$96,000 FOR HAWKESBURY SCHOOLS

The numbers of students walking through school gates has fallen to a trickle, but schools throughout the Hawkesbury will hopefully have new projects ready when they get back to normal.

Federal Member for Macquarie Susan Templeman recently announced grants worth nearly $100,000 have been allocated to six schools across the Hawkesbury for projects ranging from playground upgrades to a solar energy initiative.

The schools successfully applied for funding under the Federal Local Schools Community Fund, which provides a contribution for small scale projects and their associated costs.

Hawkesbury primary schools that received funding under the program included Richmond North Public School, Hobartville Public School, Windsor South Public School, Hawkesbury Independent School and St Monica’s Primary School. The schools received a total of $76,076 in funding between them.

Colo High School was also successful, granted $20,000 for additional seating for students.

Ms Templeman said she was very pleased to be able to fund a range of projects in the local area, for everything from wellness programs to improved seating.  

“It’s fantastic to see schools receiving money for projects that take more than a few sausage sizzles to fund, such as Richmond North and St Monica’s Primary Schools’ playground upgrades, as well as initiatives such as Hawkesbury Independent School’s solar energy project,” Ms Templeman said.

“Schools around the Hawkesbury have demonstrated a real need for this funding, and I congratulate them on presenting thorough applications for such diverse projects.

“But the fact remains that schools across Macquarie applied for more than $737,000 worth of projects from a pool of just $200,000 shows how both the State and Federal Governments need to invest more in education,” Ms Templeman said.

“I take the responsibility of distributing grants within the community very seriously, and our panel considered a range of quality applications worth just over $260,000 from public schools, just under $50,000 from Catholic schools, and $20,000 from independent schools in the Hawkesbury alone.

“Parents groups always carry a heavy fundraising load for schools, so I am pleased that this funding will go some way towards easing that burden on such a hard-working group of local volunteers.

“But this really shows that the State and Federal Governments have dropped the ball when it comes to funding our schools. I give them an F – must do better.”

Hawkesbury schools that received funding under the program included: