Afraa Kori & Corey Everitt
Pakenham’s latest school Kuyim Primary has opened its doors welcoming many excited local kids to their first day.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll and Pakenham MP Emma Vulin were thrilled to welcome students on the first day of Term 1 on Wednesday 29 January.
“Our local Pakenham families will benefit from the Allan Labor Government’s ongoing investment in one of Victoria’s fastest-growing outer suburbs,” Ms Vulin said.
Sporting the best of modern schools, Kuyim Primary School holds many open and interactive classrooms and a sprawling library.
Most of all, the majority of the school site is taken up by open space, playgrounds and its oval. Students may be able to glimpse the Officer District Park from the grounds, but their endless capacity for play will likely be satisfied at the school.
The space includes a large sandpit in the shape of a bandicoot and a yarning circle with an overhead cover that displays shadows of kangaroos, echidnas and other Australian wildlife throughout the day.
The school, named after the Bunurong word meaning kangaroo, has a capacity for 525 students from prep to grade six.
Principal Zania Cope previously served nine years in the role at Tooradin Primary School, she has taken it as an honour to be able to lead a new school.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to come from a country school and start a new one from the ground, you can develop the curriculum that works best for our students, work with wonderful new staff and pick the new uniform,” Ms Cope said.
“It’s so exciting, we get to build the environment and the community.”
Attached to the grounds is the new Boollam Boollam Child and Family Centre run by Cardinia Shire Council and set to open in Term 2. Every Victorian primary school that has opened since 2021 has a kindergarten on-site or right nearby.
Kinder and Primary next to each other will ease the drop-off and pick-up times for parents and ease the transition to prep.
“It’s so good to have an integrated school with a childcare centre next door, they will all just flow through here and build that sense of community,” Ms Cope said.
Currently, works are finishing the gymnasium/community centre that will be a further recreational and teaching space where students will play sporting activities and conduct performances.
It will also be open to the community, so far there has already been interest from local sporting clubs to utilise the space.
As the school grows there will be more opportunities for expansion with the potential for several portable classrooms to accommodate the burgeoning school.
Kuyim Primary School joins five other new government schools opening in Term 1, including Mirniyan Primary School Clyde North, Turrun Primary School Clyde North, Wulerrp Secondary College Clyde North, Barayip Primary School Tarneit and Wirrigirri Primary School Wollert.
