The senior school is being built by Tamworth's Shay Brennan Constructions, which built stage one - a middle school - in 2018.

The Gunnedah school unveiled its grand plan for the future in 2017 and ventured into secondary schooling, introducing year 7 in 2019. Year 8 was added this year and years 9-10 are to follow in the next two years.

The decision to expand was driven by growing enrolments and to provide more options for families.

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The $900,000 construction of the senior school is within the existing grounds of the middle school in Little Barber Street and will include a specialised visual arts classroom, technology and visual arts break-out area, multi-purpose space, library, two regular classrooms, and a new administration area incorporating a staff room, work preparation area, offices for heads of school, reception and a sick bay.

Carinya principal Chad Kentwell said years 5 and 6 will make the most use of the two regular classrooms and all other new and existing specialised classrooms will be shared by the middle and seniors schools.

The existing staff rooms in the middle school will become a learning support space.

Outdoors, another Covered Over Learning Area will be constructed, "big enough to play half-court basketball". There will also be handball courts, fixes seating, landscaped gardens, pathways, water stations and disability access to the school buildings.

"They've actually started site work this week so it's all systems go ... [the contractor] is expecting to hand over the keys before Christmas," Mr Kentwell said.

In the meantime, the school will seek additional staff for next year.

When stage two is complete, the two blocks next door, purchased in 2019, will be turned into a "green space"

"Once we've built stage two, the shed will be demolished and that corner block will become a green space, an oval for the kids to play, and we'll also use it for outdoor learning space until we build stage three later on," Mr Kentwell said.

Stage three is a new or refurbished early learning centre and may be dependent on negotiations with the owners of 42 Elgin Street.

The school will apply for Capital Grants Program funding in 2021 to build in 2022. Stage one and two were both funded by the program.