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As a vibrant Catholic learning community, we will develop engaged, purposeful and successful learners who shape the world for the common good.

New learning paradigms necessitates that the entire school be a learning environment rather than a set of rectangular enclaves with a specified number of seats for focused and approved activities. Governments are now promoting new pedagogical practices and require facilities that will enable the new collaborative and experience-based learning approaches to occur.

21st century learning spaces must be agile, able to be easily reconfigured to engage different kinds of learners and teachers, and able to accommodate individual, small group and large group activities.

(Future Proofing Schools, Melbourne University, 2010–2012)

In the case of new schools this process sits within a broader school planning process that spans a three year period. The first phase is community planning. The following years focus on design and documentation and the construction of the school. The outcome of the first year will be an ‘educational brief’ that guides the development of the new learning environment/community over the following two years. This process continues over the whole period, concluding with the opening of the school.
 

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) works with school communities in the design and development of learning spaces with a particular emphasis on:

• facility and Infrastructure Master Planning that links educational vision with sustainable and contemporary learning spaces
• suitable maintenance plans that address all planned and non-planned maintenance and upgrade needs
• forward planning of major capital works programs in schools across the Archdiocese.

We opened four schools in 2018:

• Lisieux Catholic Primary School, Torquay North
• Oscar Romero Catholic Primary School, Craigieburn West
• Our Lady of the Way Catholic Primary School, Wallan East
• St Mary Mackillop Catholic Primary School, Bannockburn

and 2 more in 2019:

• Glowery Catholic Primary School, Wollert
• Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School, Sunbury 

another 2 in 2020 :

• St Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School, Armstrong Creek                             
• Iona College Geelong, Charlemont (a co-educational secondary school)

and 2 more in 2021:

• St Joseph’s, Werribee 
• St Angela of the Cross, Warragul