Kensington Primary secures $7.4 million government funding

After years of desperately trying to scrape together funds to fix Kensington Primary School (KPS), the community has welcomed a $7.365 million upgrade from the Victorian Government to fix the aging school for good.

The much-anticipated funding was revealed in the May state budget, after goliath efforts from KPS parents, staff and students who have been forced to reach deep into their own pockets just to fix surface level problems.

The 140-year-old heritage-listed school has been plagued by a litany of structural issues, including rotting floorboards, dodgy cladding, an unsafe playground and concrete falling off the walls.

But although the works are long overdue, Principal Bridget McLaughlin said she was “incredibly happy”.

“For me this is just such an amazing opportunity for our amazing students who are future leaders who can be whoever they want to be,” she said.

“It enables us to do some works which are well overdue, make our school the best school, not just only physically, but academically, emotionally – I am incredibly happy, thank you so much.”

State Member for Melbourne Ellen Sandell has been lobbying the government for funding to fix KPS since 2014.

After a visit from the Minister for Education and Acting Premier James Merlino in March, Ms Sandell said she was quietly confident in her request for a modest $1.5 million leading up to the 2020/21 state budget.

“We’ve secured $7.36 million for Kensington Primary over the next three years,” she said in a Facebook post celebrating the hard work of the school community.

I know this will mean so much to so many parents and Kensington locals who have been fighting for this funding for so long.

“Now that we’ve secured $7.36 million for Kensington Primary, it will mean the school can fix the toilets, uneven floors, replace the previous playground, and fully fund the school’s vision for more modern facilities and classrooms.”

In the past, there has been multiple fundraisers to fix the school organised by KPS parents, including one particular fundraiser to fix the school’s hall which was never clad inside, leaving chunks of crudely taped insulation exposed.

Ms Sandell said students had been selling their old toys to fund the project.

For KPS Council president Jonathan Orr, who has coordinated many of the efforts to fix the school, the $7.36 million came as a surprise.

“To be honest I wasn’t expecting that much,” he said.

“Our goals were fairly modest at the outset, but this allows a multigeneration upgrade of the school.”

Mr Orr said a large part of the funds would go towards modernising learning spaces for students, after consultation with designers and the community to work out how best to improve the school.

“Everyone’s pumped, I picked the kids up, and everyone wants a swimming pool. But I told them it’s probably not going to happen,” he said with a laugh.

Member for Northern Metropolitan Sheena Watt, who announced the funding, said she was “very proud” to deliver on the school community’s hard work.

“I visited Kensington Primary School with the Education Minister earlier this year. I’ve seen first-hand and heard from the community how important this upgrade is,” she said.

“Every single student deserves access to a great local school and that is exactly what the Andrews Labor Government is delivering.” •