Construction of the new Riverbanks College B-12 at Angle Vale is entering its final stages with the project well on track to welcome its first intake of students in 2022.
Premier Steven Marshall and Minister for Education John Gardner today toured the school which will provide world-class education facilities for up to 1,675 students, with 100 inclusive places for students with disability and 75-places for preschool, early learning and care.
The construction work is delivering a massive jobs boost with more than 1700 workers inducted on site to date.
Today's tour included a look at the freshly laid turf on the school oval, part of the expansive outdoor facilities designed for community use out of hours.
"It's fitting that the grass on the oval has been laid down as the construction team enters the final lap on building this wonderful new facility," said Premier Marshall.
"The new school will service generations of families in one of the state's key growth areas and it's exciting to be among the first to get a look as the site nears completion.
"Importantly the construction is helping to create the jobs which are supporting South Australia through the pandemic and its fantastic to see so many people working on the site today."
Riverbanks College B-12 is one of four new South Australian public schools opening next year as part of the Marshall Liberal Government's record $1.4bn investment in education infrastructure.
The investment is also delivering essential upgrades and new facilities at more than 100 government schools. More than 70 of those upgrades are either now underway, or have been completed in recent months.
Importantly, the necessary additional capacity required for our growing student numbers in certain areas, along with the move of year 7 into high school in 2022, will be in place for the beginning of next year.
"Construction work is going on at schools right across the state, boosting the economy and delivering much needed improvements to education infrastructure," said Minister Gardner.
"Importantly we are delivering the upgrades which will allow us to shift year 7 to high school in 2022, with our schools ready to welcome year 7 students from day one, term one next year."
The new Riverbanks College is being delivered as part of a Public-Private Partnership with TESA Education, with construction being carried out by Sarah Constructions.
"This is a particularly exciting part of the project as we work with the incoming principals and their respective teams, as well as our other operators and local councils ahead of welcoming the broader community to what is such a fantastic facility," said John McCullough, Project Company Representative, TESA Education.
"Excitement is building as construction enters its final phase with cleaning and services commissioning already underway together with external landscaping and turf being laid on the oval," said Adrian Esplin, CEO, Sarah Constructions.
"Not only will the children of the area receive modern innovative learning spaces, projects of this scale enable new entrants into the construction industry with nearly 200 trade apprentices working on the project to date."
