FAQs

The Preparatory School campus redevelopment marks the first stage of an ambitious program of campus renewal at Prince Alfred College. Whilst the current facilities have been adapted over the years and serve us well today, they are nearing end of life. The redevelopment will provide us with a flexible, technologically advanced educational environment, purpose-built to support exceptional learning experiences for boys.

The Preparatory School campus redevelopment is the first stage in an ambitious multi-year plan for renewal across the College. Subsequent stages include the building of a multi-level carpark in College Road, Kent Town, a new Multi-purpose Sports Field, a new Secondary School Development and the refurbishment of areas within the existing Secondary School.

The Preparatory School redevelopment is the first project being undertaken due to it's location on the campus resulting in minimal disruption to teaching and learning and student experience. Stage 1 is not reliant on other changes to the Kent Town campus to be made first, for example  some traffic management changes being needed to be made prior to Stages 3 and 4 commencing.

The scope of the redevelopment is limited to the Robertson buildings making way for two new buildings. The impacted buildings include the current junior primary teaching areas and the administration building. The section of the Robertson Buildings bordering Little Flinders Street will be retained.

Whilst timings are subject to change, we anticipate initial works commencing in the December 2024 holidays and building works to commence in the first half of 2025. The Preparatory School campus redevelopment is expected to take 12-18 months.

The key features of the redevelopment include:

• Nine new purpose-built classrooms.
• Multi-purpose breakout spaces.
• Five small-group instruction rooms.
• New administrative hub including visitor reception.
• Specialised learning areas.
• Multi-purpose function space.
• Staff facilities including work spaces and staff room.
• Active outdoor spaces with learning, play and social areas.

The key benefits of the redevelopment include:

• Improvements to student outcomes and wellbeing.
• Flexible learning spaces and multi-purpose breakout areas.
• Improved environment for outdoor learning and play.
• Greater connection between the Preparatory School and the wider campus.
• More opportunities for community engagement through hosting events and information sessions in the multi-purpose areas.
• Increasing opportunities and spaces for teacher collaboration.
• An environmentally sustainable build.
• Enduring sense of pride and belonging.

The new building has been cleverly designed with embedded technology and more adaptable spaces to meet the needs of education into the future. The new buildings will be approximately 1700sqm total floor area comprising Ground Floor and First Floor levels. The redevelopment incorporates best practice research that our design team have been gathering with feedback from consultation with our current staff and students to re-imagine our teaching and ancillary spaces.

The redevelopment will include an incremental 2 classrooms; 4 small group instruction rooms; significant break out spaces for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2; 1 large multi-purpose gathering space, 1 meeting room, dedicated staff work spaces, larger staff room and end of journey facilities for staff.

It is expected in future years that enrolments in the Preparatory School will increase by approximately 10% beyond current capacity. This is expected to be a gradual increase and is dependent on the Secondary School being able to accommodate a modest increase in students also.

There has been extensive consultation with current parents, staff, students and Old Scholars. Engagement with our community commenced in late 2022 when the Master Plan process began 

Consultation for the Preparatory School campus has included multiple function and design workshops with staff and students; workshops with our Executive, Infrastructure Committee and College Council; parent information sharing sessions and walk throughs; one on one and group sessions and walk throughs with Old Scholars and the Old Scholars Association Committee; and regular updates to the Friends of PAC Committee.

As we progress through our Master Plan design process we will continue to consult widely with our College community and other interested parties, including local residents, if impacted.

The Preparatory School redevelopment is situated in the southeastern corner of the campus. It is surrounded by Dequetteville Terrace with Parklands opposite, the Royal Coach Hotel which is owned by the College, the existing Preparatory School buildings and the Main Oval. As this project is a continuation of land use (education) and is of a lesser height than the existing tower, the longer-term impact on local residents and businesses is expected to be negligible.

Yes, there is demand from our community to provide exceptional facilities that are tailored to support the learning needs of boys, today and in the future.

There will be some planting removal to facilitate the redevelopment of the Preparatory School. Plantings will be retained where possible and a significant number of new and mature plantings will be added as part of the outdoor landscaping scope of work.

Feel free to talk to any members of our College Executive team if you have questions relating to the Master Plan or Preparatory School campus redevelopment.

Should you have a question not addressed here, please email creatingnewtraditions@pac.edu.au

A comprehensive traffic management plan and health and safety plan have been developed as part of the local council development application. It is intended that the initial works take place during the upcoming December/January school holidays. Appropriate fencing and site hoarding will be installed to ensure the safety of our students, staff and visitors to the College. Access by site workers and vehicles is expected to have minimal impact within the College grounds due to external site access on two sides from public roads.

All construction staff and workers on site will have the required checks carried out for working in school environments.

All industry standard measures will be taken to ensure the security of the construction site. This includes relocating students to other buildings and areas within the campus and installing appropriate secure fencing around the perimeter of the site.

All construction staff and workers on site will have the required checks carried out for working in school environments.

All regulatory requirements will be adhered to through the construction of the Preparatory School build. This includes undertaking the demolition phase during school holidays. All efforts will be made to minimise disruption during the school day.

Yes, a comprehensive traffic study was undertaken as part of the development application process.

Heavy vehicle access to the building site will enter from Dequetteville Terrace and/or Little Flinders Lane

No, there are no safety concerns about the current Preparatory School buildings.

The Preparatory School year levels will be accommodated within our existing Prep campus. Through the tender process with our building partner, it has been determined that the remaining section of the Robertson building would not house students during the build. This is to ensure the boys are safely removed from the construction noise and to ensure some major works can continue through term time. To enable this, the College will be installing a number of temporary buildings on the Front Oval adjacent to the boulevard. 

As with previous years, we will communicate which class, teacher and classroom each student has been allocated, in January 2025 following consultation with their current teacher.

For the duration of the redevelopment students will not move to a separate learning area for specialist lessons except Physical Education, STEM, Art and Music. Specialist lessons such as Chinese will take place in the regular classrooms.

Every effort is being made to ensure the disruption to student learning is minimised. This includes the initial works being undertaken during the December/January holidays.

Yes. There will be no interruption to the curricular, co-curricular or wellbeing programs offered to Preparatory School students.

Yes. There will be no access to the current Junior Primary playground as it falls within the construction zone. The Galatea Playground on the Main Oval will be open as will the playground located near the John Dunning Sports Centre. Access to the Main Oval will be the same as it is today with a modest increase in the allocation of oval space.

Yes, we will be accommodating our Junior Primary students safely into other play areas.

We will also be making use of space next to the John Dunning Sports Centre for our students to play during recess.

It is our intention to maintain access along Dequetteville Terrace for drop off and pick up as many of our families prefer this access point. This access will form part of the brief to the building contractor when appointed and will be addressed when the traffic and site management plans are finalised with the builder.

Due to the location of the redevelopment, it is expected there will be minimal impact on the car parking area in and around the Pirie St driveway entered via The Parade West. 

Assemblies and Chapel Services will run as normal in their allocated spaces.

During the redevelopment, administrative spaces will be located in the John Dunning Sports Centre, with the Preparatory School Office in the foyer of this building. The sick bay will also be in this space, and greater use of the College Health Centre will be employed for attending to students. There will be some changes also to the areas occupied by our OSHC & Vacation Care program.

The College is in the process of finalising the plans for the carpark with the College Council and Norwood, Payneham and St Peters Council. Construction is expected to commence in 2025 and it is anticipated the construction will take 12-18 months.

As an inner-city school, parking and traffic management in and around our campus presents a challenge that requires careful planning and monitoring.

The new, purpose-built carpark will include the addition of a second airbridge across Little Young Street which, when connected to the existing air bridge across The Parade West will provide safe passage for students, parents and visitors onto the campus.

We will retain a drop-off and collection zone as well as short term carparks for ELC and junior primary parents within the campus.

We are in the process of designing how and who the carpark will be used by and will share these details when finalised with local Council. Our staff, parents and College visitors will be our priority to accommodate.

Yes, we do intend to include charging facilities for electric vehicles in line with our Strategic Priority to be a Leader in Sustainability.

The total cost of the Master Plan will depend on the scope of the overall program of work across the five stages, the final two stages of which are yet to be scoped and designed.

The cost of Stage 1: Preparatory School Redevelopment is approximately $23million.

The programs of work within the Master Plan are being funded through a combination of College investment, debt, and voluntary fundraising.

The total cost of the PAC Carpark construction is being developed as we look to finalise design plans over the coming months.

There will be no mandatory costs passed onto parents/fee payers or the community.

The College will be undertaking some voluntary fundraising activities to support the redevelopment.

No. There will be no fee increase to offset the cost of the Preparatory School Redevelopment.

If you are interested in opportunities to support the redevelopment, please contact our Director of Philanthropy, Helen Karapandzic, on +61 8 8334 1200 or hkarapandzic@pac.edu.au.

The College will be providing regular updates to the community regarding progress of the project via email and the College App. In addition, regular news updates will be added to the Master Plan pages on the College website which are publicly available.

The College welcomes feedback and input from our community. All queries, concerns or suggestions can be sent to creatingnewtraditions@pac.edu.au.

The teaching and learning staff are in the early stages of planning how best our Secondary School facilities can support the future learning needs of our students. The research and design team for this project was activated in Term 2 of this year.

Following this early planning stage, consultation will commence with key stakeholders including staff, students, parents and Old Scholars. This is likely to commence in early 2025.