Parents told to get used to sending children to high-rise schools
PARENTS need to get used to sending their children to high-rise schools with playgrounds on the roof — just like they do in Asia.
NSW
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PARENTS need to get used to sending their children to high-rise schools with playgrounds on the roof — just like they do in Asia.
The state’s education boss said that is the new reality as he revealed that as NSW tackles the increased demand for school places in Sydney, teams are investigating the best ways for students to learn.
And Education Department chief Mark Scott said anyone educated in a high-rise would not be missing out, as the schools would be better than ever — even if the oval is offsite.
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Mr Scott told The Daily Telegraph that managing the need for bigger campuses in established areas across the city was a new and constantly evolving challenge.
“That’s certainly new for us. You certainly don’t have the big 10ha sites you once would have had,” he said.
“High-rise schools aren’t unfamiliar around the world. In fact they are very common in big cities, not just in Asia but in London and New York. Because we haven’t previously had a shortage of space they haven’t been a big feature here, but they will be a feature now.”
Parramatta’s Arthur Phillip School is already undergoing a facelift to incorporate a 17-storey tower with a playground on the roof.
Mr Scott said his department was finding spots for students in “some pretty intense areas of fast-tracked development”.
“That means you need to be putting up schools pretty quickly in some space-constrained areas,” he said.
“It’s not just building a high-rise school to accommodate students, but what are the learnings that are going to take place there?
“Even if there are some limits because there is not an immediate oval in the school gates, where do you find, in the surrounding environment, places for students to develop their full range of interests and give them a full education? We need new ways of thinking around design.”
Mr Scott said that could include an oval being in the surrounding area, not inside the school gates.
He said the other big issue was making sure every student was catered for and cared for.
“Our great challenge in the NSW education system is that … we ensure no child is lost in our system,” Mr Scott said.
“That every student in our student in our school is known, valued and cared for. Our primary schools do pretty well at this, but I want to make sure our high schools do.
“I want us to commit to parents that no child is lost in our schools and our systems.
“That we have an adult that is engaged and focused on every child and we know that child well.”