The South West Community College Busselton campus is set for its grand opening next week

The doors to one of the South West’s most unique learning institutions is set to host its grand opening next week.

The South West Community College has been operating in Busselton since 2020, but staff and students have spent the past four years hopping between campuses and classrooms.

Now the staff and students are excited to start putting down some permanent roots, with all renovations complete.

Principal Brett Piggott and campus manager Fraser Donald excited to officially open the new-look school.

Mr Piggott said there were still a few finishing touches to be done around the school, but they want to have the students involved with those remaining projects.

“Now that we have this space, we are keen to invite people in, keen to partner with local businesses and organisations and serve our community the best we can whilst creating the best space for the young people of Busselton,” he said.

Mr Donald said for him, it all comes back to putting down roots and finding a sense of belonging.

“It’s kind of the beginning of the next chapter,” he said.

“It’s really awesome for us to be in a space where we know we’re not moving and to be able to have a vision for what we want to create here.

“The first day we opened they (the students) were absolutely blown away.

“We’ve even had a few alumni come back who are super stoked for us now that we have this new space, but also slightly disappointed they didn’t get to experience it.”

The school’s facilities function more like an office with real-world learning tailored to students’ interests.

With students able to visit the shared kitchen, work in co-operative spaces and explore their interests at their own pace, the college is offering students life skills unlike traditional education.

“I’d say that what we are doing here is attempting to be intentionally different, like we’re looking to be innovative and alternative and to be experimental and challenge the mainstream conceptions of education,” Mr Piggott said.

“We are not asking our students to conform to anything, we are conforming to them.”