New primary school opens in Alfredton as population surge drives demand

Alfredton Primary School has opened its doors to its first 240 students following a $14 million construction program that brought the school from planning approval to full operation in under two years — a delivery timeline that the Victorian Schools Building Authority described as an achievement given the supply chain pressures that have extended construction timelines for school projects across the state.

The school serves the Alfredton growth area that has been one of Ballarat's fastest-growing residential precincts as Melbourne migrants have established in the western corridors where affordable housing, new estates, and proximity to the Western Freeway corridor make Ballarat accessible for households maintaining Melbourne employment connections.

Ballarat MP Sharon Knight said the school was "the latest signal of the state government's investment in Ballarat's future," noting that the three new schools that had opened in the city's growth corridors in the past five years had created more than 150 permanent teaching and administration positions in the education sector that contributed to Ballarat's employment growth and household income base.

The Alfredton school's inaugural principal, Daniel Crawford, said enrolment demand for the first year had exceeded projections, with 300 applications received for the school's initial 240 places. Additional demountable capacity is being installed to accommodate a second cohort from Term 2.

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