PORTLAND Bay School has received $1,136,196 from the Government’s Schools Upgrade Fund to convert the shed into an area for working manual activities and art classes.

The shed space is 18 metres by 14 metres, and currently holds the industrial laundry and storage for sundry items.

Acting principal Rebecca Jones said they originally requested $820,000 for the refurbishment and were surprised to receive over $1 million instead.

“Steve Crossley is the substantial principal (he’s on leave), it was always his dream to convert that space into a working manual activities building, and it's an expensive process to do it,” she said.

“He's been trying to scrimp and save to get it done, and it seems like every time he would start to make a bit of headway, something else would happen.

“Prior to COVID they had a commercial laundry going here for work experience, for kids who can't go out.

“Vulnerable kids who find it hard to leave the setting for work placement will do work placement there in the laundry. Then with COVID, that stopped.

“The other problem we had is it's a shed, so it's not temperature controlled. In the summer it was really hot in the laundry, and in the winter it was freezing cold. It wasn't ideal.”

The school will have control in terms of the layout they want, but the Victorian School Building Authority will oversee the project.

There are 73 students enrolled this year, however the school was only built for 70, leading them to a need for more room.

“One of the classrooms has been used for our art and music therapy, so ideally this will free that room up to become another (general) classroom,” Ms Jones said.