CONSTRUCTION is set to begin on Gawler Belt school Xavier College’s new campus at Two Wells, with students expected to begin class at the start of the 2021 school year.
Xavier College, Catholic Education SA (CESA) and SA Commission of Catholic Schools (SACCS) representatives were at the future school site on Thursday to turn the first sod on the $10 million first stage of the project.
Mossop Constructions have been contracted to lead construction, which will be built inside Hickinbotham Homes’ Liberty housing estate.
Head of the Two Wells campus Janet Coomber was excited to see the school grow with the rest of the local community.
“I’m looking forward to actually seeing this happen because we spent so long in the design process,” she said.
“To see it actually come to life is really exciting.
“For next year, I’m excited for everything to do with the school. The kids we’ve met are beautiful, their families are beautiful and I think we’re going to build a wonderful community.”
The school was initially planned to be built by Lutheran Education South Australia (LESA) but in June last year it was pulled out of the project.
Six weeks later in August, it was announced CESA had taken over the development and a second Xavier campus would be established.
The original plans for the Lutheran school were handed to CESA and SACCS to speed up the planning phases to allow for the school to open at the start of 2021.
SACCS chair professor Denis Ralph said the organisation saw it as a “wonderful opportunity” to establish a school at Two Wells.
“At first we thought about establishing a separate college, but then we decided Xavier is such an outstanding college contributing to education in this broader area, that we would build on that reputation,” he said.
“They (LESA) were very generous in responding to our requests to work together. They provided us with all the background work they had done, which was much appreciated.
“They were delighted when they found out Hickinbotham had invited us to take up the opportunity. And we’ve done that with enthusiasm and commitment.
“Our major concern was a tight timeline, because we’re going to have this college operating in January 2021. So we moved as fast as we could in working with the community, the Hickinbotham group and Xavier to develop the architectural plan.”
The first stage of the school’s construction will cater for reception to year 6 students, with school to one day grow to include high school and fit more than 1000 students.
Land Australia – part of the Hickinbotham group – managing director Michael Hickinbotham said the school would provide “high calibre” education.
“The new campus will further underpin a growing and successful Two Wells community and the new Eden and Liberty residential developments while providing high calibre education for newly arriving families and wider region,” he said.
Mossop Constructions has moved to the Xavier project after constructing the McAuley Community School at Hove.
Public transport, infrastructure development hopes high
WITH Xavier College’s new Two Wells campus set to cater for more than 1000 students, school and Catholic education officials are hopeful improved infrastructure can be attracted to the town.
The campus is expected to cater for the Two Wells’ expected population boom, as well as attract students from the Mallala, Virginia and Angle Vale areas.
Catholic Education SA (CESA) director Dr Neil McGoran said the school was committed to establishing services which would be of use to the community, while also pushing for greater public investment in the town, such as public transport.
“Catholic education, at the heart of it, is about building and growing a community,” he said.
“That includes the school of course and all the families and connections which come with it. But it also includes support structures and infrastructure, transport, community services and church services.
“We’re absolutely committed to ensuring this Two Wells community grows from what is already an excellent community into one which is much larger and even more prosperous.”
The town is currently not serviced by the Adelaide Metro public transport network, with the nearby train line only used for freight services since 1970.
Adelaide Plains Council voted to ask chief executive officer James Miller to consult with transport minister Stephan Knoll about reopening the train line for passenger services in June last year.
Xavier Two Wells campus head Janet Coomber said a public transport service would “be wonderful” for students.
“Anything we can do that will help the school work with community and vice versa would be great,” she said.
“So public transport would be amazing. I also love the idea of having community-centred gardens we could all take care of.
“Perhaps even something which would allow kids to interact with older generations too. Intergenerational play would be a great opportunity for us.”