School History

Holy Spirit Community School is situated in Ringwood North near the corner of Oban and Warrandyte Roads, it opened it’s doors in February, 1976. The buildings consisted of a two room portable at the bottom of the Parish grounds. Permanent buildings were opened in August, 1977. Quick population growth within the Parish and school ensured that student numbers remained strong. It was expected that enrolments would peak in the mid 1990s and they did. The school has has had consistent enrolments since that time. The enrolment trend is in line with CEM predictions. Holy Spirit prides itself on the fact that we are a community school. One of the differences between ourselves and other schools is that we are all on first name basis. The community feel is very obvious to all who enter.

Prior to 2006 a number of major building programs were undertaken. These included the extension to the main building and Library. An upper block of four classrooms and offices were built followed by the placement of bricked in portables and construction of a Multi Media Room. In 2006/7 there was refurbishment to the Administration Block and Library.

In 2009, with funding from the Federal Government initiative ‘Building the Education Revolution’, a substantial Building Program was undertaken with the removal of four portable classrooms. These were replaced with the construction of a two storey building for our Grade 5/6 students and a LOTE room. Stage Two of the Building Program consisted of the construction of an additional Grade 1/2 classroom and refurbishment of the central area in the 1/2 Building. Stage Three included landscaping and pathways around the new Grade 5/6 Building, and the restoration of the school oval.

Further works funded via the Federal Government’s ‘National School Pride and Schools for the 21st Century’ included the construction of a disabled access to our school and a toilet for the disabled in the Grade 1/2 Building. This work was completed in early 2010. A formal opening of the new buildings was held in November, 2011.

During 2011 we created an open learning space between the three Prep classrooms.  We renovated through repainting, re-carpeting and constructing an office for the teachers. Interactive whiteboards and Soundfield systems were installed in every classroom.

Another major project during 2011 was the total redevelopment of the car park and surrounding grounds. Works commenced at the front gate and stopped at the lower end of the property. This included – drainage, upgrade of power and phone lines, levelling and re-asphalting of the entire area, landscaping and paving. Renovations were made to the Community Centre including the toilets and kitchen. The mentioned works have improved the safety and security of all students and members at Holy Spirit Community School. These works took five months to complete. Once again further work was completed to refurbish the oval which is an essential play and learning space for the students.

In 2012, in line with Holy Spirit’s daily practice of Christian meditation, a meditation garden was constructed. During 2014, the redevelopment of our ‘oval’ occurred. After much discussion we replaced the natural grass with artificial turf. These works occurred during November/December, 2014. This project will allow 12 month per year use of the oval area for PE lessons, play and school events. Other major works included the installation of shade sails in October which covered the adventure playgrounds. We also beautified a communal BBQ area within the school grounds.