further State Government funding to complete our masterplan and cater for the increase in our student enrolments. They acknowledged that there was a need for further facility development and were

receptive to our plans for the future, including the development of a new Visual Arts/Technology Centre, new Year 8 Learning Centre and a new Senior School study Centre with classrooms attached.

Ms. Michelle Roberts
Principal