Demountables for Barramurra Public School just three years after opening

A public school built just three years ago is already too small for one of Sydney’s booming new suburbs, with demountables set to take up valuable playground space.

A public school built just three years ago is already too small for one of Sydney’s booming new suburbs.

Young families who made their bricks and mortar dream in Oran Park, in the city’s southwest, are furious that Barramurra Public School will already be beyond its stated student capacity when the 2024 enrolments start.

They say infrastructure planning for the area is an abject failure and the state government “grossly miscalculated” demand for schooling.

Barramurra Public School P&C Association president Carolyn Brown said they were told the primary school would never get demountables due to the playground-to-student ratio, but measurements have already been taken for a demountable expected to be installed later this year.

Ms Brown revealed the school currently had 850 students enrolled, but the first day of 2024 would see the student population breach its capacity of 1000. “Our enrolment has just blown way out of their expectancy … they have grossly misjudged the population for this area,” she said.

Barramurra school P&C’s Carolyn Brown and Delano Cornelius with their kids Lincoln, Oliver, Zoey, and Luke. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

School Infrastructure NSW confirmed a demountable was being installed on the 2.4ha campus, but it was unclear about whether there would be more as student numbers increase.

Ms Brown’s son has already expressed his frustration at being unable to kick a ball during lunchtime due to the limited space and the high number of students sharing that space, a problem she said would only worsen.

Rows and rows of demountable classrooms at Oran Park Public School in 2019. Picture: James Gourley

“I implore the Department of Education Infrastructure to prioritise the future of our children by taking immediate steps to reclaim a portion of the land adjacent to Barramurra Public School before construction continues for the baseball fields earmarked for this space,” she said.

“Ensuring that our students have access to a safe and ample outdoor area for play and exercise is crucial for their physical health, mental wellbeing, and academic success.”

Planning for school demand has been an issue across Sydney’s new suburbs, as young families buy up freestanding homes at relatively affordable prices.

An inquiry into the planning and delivery of school infrastructure handed down last year found “planning disasters” in the early years of Oran Park Public School and Gledswood Hills Public School.

Witnesses also spoke of how poor demographic planning had resulted in schools — such as at Gledswood Hills and Gregory Hills — exceeded their capacity in “an unacceptably short time”.

Camden Labor MP Sally Quinnell said: “The infrastructure hasn’t been keeping pace, and so what’s been happening is the schools have been arriving too late, and the developments already well and truly have houses and people, so the minute the school is open, it’s at capacity.”

She said the former state government failed to properly plan for Southwest Sydney’s population increases despite the number of new homes being built, and the area had been “completely neglected”.

Got a news tip? Email [e-mail]