2016 : Schools as Community Facilities

Increasingly schools have become central to the idea of community. Along with the hall, the library, the church and the pub, our schools have an important role in binding communities together.

And what better place to identify with than a place of learning? The role of the school in supporting life-long learning, families, sporting groups, creatives and community groups has grown along with the state and private sectors understanding of how schools can become community facilities.

No longer do the school gates open at 9:00am and close at 3:30pm. Community partners have enabled schools to become 24hour learning hubs.

Minx have supported numerous community partnerships over the past 15 years, but possibly our most exciting project to date has involved Scouts Victoria and the Department of Education and Training.

Synergies exist that allowed both parties to a joint use agreement to benefit through the development of a new scout hall built on State Education Department Land. The new Hazel Glen Scout Hall provides a community facility that accommodates before and after school care for students of working parents, a community space, additional activity space for the school, outdoor education programs for the senior students at the college and programs for Cubs, scouts and venturers.

The new Scout Hall at Hazel Glen is the first joint venture Hall to be built on a state government school site and is a terrific example of how community facilities can be integrated into school design to provide for a better outcome for all.