Photo: The Sydney Morning Herald

Minister for Education James Merlino and Member for Northern Metropolitan Region Jenny Mikakos today visited Thornbury High School to announce a $5 million funding boost to upgrade and modernise the school.

The upgrade will involve the construction of modern classrooms and facilities. The school will now meet with the Victorian School Building Authority next week to review its existing master plan and identify next steps.

Thornbury High School opened in 1962 and many of the original buildings are still in use. These classrooms have limited capacity to deliver modern teaching techniques including flexible classrooms for team teaching and specialist spaces for science, maths, technology, engineering and sustainability.

These new facilities will be a welcome boost for Thornbury High School, which has strived to create a welcome and inclusive environment for all students. The school was recently named as a finalist in the Victorian Education Excellence Awards for a program it runs with Croxton Special School – the Transition Learning Centre.

Under the Centre’s program, located at Thornbury High School, students with additional needs enrol jointly in the two schools – giving them access to both schools’ programs, staff and facilities.

The students study English, Maths, Science and Humanities at the Transition Learning Centre and for all other subjects, year assembly, extra-curricular and special events they join with other students in the regular classes at Thornbury High School.

Today’s announcement comes on the back of an unprecedented $2.5 billion in school infrastructure over the past three Budgets, including numerous investments in Melbourne’s inner suburbs.

The Labor Government has invested $5 million to upgrade the Croxton School, $4.5 million to upgrade Northcote High School, $3.15 million to upgrade Northcote Primary School, $5 million to open the new Prahran High School, $2 million to upgrade Ivanhoe Primary School and funding for a new school in Alphington.