Work has officially started on the construction of new female dorms at Yanco Agricultural High School

It was back in 2019 that students from the school started to lobby the government for an upgrade to female dormitories at the educational facility.

The dorms had not been upgraded since the first female students arrived at the school in 1993.

The students and P&C made their case to Member for Murray Helen Dalton, who got on board straight away and started conversations of her own with the then Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell.

It wasn't easy, but between them they were able to have the NSW government commit to an upgrade to the female dorms, but now also includes work for boys dormitories.

This week an official milestone was reached for the project, with Mrs Dalton on site on Tuesday, July 4 to turn the first sod on site.

Mrs Dalton met with Yanco Agricultural High School principal, as well as Tanya Whyte from the Department of Education, project director Martin Lugod from Infrastructure NSW and project manager David Saunders.

"It's wonderful to see this all coming to fruition ... Yanco Agricultural High School is such a wonderful educational facility," Mrs Dalton said.

"This was something that was much-needed and really does place importance on female students and the contributions they made not just to the school, but also the community."

Bulk earthworks, in-ground service works and tower crane installation in preparation for the construction of the new facilities has now begun.

The upgrade involves the construction of new accommodation facilities and improvements to existing buildings.

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The budget for the project is $29.5 million and is expected to be completed within the next 12 months.

The new build will include 86 new beds for the female dorms, common rooms, a lift, storage and other amenities. Refurbishment work is also happening for other dormitories for male students.

Mrs Milne said students had been consulted about the work and given their input along the way. "At the end of the day, this is more than just school for our students, it's their home," she said.

"One of the things we are really noticing (as a result of the upgrades) is the interest in enrolments.

"We'll certainly do our best to fit as many students in as we can that meet the requirements.

"The 2024 year 7 class will be big.

"The maximum number (of year 7 students) we can have is 60 and we've already put out offers to 50 students, and they have all been accepted and deposits paid for."

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