Head of Operations Update
Vehicle Access Stickers
2017 windscreen stickers will be available in the reception of the school of your eldest child from the 12th January 2017. Security have been informed to allow parents with the 2016 sticker onto campus until the end of January 2017, whereafter, if the new 2017 sticker is not displayed, parents will be treated as a visitor and be scanned in with your driver’s licence. The stickers will remain at the receptions of the schools until half term, and will then be brought up to the Operations Building and parents will then have to collect from the reception of the Operations Department.
Building Projects
We have been busy this year with two big building projects, namely the Boys' Prep Grades 4 & 5 classroom block and the Girls’ Sports Pavilion. Both will be completed this year with occupation from the start of school in 2017. The landscaping is now in progress and by the time everyone returns in 2017, the two sites will have been transformed. The photos below give a sneak preview of what to expect. It has all been very exciting and we can’t wait to see the buildings being used.
The other projects we have been busy with include the renovation of the old High Performance Centre, which has made space for the ergos in one section and opened up the entire space in the old HPC / Long Room / Offices to create one big High Performance Centre. Again, this space is going to be better used from the New Year and has some exciting things in the pipeline for this space.
The old ergo room near the Saints’ Café is in the process of being renovated to become the new home for the marimbas. Mr Mike Sibanda is thrilled to finally have his own space. We are changing the entrance completely and opening it up towards the main cricket field, allowing more light and air into the space. It will be fantastic to hear the beautiful sounds of our budding marimba artists coming from this area.
We have almost completed the first of two new tennis courts on the girls’ side. The second court will be built at the start of the new year in what is currently the building site for the Girls’ Sports Pavilion.
At the astros, we have renovated the old hockey clubhouse and a small section of the room next door to create a Sports Shop.
The diving facility has been revamped and now has a proper dry land training area. The area has also been fenced off for safety reasons and is now restricted to divers and diving coaches only. We are also in the process of creating a new and more appealing entrance to the Aquatics Centre, which will only be completed in the New Year.
Whilst there are no major building projects taking place next year, we are going to be very busy with many smaller projects, which include the tarring of the Astro / JP parking, renovations to the Admissions / Marketing offices, renovations to the Finance offices, a coffee shop at the old second-hand shop for squash, renovations to the Aquatics Centre and a whole lot more.
Litter on Campus
Please can everyone ensure that their litter is disposed of in a dustbin on Campus and not just left on the ground or on the grandstands for someone else to pick up. We are really striving to be a “green” school and we ask everyone to assist us by disposing of their litter in dustbins. It is so sad to see how many people get up after a sporting event and just leave their empty cooldrink cans, empty food packets, etc. right next to where they were sitting and expect someone else to pick up after them.
Water on Campus
Following several concerns about watering of fields during water restrictions, a mail was sent out to the Saints community informing everyone that we are using ground / borehole water to water the fields. We are very aware of the restrictions, but do sit with a situation that we have a lot of ground water, which we are now harvesting to use to flush toilets in certain buildings and to water fields / gardens. If we do not pump this water off the fields that have too much water, the fields become unplayable. We are also in the process of installing water storage tanks in strategic areas around the Campus to capture rain water from roof tops, and again, this water will be used to flush toilets and water gardens where necessary. We are currently working with two water consultants and putting a water sustainability plan together for the College, that has an educational benefit for the students.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my awesome team of Operations staff, which includes all the permanent contractors that work on this site Servest, Supercare, Special Ops 99, Powersurge, SA Waste for their hard work throughout this year and to wish them all a Merry Christmas and trust they all get some well-deserved rest over the Festive period.
