30/5/03
Construction of the new Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School in Bunbury is due to begin next month, Housing and Works Minister Tom Stephens announced today.
Mr Stephens said the building contract had recently been awarded to local Bunbury company Devaugh Pty Ltd.
"Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School is one of several schools to be newly built or redeveloped in readiness for the start of the 2004 school year," he said.
"The Department of Education opened Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School as a trial in Carey Park in 1996."
Djidi Djidi (pronounced jiddy-jiddy) is the Aboriginal name for Willie Wagtail, a small bird with a lot of character and one of the most common birds found in the South-West.
As previously announced by Education Minister Alan Carpenter, the new replacement Aboriginal primary school is to be built on a 2.7ha site in Picton in the eastern suburbs of Bunbury at an estimated cost of $4.5million.
The replacement school will comprise:
- an administration block;
- a library/resource centre;
- a cultural centre to include a covered area, canteen, music room, language room, and arts and crafts room;
- two pre-primary classrooms;
- one kindergarten classroom;
- two teaching blocks comprising four classrooms each;
- two hard courts and cricket nets;
- parking and landscaping; and
- the existing oval.
Tony Dean, Bunbury MLA, said the new school represented a great step forward for the Noongar people of the South-West.
"Consultation with the school community including staff, elders and the school board has strongly influenced the design and landscape architecture," Mr Dean said.
"The layouts of the buildings revolve around maintaining as much of the natural bushland as possible and the establishment of a cultural centre on the site."
Mr Stephens said the school would also incorporate the State Government's Percent for Art Scheme, where one per cent ($50,000) of the overall budget had been allocated for artworks.
"For this uniquely Aboriginal project, the art will form an integrated part of the buildings and its immediate environment," he said.
"Representatives from the Bunbury Noongar community were involved in a comprehensive selection process, which resulted in the appointment of Noongar artist Sandra Hill with Jenny Dawson and emerging local Noongar artist Troy Bennell.
"These artists will work closely with the architects and landscape architect, and with the school children through a series of workshops, to create artworks that will be a central part of the school and reflect its character, culture, aims and identity."
Minister's Office - 9213 6500
