General News
15 March, 2026
Funding boost for Ararat North Primary School
STUDENTS at Ararat North Primary School will soon benefit from a big maintenance blitz with more than $1 million funding secured from the Victorian Government.
Education Minister Ben Carroll recently announced that 55 schools across Victoria will share in $35.077 million through the Planned Maintenance Program (PMP), which supports essential works at existing schools.
Ararat North Primary School has been awarded $1,030,818 to upgrade several key areas of the school which Principal Jessica Erhardt said was a significant and welcome boost.
A major focus of the funding will be the school’s hard-surface basketball court, which currently presents safety concerns for students.
“It’s such a hazard at the minute,” Ms Erhardt said. “When it rains, it becomes dangerous, and we have to cone off sections when we’re trying to run PE out there.”
Ms Erhardt said the funding announcement came as a welcome surprise after a previous grant application to fix the basketball court had been unsuccessful.
“My team and I have been shouting at anyone who would listen for the past three years.”
“I had just received an email saying we weren’t successful in a grant to fix the basketball court, which was disappointing,” she said.
“Then the following week we got the email saying ‘here’s a million dollars to fix what needs to be fixed and keep your school safe’, so that was a really positive way to finish the year.”
Another major portion of the funding will be used to address issues with the school’s roof, which requires repairs after problems developed following work completed several years ago.
“We did have a new roof done five or six years ago, but unfortunately, something went wrong with it, and it needs some attention,” Ms Erhardt said.
Ms Erhardt said the school was fortunate to have a large physical footprint, but maintaining facilities of that size can be costly.
“Our grounds are huge, which is fantastic for the kids because they have plenty of space, but facilities the size of ours are very expensive to maintain,” she said.
“Without opportunities like this, where the government recognises our needs and invests in our facilities, projects like this can take a very long time to address.”
Member for Ripon Martha Haylett visited the school this week and said the funding will ensure modern, practical facilities for the future.
“Our country kids deserve modern classrooms and schoolgrounds they can enjoy. That's why I'm so pleased to see our State Labor Government delivering over $1 million for Ararat North Primary.
"I have visited the schools and advocated for upgrades directly with the Education Minister. They'll make a real difference to both students and their incredible teachers,” Ms Haylett said.
The school will also use part of the funding to maintain compliance as a Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR) school, including applying fire-retardant paint and replacing some outdoor materials with safer alternatives.
The Victorian School Building Authority will begin the tender process in the coming weeks, with hopes that construction can begin at the start of Term 2.
“We’re really excited that it’s going to be upgraded, the kids won’t know themselves,” said Ms Erhardt
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