Emotional. Amazing. The words John Laurenson and Sue Hume used to describe the experience of setting foot in their new campus for the first time.

The principals visited the construction site for the first time since construction began in August 2017. The CPB and Southbase construction team has made enormous progress. The steel framing is almost complete and the final concrete slabs for the project will be poured within weeks.

120 workers are now onsite. The size of the workforce is due to peak later this year when there will be more than 300 people onsite.

Shirley Boys' High School headmaster John Laurenson says walking around the shell of the building for the first time was emotional.

"It's the beginning of the end really - the end of all the hard times. There is something phoenix-like coming out of the dust…it's really moving."

Avonside Girls' High School principal Sue Hume says the progress is amazing.

"To set foot inside the new school for the first time is really special. In just over a year, there'll be students and staff here making the most of the incredible facilities… all that we have been dreaming about and talking about is becoming a reality."