Construction has begun on a new multimillion-dollar facility at a south-east Queensland school to give students a new home to build robots and fly drones.
Students at Alexandra Hills State High School in the Redlands, south east of Brisbane, are already earning their commercial drone licence, designing and building specialised robots, and learning how to code for video games, websites and apps.
But Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace said the $4.77 million Centre for Excellence in Automation and Robotics would cement the school as a hub for robotics and engineering learning in the region.
“This really puts these students at the cutting edge,” she said at the official opening earlier this week.
“Today is a big step forward for engineering and STEM subjects here at Alexandra Hills State High School, who do a great job in this particular area.”
The school set up the centre for excellence three years ago with partners in industry and universities. Since then it has seen a 150 per cent increase in the number of students studying academic technology subjects over that time.
About half the Year 9 cohort for 2019 have selected a digital technology subject as an elective.
Best facilities possible for students
School principal Gail Armstrong said the new centre would ensure the programs in place would be able to continue with the best facilities possible for students.
“(This program) has given us the opportunity to really engage in cutting-edge curriculum,” Ms Armstrong said.
“And now this new building will really lift the interest and give a home for automation and robotics study which we haven’t had before.”
When complete in 2020, the centre will feature two design studios, three classrooms, a staff room and an undercover area future-proofed for three additional classrooms.
The school also serves as a local hub for STEM and innovation subjects, holding an annual competition called Innovate, involving schools in the Redlands area.
The new centre is part of a larger $923 million state government spend under its 2020 Ready program, which is building facilities to manage the influx of students from prep's 2007 introduction and the more recent move to shift Year 7 to high schools.
Because of the changes, in 2020 there will be six full year levels across Queensland’s state high schools for the first time.
Source: Brisbane Times
