Toowoomba’s Hutchinson Builders constructing new 6000 sqm school for Studio Schools Australia, to go to Western Australia

Toowoomba is playing a key role in rolling out a “groundbreaking” form of education for First Nations children — 4200km away from the Garden City.

Inspecting work on the new Manjali Studio School that will be located in the southern West Kimberley of Western Australia is (from left) Hutchinson Builders Toowoomba team leader Sean Lees, Bunuba Dawangarri Aboriginal Corporation director Kevin Oscar and Studio Schools Australia chief executive Dr Helen Drennen.

What Sean Lees and his Hutchinson Builders team are building in Toowoomba will not just become a school nearly 4200km away, but represent the next step in a “groundbreaking” new pathway of Indigenous education.

More than 300 local workers are involved in the construction of the Manjali Studio School, a collection of nearly 90 modular structures that will be built in Harristown and shipped to the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

The project for nearly 100 middle school students is the latest by Studio Schools Australia (SSA), which has partnered with the Bunuba people as original custodians of the area for nearly 20 years to deliver a residential, on-country education for indigenous teenagers.

Concept art of the upcoming Manjali Studio School on Bunuba country in the southern West Kimberley of Western Australia, which is being built by Hutchinson Builders Toowoomba.

The program has received significant federal funding, with SSA planning to roll out five studio schools across WA, the Northern Territory and Queensland by the end of the decade.

Mr Lees said the 6000 sqm school on four hectares of land would be completely self-contained, with students and staff living on-site.

“The school has got residential accommodation for both students and mentors who live on campus, including amenities, kitchens, cold rooms, everything,” he said.

“Everything that makes a school go totally self-sufficient in the middle of really regional Western Australia.

“Power is generated on-site, all water is treated on-site, all wastewater is treated on-site.

“We’ve got a team of people from Toowoomba who have relocated, they’re living up there in the community and they’re building this here.”

Aerial shots of the site for the upcoming Manjali Studio School on Bunuba country in the southern West Kimberley of Western Australia, which is being built by Hutchinson Builders Toowoomba.

SSA chief executive Dr Helen Drennen said the latest school would complement its original campus Yiramalay Studio School that opened in 2010 and catered for years 10-12 students.

Dr Drennen said the organisation’s curriculum placed an equal emphasis on the students’ connection to country and culture as well as a traditional education, while the location kept the children focused on learning.

“It’s a model that is delivered on-country and that is very strong on indigenous law and culture and language, because of its location,” she said.

“It really makes central the importance of developing children’s knowledge of their culture and identity and language.

“It’s also residential, so it means everyone is learning from when they wake up in the morning to when they go to sleep at night.

“They’re on country so they’re away from some of the things that have been challenging in their lives.”

Dr Drennen said the ultimate goal of the studio schools model was get indigenous youths job-ready so they could serve and improve their own communities.

“It’s a holistic program which gives equal value and emphasis to their personal and social development, alongside their academic development and their preparation for a job,” she said.

“For every child who graduates, our aim is for them to leave with a job and a pathway to further learning.

“We really see our program is about building the north of Australia, because these children and students will contribute to those communities.”

Inspecting work on the new Manjali Studio School that will be located in the southern West Kimberley of Western Australia is (from left) Hutchinson Builders Toowoomba apprentice Blake Hicks and Bunuba Dawangarri Aboriginal Corporation director Kevin Oscar.

Bunuba Dawangarri Aboriginal Corporation chairman Kevin Oscar, who toured Hutchies’ modular manufacturing facility this week with Dr Drennen and other stakeholders, said the new school would expand the opportunities for First Nations children in Western Australia.

“Both schools are out in the same area where we come from, and well away from civilisation and town (both Broome and Fitzroy Crossing — well away from drugs and things like that,” he said.

“It puts them on country, but the point is to educate them, so they can have jobs like these fellas here in the factory.”

Mr Lees said he believed Hutchies Toowoomba was chosen due to its track record, while noting the firm had never attempted a project like this.

“We’ve probably got a unique skillset when it comes to doing regional and remote that features a significant modular component,” he said.

“We’ve done schools, we’ve done totally remote stand-alone communities, but we’ve never done a totally stand-alone community that happens to be a school.”

Originally published as Toowoomba’s Hutchinson Builders constructing new 6000 sqm school for Studio Schools Australia, to go to Western Australia