A selection of St Matthews students, staff and parents were joined by Bishop Michael McKenna, Executive Director of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Bathurst Mrs Christina Trimble, and North Construction and Building Pty Ltd managing director Mr Matthew Cook at the site following the tick of final approval handed by the NSW State Government earlier this month.

The nine-hectare Broadhead Road location, that is fully funded by the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst, is expected to house 680 students from Years 7 to 12.

It will include a chapel, sporting facilities, a multipurpose hall, state of the art, music, and drama facilities as well as purpose-built spaces for vocational education and training (VET), and dedicated hospitality rooms with café facilities.

Having been a student at St Matthews Catholic School herself, principal Mrs Angela Myles said to be able to lead the school in this new direction is something she is honoured by.

"It's been a long time coming to this point, it's a real celebration to be able to mark the start of the project and have everyone here," Mrs Myles said.

"I'm so privileged to be in the position of principal having been a student at the school myself. You're connected with the community, the students, staff and parents so closely and have such a vested interest in it.

"I just feel like the chance to lead us into this next stage is incredibly exciting for me.

"There's definitely a buzz and sense of relief that we're here now and things can start happening."

With the school's numbers increasing at a rapid rate through the years, Mrs Myles is confident the new site will offer the space required to cater to the growing needs.

"The numbers of students we've had come into the school have grown rapidly in the last few years and we've anticipated to have facilities that will match that need, this will help us do that," Mrs Myles said.

"The capacity to actually have purpose built labs and also closely connected art rooms, engineering spaces, and areas to have hands-on project space across multiple subjects is really exciting."

The secondary campus will go under construction during the mid stages of this month, and is expected to be completed by early 2023.

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