Mr Devlin said although the small school of 98 pupils was entitled to just $850,000 under the Better Education Revolution (BER), the school's Catholic Church management was able to use and manage the funds where most appropriate.

"It basically meant that our management was able to apply for funds for different schools but distribute the money it received between our schools and projects that really needed it," he said.

"And because they were managing the projects themselves, they got really good value for the dollars spent.

"It was a great weight off my shoulders and with first-class results. I'm thrilled with it," Mr Devlin said.

"We had been using an old demountable building that was literally falling to bits, but for $1.6 million, that has been replaced with a magnificent architecturally-designed new facility using the latest materials.

"We now have a wonderful sunken library, a specially built computer room with 15 new computers, two smart boards, a COLA (covered learning area), a new hall big enough to seat the entire school and the community, and a covered amphitheatre.

"We were even able to level out the bottom half of our playing fields which was a precarious slope for the children aged from five to 12 years."

The school also refurbished classrooms using $75,000 gained under another government program last year.