CHIDLEY TURNS 15

CHIDLEY TURNS 15

This year, St Hilda’s celebrated a wonderful milestone within our larger milestone of 125 years; our beautiful Chidley Junior School campus turned 15! The event welcomed back key people who were involved with the project, and a group of Year 12 students who were our fi rst Junior Kindergarten students in 2006, who came together to celebrate. Prior to opening Chidley, our Junior School students were located at the Bay View campus, where English, Music and Art currently reside. They played on a small patch of grass where the Palmerston car park is located and if they wanted to kick a ball, they needed to be escorted to the oval to play alongside our Senior School students. As we refl ect on our 125-year history, it is important to recognise the intergenerational thinking of past leaders that enables us to enjoy the facilities we have today. Building a new campus is a decision that comes from serious deliberation. We were fortunate to have former Principal, Joy Shepherd, share her insights on the mammoth eff orts required to purchase the land, build a state-of-the-art campus and then move 350 students plus teachers over the course of a week. It takes a brave heart and considerable determination to undertake a project of this magnitude, while still doing your day job. Joy shared with us how community support allowed the School to realise its vision. The Junior School campus that we have enjoyed for 15 years, would not have been possible without the generous gifts and donations from an exceptional community that values a St Hilda’s education. We were fortunate to receive a very generous donation from Old Scholar, Angela Bennett, which gave the School the confi dence to initiate the “Spreading our Wings” campaign that was the beginning of signifi cant fundraising eff orts in association with the School Council, Foundation, Parents and Friends Association and Old Scholars Association. Our Chidley campus is a very special place of learning, growth and exploration. Seeing our girls and staff move around the purpose-built learning spaces and multifunctional areas seamlessly and eff ortlessly is a credit to the design team lead by James Christou and Partners. The campus allows our girls and little boys to play and discover and fi nd a sense of freedom, as they explore open spaces and the nature playground.

School students were located at the Bay View campus, where English, Music and Art currently reside. They played on a small patch of grass where the Palmerston car park is located and if they and donations from an exceptional community that values a St Hilda’s education. We were fortunate generous from Old