By Alesha Capone
The opening of a new school in Wyndham Vale was cause for celebration last week.
Families, students and staff gathered at Wyndham Christian College, located near the Wyndham Vale Christian Centre on Ballan Road, for the event.
The college, which is still under construction, is a sister school to Heatherton Christian College in Melbourne’s south-east.
The Wyndham Vale school opened for prep to grade 4 pupils in term one of this year, and will add a new grade level, up to year 12, each year.
Within the next eight years, the school’s population is expected to grow to about 1450 children.
The executive principal of the school’s two campuses, Peter Cliffe, said that the school had received about 615 inquiries about enrolments before it opened this year.
“We’ve made a very smooth staff start, the kids have settled in well and the staff are fantastic,” Mr Cliffe said.
Wyndham City Church senior minister Roland Tankard, said plans to build a school at the site date back to the 1970s.
Pastor Tankard showed the audience at the college’s opening ceremony a drawing from 1982 that mapped out areas in which school buildings could potentially be located.
Wyndham mayor Mia Shaw, who also spoke at the opening ceremony, was delighted to welcome the Wyndham Vale school to the municipality.
Cr Shaw said that due to Wyndham’s fast-growing population, many new primary and secondary schools were needed in the area.
“This new college is a welcome addition to our city,” Cr Shaw said.
“On behalf of the council, we sincerely thank you for investing in, and constructing, a new school in Wyndham.”
