It’s difficult to imagine what primary school students in 2058 will make of the memories buried in a time capsule in 2023.

What will they think about the school uniforms, the focus on rewarding school attendance, and 2023 food prices – not to mention the Rapid Antigen Test, face mask and hand sanitiser included in the time capsule to record the COVID years?

Liverpool West Public School principal Lucy Martin said staff and students collaborated on what to put in the time capsule to mark a major school upgrade that will almost double the school’s capacity to 1280 students from its current enrolment of 700 students.

“We hope the future students will see that Liverpool West Public School has strong community support due to the engagement programs offered and our caring advocacy for Aboriginal students and students from disadvantaged and refugee backgrounds,” Mrs Martin said.

Liverpool West Public School, on Darug Country in south-western Sydney, is a diverse learning community with 83 per cent of students from a non-English speaking background, including students from refugee families.

There are 43 students who identify as Aboriginal and the school has an Aboriginal preschool, Coota Gulla.

Students made cards and wrote letters to go in the time capsule, which was buried on 20 October 2023 by school captains Aleksandra Aleksic and Ryan Narayan.

The capsule contents also included uniforms, a newspaper with that date, a supermarket food catalogue, school awards including for attendance, newsletters and photos, and the COVID protection items.

Stage 1 of the school upgrade opened in Term 2, 2023, and includes 16 classrooms, a new library, hall and school administration office.

Construction is well underway on Stage 2, which will open in January 2024 and deliver an additional 28 classrooms, two preschool rooms, a support unit with four classes, the Coota Gulla Preschool in the refurbished Mainsbridge House, outdoor seating and a bush tucker garden.