New High-Tech Buildings for Australian Christian College

Two new buildings were officially opened at Australian Christian College Marsden Park on Monday March 18th, bolstering the K-12 school’s ability to accommodate for its rapidly growing enrolment numbers.

The buildings were opened by the school’s Principal Brendan Corr and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car MP, along with members of the student body.

The school, which is set in a prime position of the North West Growth Corridor has grown massively in the past five years. In 2019, the school was host to 667 students; at the start of 2024, over 2,000 were enrolled. Due to its increasing numbers, the NSW Government recognised that ACC Marsden Park’s growth plan aligned with their vision for the area, and both buildings were allocated funding from the Building Grants Assistance Scheme.

The Senior School building will accommodate over 650 students with 22 new classrooms spread across three interlinked levels. Also present in this building is a new admin and reception area and 4 science classrooms.

The new High-Tech Learning Hub is connected to the Senior School Building, and has a huge array of cutting-edge technology for students to utilise in their learning. The building includes two film and podcast studios, a production booth, two Mac labs, a robotics lab and a VR lab.

Brendan Corr spoke with excitement about the opening of the two buildings and how they will assist students with learning valuable 21st century skills: “These services will assist in a very practical way. Students will be able to encounter industry standard technology, but it’s also couched in a way that allows the thing that students are imagining in English or Art can be transferred into digital artefacts. They can walk into the studio and record the script or video production and share that on the network.

“It’s incredibly exciting. We’ve watched it develop for about 15 months, we’ve looked at architects’ impressions and plans, but it’s not the same as being able to now walk through and experience it. My belief is that it’s setting a very high level of expectation in the students, and that they will rise to that with these outstanding facilities. We’re looking forward to seeing that!”

Students at ACC Marsden Park are equally thrilled to have access to these new facilities. Senior school students Yuj Patel and Prisha Malhotra were taking part in VR experiences on the opening day, and took a break to talk to Hills to Hawkesbury Community News about the benefits of the facilities.

Yuj said: “It helps us use facilities that will actually go outside of school, and we can use this space to do more hands-on work. It can really help us develop our future studies, and help us work as a group more.” Prisha added: “It’s a cool, interactive space. I’m really excited to use it more this year, and so is everyone else!”