An update from Paddy Handbury (M’72), Chair of Council 

The expansion of the Corio Campus with a new, purpose-built Junior School was announced in 2022. This significant strategic project was described as a transformational “Timbertop moment”, and an exciting new phase for our Bostock House community. The new Junior School will have an emphasis on nature and inquiry-based learning that leverages the Timbertop experience and enlivens Adventure Education for all students at Corio. 

Located to the northern aspect of our 230-hectare campus, the Junior School connects to the natural ecosystem of fields, creek, ponds, grasslands and lagoon (which is a Ramsar wetlands site and Parks Victoria wildlife reserve) as well as the exceptional playing fields and facilities that Corio offers.  

The Junior School project has faced several obstacles, delayed by complex planning matters (bushfire, native vegetation, water and flood management, and cultural heritage) amidst a highly inflationary environment. Nonetheless, progression has persisted. The building contract was awarded to Geelongbased commercial building company, Lyons Construction, led by managing director Steve Lyons (Fr’87), in August last year. The project gained approval from the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), and construction began at the end of Term 3, with the concrete slab/building pad poured in November. The structural steel frame has since been erected and work continues to progress positively – it is anticipated that we will welcome the Bostock House community to Corio in early 2026.  

The ongoing focus on and work for the new Junior School at Corio has been boosted by a $10 million gift from the Geelong Grammar Foundation’s Endowment Fund to support the Corio Campus Masterplan.  

Such an endowment adds tremendous surety to this important project, which will also be co-funded through the sale of our Noble Street site (which has been home to Bostock House since 1997). The Foundation’s leading gift will play a vital role in the progression of the Corio Campus Masterplan, which has been created collaboratively to provide plans and guiding principles for the future development of the Corio Campus. The new Junior School feeds into the progress of the overall Masterplan, enabling projects such as the link road, which will improve traffic flow, parking and drop-off, service Facilities, and support the pedestrian needs for the core of Biddlecombe Avenue.  

The Junior School will be impressive in size and scale. It will also be a catalyst project for further progression. A Masterplan has been developed for Timbertop (which celebrated its 70-year anniversary in 2023) and a Masterplan is being finalised for the Toorak Campus. The latter will be re-orientated and existing facilities will be refreshed to accommodate the introduction of Year 7 students in 2027, followed by Year 8 in 2028. These masterplans will equip the School with a roadmap for the future development of each of our campuses. 

Given completion of the final masterplans, the various projects will naturally be shared with our School community. This will showcase the vision and tangible plan that underpin the continued delivery of exceptional education at GGS. And if the School community support and philanthropic contributions continue as they have – which the Council believes they will – this will guide the all-important progression of further developments.  

 If only we were all kangaroos and emus, we would have the natural ability to never take a backward step! My call is “don’t look back GGS”. Progression resides deeply in your hands.  

Paddy Handbury (M’72)  
Chair of Council