HAVING been a principal for more than 20 years, Lee Harrex says she is fortunate to be the founding principal for Yarrabilba’s primary school.
A former teacher at Maryborough and Gladstone, Mrs Harrex had been principal at Eight Mile Plains State School before her appointment.
“I am incredibly privileged to be the founding principal for the school,” she said.
Mrs Harrex said she was thrilled to have seen a strong sense of community at Yarrabilba, ahead of the consultation process to begin on Thursday, August 17.
Up for discussion will be the school’s name, uniforms, colours, vision and values.
“We really are building this school from the ground up,” Mrs Harrex said.
“The school is going to be a hub for the community and I want to hear what people want from their school.
“There will be some people who just want enrolment information, but I would also like to have people who would like to be more involved.”
Originally scheduled to be ready in 2019, the development of the $40 million school was brought forward a year following calls from the community.
Education Minister Kate Jones said earlier this year enrolment projections suggested about 300 students would be expected to attend the school next year.
Mrs Harrex said she expected the school to grow quite quickly due to the large number of young families in the area.
“We are building the school for 1000 students, but we won’t know the numbers for next year until we have expressions of interest.”
Mrs Harrex said facilities at the school included an area for coding and robotics and shared spaces for cooking and art.
She had been able to give input into the design of classrooms.
Expressions of interest for enrolment will be accepted after the community consultation, with formalised enrolment to start about November when the administration buildings at the school are completed.
The consultation will be held on Thursday, August 17 from 6.45pm to 7.45pm at the Yarrabilba Community Hub.