Deanside Primary School

The school is open for enrolments from Prep to Grade 6.

Find My School has been updated to show school zones for 2022. This includes the zone for this school.

Policies on enrolment, placement, and admission are available on the Department of Education and Training website.

The Deanside Primary School – Meet the Team online information session was held on Tuesday 19 October.

Families were provided an opportunity to meet the principal and team and find out more about the school’s facilities, enrolments and student experience.

Stuart Telford has been appointed principal of the school following a thorough Department of Education and Training process, selecting one of Victoria's best and brightest educators to lead the school.

Stuart has spent the majority of his career in education within the City of Melton, as well as recent leadership roles in the Macedon Ranges and Brimbank networks. His knowledge, skills and expertise help align schools with evidence-based practices and increased student learning opportunities.

Stuart is excited to work alongside the Deanside community to develop a high-performing primary school that has a clear focus on the academic, social and emotional needs of young people, underpinned by a culture of high expectations for all.

Deanside Primary School was chosen as the school name following community consultation and discussions with Geographic Names Victoria, taking into account factors including public interest, relevance to the local area, and local Indigenous languages.

The school is named after the suburb it is located in.

We consulted with the community on Deanside Primary School's name from 11 June to 25 June 2021.

The school has the following facilities:

• an administration building, including library, art, food and science learning spaces
• a performing arts and physical education building
• 2 learning neighbourhoods
• 2 outdoor hardcourts
• a sports field
• bike shed
• playgrounds

In 2018, we consulted with local communities gaining new schools in Melbourne's fastest growing outer suburbs – including your new primary school. We captured each local area's broad aspirations and used this feedback in our concept designs.

During January and February 2020, a second round of engagement invited locals to share their ideas, local knowledge and the things that mattered most about how their school would look, feel and function.

The Deanside Primary School community was among a number of areas that sought bright, colourful and inviting classrooms well equipped for future learning needs. Modern and innovative classrooms will provide flexible learning environments to suit a range of learning approaches for this developing community.

Playgrounds that feature natural landscaping and Australian native plants will be highly valued for Deanside families as they move into this growing urban-fringe area.

Our consultation received strong and consistent feedback on many of their design needs and goals. Our architects used your feedback to help shape your school's interior and its landscape design.

We have built a two-room interim kindergarten at the school. This opened in Term 1, 2022, ready for the statewide rollout of five hours of funded kinder for three-year-olds. There will be places for both three and four-year-olds, ensuring a smoother transition between kindergarten and school.

We are delivering the interim kindergarten in partnership with the City of Melton. It will be in place until the council's permanent kinder is built on their site next door.

In 2018, the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) consulted with local communities during the land acquisition and planning stages for these new schools of 2022. We captured each local area’s broad aspirations and used this feedback in our concept designs.

During January and February 2020, a second round of engagement invited locals to share their ideas, their local knowledge and the things that matter most to them in the design of a school. Feedback was gathered through an Engage Victoria survey and responses were received in a number of ways.

Engagement snapshot

• 57,279 people reached through social media
• 259 online survey responses
• 78% of survey participants are parents of future students are the school

Our eight school communities told us they wanted:

Large playgrounds

We heard that communities wanted their schools to have room for students to be active and offer playground equipment to suit all ages. Protection from sun and rain is a high priority as these spaces will be used throughout the year.

“A large outdoor area where students can be active before, during and after school.”

Sports facilities

Sports facilities are important to schools. Communities want their schools to develop and maintain their own sports programs and offer resources that encompass a broad array of sports and activities. They hope these features will encourage active lifestyles and will include appropriate equipment suitable for all weather conditions.

“Sports provide an amazing outlet for health, teamwork and socialisation. A great way to build a school community and identity.”

Natural outdoor areas

These growing communities want school designs that reflect the surrounding natural environment. They are eager for designs that use natural colours and materials and plantings of native flora.

We heard there was a strong preference for the designs to be eco-friendly and sustainable. Outdoor, weather-protected seating areas were considered very important.

“Use native planting and lots of it, colours that fit in with the surrounding countryside and flora.”

During the engagement we asked a range of questions to learn more about the local area and understand where people enjoyed spending time.

Our goal was to ensure each new school reflected its area’s identity and had a great community feel. These were some of the things you told us you wanted most.

Modern learning facilities

Our school communities told us they valued modern and innovative classrooms that provided flexible learning environments for the broad range of learning approaches delivered as part of a 21st century education.

A diverse curriculum is high priority. Our new school communities will benefit from purpose-built spaces that provide facilities and resources to support broad learning areas, including visual arts and technology spaces.

Local history and cultural insights

We received strong community acknowledgment of the importance of multiculturalism, including events and cultural practices, and an awareness of the many different cultures relocating to new school areas.

School communities were eager to demonstrate a connection to indigenous culture, through art works and the introduction of history and language into teaching and learning.

Improved education outcomes

Your communities indicated high confidence (72% confident) that a new school would contribute to better educational outcomes for their students.

They saw many benefits for education and lifestyle including shorter travel times, modern facilities and amenities, reduced overcrowding, attracting high-quality teaching staff and the opportunity to create stronger community connections.

Transport considerations

Transport options to and from schools are critical elements of design. Communities want closer facilities to reduce travelling times and distances. They called for safer paths and crossings, reduced traffic congestion and adequate parking.

Schools in walking distance of homes are highly desired, but your communities told us you also valued accessible public transport options for carers seeking to get to their next destination and traffic and parking conditions that made it possible to drive children to school when necessary.

The architects we appointed to design each new school considered all community feedback and the key themes of responses from the consultation.

You can view the renders for the 2022 new schools below. These are artist impressions, and elements of the designs may have changed slightly.

The designs offer a diverse range of specialised learning environments to suit the needs of young learners. This includes enclosed, semi-enclosed and open classrooms that aim to maximise flexibility and support a more inclusive and modern approach to learning.

The concepts seek to maximise each school’s connection to nature and respond to community requests for outdoor play opportunities, natural landscaping, weather protection and shade.

School communities told us they placed a high priority on developing and maintaining their own sports programs onsite and wanted to offer their families a broad array of sporting opportunities and activities.

The Deanside Primary School community was among a number of areas that sought bright, colourful and inviting classrooms well equipped for future learning needs. Modern and innovative classrooms will provide flexible learning environments to suit a range of learning approaches for this developing community.

Playgrounds that feature natural landscaping and Australian native plants will be highly valued for Deanside families as they move into this growing urban-fringe area.