St Francis of Assisi Primary School Wodonga to expand classes up to year 12

St Francis of Assisi Primary School announced its plans on Thursday, April 6, with the inaugural year 7 class anticipated to begin in 2029.

Principal Jennyne Wilkinson said the school community had welcomed the end of term news.

"Families talking about this is what they were hoping for, this is what they were waiting for," she said.

"Certainly we've seen an increased demand for enrolments in our primary school, and great growth, population growth in the Baranduda, Leneva, Killara area.

"We have families seeking Catholic education in Baranduda, which is wonderful."

St Francis of Assisi Primary School was previously known as Frayne College, with the name change occurring at the end of 2015. It formerly included lower secondary school classes.

The school currently has 460 pupils and "that's been growing every year since 2016, approximately 50 to 60 students".

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Initial talks on future secondary schooling provision in the area began more than 10 years ago, when Catholic Education Wodonga Council and Catholic Education Sandhurst considered the demographic information held by Wodonga Council.

Catholic Education Sandhurst chief executive Paul Desmond said he was delighted to announce support for the project, which would also explore potential preschool education.

"We are committed to ensuring that parents, parish and the local Baranduda and Wodonga communities are informed, engaged and able to participate in this exciting expansion," he said.

Mrs Wilkinson said a project control group would be formed to start planning the change, in consultation with Wodonga Council and other parties such as Wodonga Catholic College.

The school owns two adjacent parcels of land that will be part of the development.

"We have permission now to to do the research into if there is demand for an early years facility, so that's also part of the brief," she said.

"And then if there was great demand for long day care, then we would look at that too."

The principal said Catholic Education Sandhurst had shown great faith in the school community to make this decision.

"I think it's a great thing for Baranduda to have the opportunity to have those services in the neighbourhood and we're just very, very excited that we're going to get this opportunity," she said.

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