Norwood Morialta High School consolidation and upgrade grows to $52m with extra facilities
A new three-storey building will consolidate Norwood Morialta’s two campuses into one, with millions of dollars in other work now planned as well.
Bringing the two campuses of Norwood Morialta High School together on the Parade will cost $52 million, as the scope of the upgrade increases.
“This is a very exciting time for the community,” school principal Jacqui van Ruiten said of a project under discussion for more than 15 years.
A new three-storey building with rooftop play space overlooking the oval will be constructed in the heart of the campus to accommodate year levels now taught at the Rostrevor site.
The existing Parade buildings will be modernised while extensive landscaping, carparking and sports’ courts work also is planned.
The project cost has increased from $40 million with the refurbishment and extension of the existing gym and an innovation hub for arts, technology, home economics and music now included.
Acting Education Minister Rob Lucas said the work would support jobs and local industry as well as lift educational opportunities.
“The concept plans reflect the modern, world-class educational facilities we are building as part of a generational upgrade of schools across SA,” he said.
Ms van Ruiten said it was going to be a challenging exercise to continue schooling during construction which is scheduled to begin in Term 4 this year and be ready for the 2022 intake.
“Almost 80 per cent of our school will have construction or refurbishment,” she said.
“We’ll have a very careful staged approach so we don’t impact on student learning.”
With Year 7 coming into the high school, capacity will increase from just under 1500 now to 1700.
From 2022, Norwood Morialta aims to offer the International Baccalaureate to Year 12 as well as the SA Certificate of Education. At the moment, it offers IB in middle years.
The future of the school has long been considered with options including creating a birth to Year 12 education precinct at the UniSA Magill site considered but abandoned.
The first $30 million of the upgrade cost was allocated in 2017, topped up with $9.9 million last year and a further $12 million added now.
An Education Department spokesman said the future of the Rostrevor campus would be reviewed, with consideration of future needs of primary and secondary schooling in the eastern suburbs and anticipated demographic changes.