Canberra’s only special assistance school, Galilee School, has just completed construction works at their Holder campus as they expand into offering year 11 and 12.

Specifically designed for disadvantaged and vulnerable young people who struggle in mainstream education environments, Galilee has been established in Canberra for 20 years.

The school initially offered years 7-9 at their Kambah campus before opening their purpose-built Holder facility in 2017 to offer a targeted year 10 experience.

Four years on and stage two of their Holder campus is complete, which expands their learning spaces and recreational facilities.

“We think we’ve designed a building that will serve the needs of our current community and also our community into the future,” school principal Tim McNevin told Canberra Daily.

“The larger footprint allows us to broaden the range of curriculum offerings, it also allows us to be a little bit more responsive and targeted in the way we support the needs of our young people.”

Funding for the project came through the Commonwealth Government’s Capital Grants Program; Galilee was able to receive “a couple of hundred thousand dollars” toward the project.

Holder campus a ‘targeted year 10 learning experience’

In February 2021, Galilee School welcomed year 11 students for the first time, co-located with the year 10s at Holder, which was made possible by the expanded facilities.

Next year, those year 11 students will transition back to Kambah campus as year 12, and by mid-2022, construction of the senior secondary college at Kambah is due to be completed.

“That will allow this campus to be purely a year 10 campus, and that unlocks opportunity for us to design a far more targeted learning experience,” said Mr McNevin.

“The class sizes are smaller, the ratio of students to teachers are lower, and so it’s a targeted support and education model for our students.

“The larger space, with a diversity of options, allows that targeted support to be delivered far more effectively than it would be in a smaller facility, and it allows us to support more students.”

Year 10 student Rachelle started at Galilee three years ago and told Canberra Daily her learning experience has improved greatly since.

“Now there’s heaps of stuff to do, there’s a pool table and we do tennis for school and gymnastics, so that’s pretty good,” she said.

Having experienced the mainstream education system prior to moving to Galilee, Rachelle said she has engaged much more with the targeted learning offered.

“At my old school it wasn’t that good, but when I came here it changed a lot; my attendance level and engagement went up,” she said.

“It’s a lot different because you get a lot more help. You’re not just sitting in a classroom with 20 other kids, you get one-on-one help.

“You can ask the teachers anything and you’ll get a straight-up answer, you can’t really get in trouble for it unless you’re being rude about it.”

Looking ahead, Rachelle has had a taste of the construction industry via a program called Women in Construction since the start of this year.

She’s also keen to take a beauty therapy course on false lashes as an extra hobby.

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