It’s academic! Schools & education around Arcadia

For families looking to buy property, the location of the land is invariably as important as the home itself. And while proximity to shops, transport and green spaces is always important, closeness to schools (built, under construction or planned) often ranks higher on the list of priorities than anything else.

As Melbourne’s population increases faster than most other cities in Australia, so too does its number of students. In fact, the Victorian Department of Education and Training estimates that close to 100,000 extra students will enter public schools over the next five years.

While the Victorian Government is delivering upgrades and hundreds of brand new schools in growth areas, competition within sought-after school zones will only intensify in coming years, so it’s never been more important to have well-regarded education nearby.

In this article, we’ll give you a summary of the early childhood, primary and secondary school choices available near Arcadia.

IN THE COMMUNITY

There are three schools in the Arcadia estate itself: Bridgewood Primary School, Officer Secondary College and Officer Specialist School. With growing demand, there are also plans for another primary school to be built in the future.

BRIDGEWOOD PRIMARY SCHOOL

Opened in 2018, Bridgewood is in fact a primary school and a child and family centre, comprising a kindergarten, an occasional care space and Maternal and Child Health consulting rooms.

The school will eventually take about 900 children from Prep to Grade 6. The kinder will accommodate 132 children in its four-year-old program and 44 in its three-year-old program.

IMAGE CREDIT: RHIANNON SLATER

OFFICER SECONDARY COLLEGE

Welcoming its first students in 2015, Officer Secondary offers students from Years 7 to 12 exceptional facilities. In fact, back in 2016, The Age wrote about it as a “school of the future”, referring to it as having the potential to become a “a community hub where people can go after hours and use the enormous gym and the MasterChef kitchen.”

The school has already built a strong reputation and has proved enormously popular with parents in the local area.

IMAGE CREDIT: RHIANNON SLATER

OFFICER SPECIALIST SCHOOL

With a current capacity of 270 students, Officer Specialist School offers education opportunities to children between the ages of five and 18 with intellectual and associated disabilities.

It was opened in 2014 and features visual and performance arts spaces, areas where teachers, parents and students come together for social gatherings, withdrawal spaces and extensive therapy resources.

IMAGE CREDIT: OFFICER SPECIALIST SCHOOL & CHC

ONE EARLY EDUCATION OFFICER

Also within the community is a standalone childcare centre, opening mid-June 2019: One Early Education.

The state of the art, education based early learning centre (on the corner of Bridge Road & Parker Street) is almost complete and open to the community.

ONE Early Education Centre is a place for children and families to thrive. They currently have centres in Cranbourne East, Clyde North, Mickleham, Roxburgh Park and Wollert.

IMAGE CREDIT: ONE EARLY EDUCATION GROUP

OTHER EDUCATION OPTIONS NEARBY

As well as having three schools located within it, Arcadia is also close to established schools, among them:

• Officer Primary School, who successfully applied for an Arcadia Community Grant last year and was able to run its very first Motor Show with the help of those funds. It’s a five-minute drive from the community.
• Pakenham Lakeside Primary School – a five-minute drive from Arcadia.
• John Henry Primary School – a five-minute drive from Arcadia.
• Maranatha Christian School (early learning to Year 6; secondary opening in 2021) – a five-minute drive from Arcadia.
• St Francis Xavier College, Officer Campus (secondary) – a 10-minute drive from Arcadia.
• Pakenham Secondary College – a 15-minute drive from Arcadia.
• Federation University – a 15-minute drive from Arcadia.
• Chisholm TAFE Berwick Campus – 20 minutes by car or 30 minutes (when you take into account a walk to the station) by train.

You can read more about schools and education around Arcadia at our website.