By Aleksandra Bliszczyk
Hume Anglican Grammar has announced its third campus will open in Kalkallo in time for term one in 2023.
The private primary school will be located within the Stockland Cloverton development – one of the fastest growing in Victoria and set to expand to 11,000 homes during the next two decades.
Hume Anglican Grammar was founded in 2008 in Mickleham and has since opened a second campus in Donnybrook within the Oviline housing development. Both campuses are coeducation prep to year 12, with a total of 1640 students currently enrolled.
Principal Bill Sweeney said the Kalkallo campus would be a primary school only, accommodating more than 500 students.
“One of the main differences is this will be a primary-only campus, so prep through to year six. What’ll happen is as the students conclude their time here and they move into secondary, they’ll either move to the Donnybrook campus or Mount Ridley campus,” he said.
“Having said that, we are looking for other possibilities and it’s no secret that we want to see if there’s a possibility to establish another campus in the future.”
Mr Sweeney said the new campus aims to meet the needs of a rapidly growing community.
“Hume Anglican Grammar establishing itself across three campuses in a fairly short period of time, I think the growth of the school is [in line with] the growth of the whole neighbourhood,” Mr Sweeney said.
“[Families in this development] want to be a part of something new and it’s the same sort of thinking when we get to our school – that they want to be part of something new, part of something exciting and it just matches so well.”
The school is one of six due to eventually be constructed at Stockland Cloverton. The first is a public state school that is already under construction and will be open to nearly 700 students in term one, 2022.
Stockland project director James Westh said education was the best way for families to connect, and Stockland had picked Hume Anglican Grammar to give residents more choice.
“To partner with such an experienced and quality educational operator like Hume Anglican is so exciting for Stockland,” he said.
“We already have a government school under construction here and just giving residents choice for a private school is really important for us to add to that offering.
“This is the first community hub, and the schools are located right next to each other, and right next door to our new ovals, which will be welcoming a new sporting club here in Kalkallo.
“Cricket and football [and netball] associations [will start] next year, so having all of these great community uses together is fantastic.”
Mr Sweeney said the proximity to the development’s sporting facilities – a few metres from the school fence – was a major incentive for choosing the site for its new campus.
“This site in particular met all the needs of the school in that it was ready to go right now, and we’re very much interested in making sure we can offer a place for as many students as we possibly can,” he said.
“Most of our staff and indeed our families live locally, so it’s not a school where people drop in, do the schooling and leave again, there’s a lot happening outside school hours and we imagine there’s going to be a very strong connection between what goes on in this community with what goes on in our school.”
The school hopes to attract families who live at Stockland Cloverton, but with six bus services it is also looking for prospective students who live further north.
Mr Sweeney said there was already a wait-list of ‘many hundreds’ of students looking to join the school, and that news of a new campus would be warmly received.
For more information on the school, visit. www.humegrammar.vic.edu.au.
