Minister for Education and Training
The Honourable Geoff Wilson

Thursday, November 05, 2009

$19.4 MILLION SCHOOL DELIVERS 21ST CENTURY LEARNING

The $19.4 million Bounty Boulevard State School at North Lakes, was officially opened today by Education and Training Minister Geoff Wilson.

Mr Wilson said the school, which had its first student intake in January, was an excellent example of the Bligh Government delivering first-class facilities to support Queensland students.

“The school has state-of-the-art teaching and ICT resources,” Mr Wilson said.

“A strong emphasis is placed on eLearning and communication technology is used to engage school community members in new, innovative ways.

“New technology at the school also enables parents to go online to view and comment on their child's work and progress.

“As well as traditional methods the school uses modern social networking technology like Twitter to engage parents and keep them informed about school matters.

"Through the Education Queensland Learning Place students are able to collaborate with fellow students, complete their work and access digital resources to support their learning via the internet anywhere, anytime.”

Mr Wilson said Queensland schools would next year celebrate the Year of Environmental Sustainability and Bounty Boulevard exemplified new sustainable design.

“The school’s design takes advantage of passive heating and cooling to maximise energy efficiency and minimise its carbon footprint.

“Solar panels will harness the sun and underground water tanks will take advantage of rainfall.”

Mr Wilson said the Bligh Government was delivering an $18 billion dollar infrastructure program across the State and creating Queensland jobs.

“The Bligh Government contributed nearly $10 million to building this school, with the Federal Government providing $9.5 million.

“The construction of Bounty Boulevard School created 150 construction jobs.

“There are currently four schools under construction across the state and these projects will continue to generate jobs for Queenslanders during these tough economic times.”

Mr Wilson said the 2009 -10 State Budget allocated almost $2 billion to continue to modernise and build schools across Queensland. This included $1.16 billion for school infrastructure under the Australian Government's Building the Education Revolution.

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