Living School

While our Primary and Academy campuses continue to thrive, our Middle School students are still learning in a temporary building—one that was only ever meant to be used in the aftermath of the 2022 floods.

Now, at last, we’ve found them a home worthy of their courage, creativity and potential.
And we need your help to bring it to life.

Reimagining an Icon. Rebuilding a City. Empowering a Generation.

We have a rare opportunity to transform Lismore’s beloved Brown & Jolly department store building—once a bustling heartbeat of community life—into a vibrant Middle School campus. This project will rejuvenate the Lismore CBD while giving young people a place that inspires them to dream, to create, and to grow.

But this isn’t just another school renovation.

This is a living classroom.
A prototype for what education can—and should—be.

Our Middle School students aren’t standing on the sidelines waiting for someone to hand them a finished space. They’re stepping into the arena. They are learning to design, to plan, to collaborate, and to build. They’re working alongside architects, engineers, tradies and designers, applying their learning to real decisions that will shape their school for decades to come.

The School the Kids Built

Over the next two years, as the campus unfolds across the heritage-listed building, students will co-create the spaces where they will learn, imagine, and belong. Their maths learning will come to life through measurements and layouts. Their humanities learning will emerge through community consultations. Their science learning will take form in energy, light, materials and sustainable systems design. Their creativity will be visible in every detail—from walls to wellbeing zones, from maker spaces to the indoor rainforest.

Up to 200 young people will graduate from this project not just with knowledge, but with something far more powerful:
the confidence, empathy, and resilience required to reshape the world around them.

Imagine being 14 years old and able to say:

“I helped design and build my school.”

That’s what you’re making possible.

Why Your Support Matters

This is a once-in-a-generation educational opportunity—and a legacy project for the entire Northern Rivers. By supporting Living School's Brown & Jolly Middle School Campus, you’re not simply funding walls, floors, and fit-outs.

You’re investing in:

• Regeneration — breathing life back into Lismore’s city centre
• Education — creating a world-class, future-focused Middle School
• Young citizens — empowering young people to become capable, compassionate changemakers
• Community — building a space that will serve families for generations

This is your chance to be part of something remarkable:
a school co-created by children, for children, and for the future of the region.

Let’s build a home worthy of their potential.
Let’s build a legacy together.

There is an immediate need to install all the ground serivces (water pipes etc) and seal the ground floor with a concrete cap to make the building flood-ready. This requires around $240,000.