THE principal of the new Anglican School at Googong, Ian Hewitt, has labelled a recent break-in where $70,000 of tools and school fittings were stolen as an "opportunistic" attack.
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Approximately $70,000 worth of tools and school fittings were stolen from four shipping containers at the school site over the weekend according to Queanbeyan Police. The perpetrators gained access by cutting the paddocks on the containers, before stealing 27 ceiling fans and electrical and construction tools. The robbery was estimated to have occurred sometime between 2pm on Sunday, December 14 and 7am on Monday.
"It's one of those opportune things and I'm sure it happens on a number of building sites unfortunately," Mr Hewitt told the Queanbeyan Age.
"There's some people who think it's open slather and unfortunately someone pays."
Queanbeyan Police sergeant Arunas Burneikis said police were still investigating the matter and could not confirm if it had been a targeted attack.
"It's quite possible the perpetrators knew what the contents of the containers were but it's difficult to tell," he said.
"Being a construction site ... they're popular targets for break and enter offences."
However Principal Hewitt said it was still business as usual at the school's construction site. He told The Queanbeyan Age that the break-in had not affected the school's opening date, still scheduled for January 27 next year.
"A site shed was broken into over the weekend apparently. I was there on Monday and the site was as busy as it was on Saturday," Mr Hewitt said. "We're still exactly on track."
This week marked the handover of the school's first building, the Early Learning Centre for children aged two-and-half to five-years-old. The second building which will house classrooms for kindergarten to year two classes will open on the first day of school, January 28.
Mr Hewitt said it's transformation in the last few months had been remarkable.
"It's a pretty big milestone to have [this building] in place before Christmas, which was always the original plan. To have that, is fantastic," he said.
"Twelve months ago this was just a farm paddock literally, there were no roads, there was no school.
"Since March this year, roads have been built, a suburb's been built around the school and school's risen up from a farm paddock effectively.
"It's pretty amazing to look at the photos from diggers moving earth around to a road starting to appear up the road on the hill to people actually driving past it."
The Early Learning Centre will cater for 44 children and enrolments have reached about 50 percent.
Mr Hewitt said future enrolments of the Anglican School Googong had also been positive.
"The enrolments are going very well. We have future enrolments up to 2026, up to year seven at this stage. That child is one year of age, so families are really getting on board saying we want our children to go to this school, even though we don't know much about it yet," Mr Hewitt said.