New principal a class act Veteran teacher lands top job at $59m school
PIMPAMA’S new $59.6 million state primary school will be led by a veteran teacher with 25 years experience in the classroom.
Mount Warren State School principal Clayton McCann has been named as the principal of the as-yet unnamed school and will take up the new position from May 5.
The new school – on the corner of Yawalpah Rd and Gawthern Dve in Pimpama – is set to open in 2021 with enrolments starting soon.
Mr McCann has previously worked at Labrador, Bundaberg Central and McIIwraith state schools. “I’m really excited to take on this challenge and shape the direction of this new Prep to Year 6 school,” he said, revealing he had turned the first sod at the site in February with contractor FK Gardner and Sons.
The first stage of the school build features administration and corporate service facilities, prep and junior learning centres, a specialist STEM and music centre, a central covered area, library, canteen, sports oval and a multipurpose hall. Its construction will support 180 full-time jobs.
Education Minister Grace
Grace said half-a-billion dollars had been invested in Gold Coast state school projects since 2015, with the $64 million Foxwell State Secondary College in Coomera opening to Year 7s three months ago.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has said she was looking at reopening all schools in a staged way, allowing vulnerable junior and senior students to get back in the classroom first. Schools have been mainly closed because of the coronavirus outbreak. Children of only esstential workers are attending. The rules would be in place until May 22 and reviewed on May 15.
Queensland Teachers Union Head Kevin Bates has urged Ms Palaszczuk “not to be rushed” into decisions.
“I know May 22 sounds like an eternity for many parents, but teachers will need to do enormous amounts of work to prepare for kids coming back to school,” he said.
Ms Palaszczuk said authorities were still working on COVID-ready plans for social distancing and school drop-off.
Last week, Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ) executive director David Robertson called for Year 11 and 12 students to immediately return to school.
A spokesman for Hillcrest Christian College said it supported ISQ’s call for a return “because a majority of its parents support it, especially in early learning and senior years”.