Chatswood Primary, High School redevelopment plans
New plans have been revealed for a major redevelopment of Chatswood Primary and High School with 150 classrooms set to accommodate more than 500 new students.
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Major plans have been revealed to rebuild Chatswood Public and High School into multistorey campuses, but questions remain over long-term plans to reduce overcrowding at the sites.
School Infrastructure NSW has released its latest vision to redevelop the rapidly growing schools into 150 new and refurbished classrooms for more than 3500 students between kindergarten and Year 12.
The project will involve major changes to the campuses including bulldozing blocks of demountables, removing 62 trees and permanently relocating Chatswood Intensive English Centre to St Ives High School.
Chatswood High School will have 102 new classrooms, bringing the total to 123, along with new sport facilities and a two-storey hall with a capacity of 580 seats.
Chatswood Public School will have 60 classrooms including 28 new spaces, specialist music and language rooms, covered outdoor play areas and a new canteen.
The six storey project will also include constructing a new hall that will double as a space for after hours school care on weekdays.
Modelling by the Department of Education shows the combined projects will boost the enrolment capacity by 553 to 3600 including 1600 at the primary school and 2000 at the high school.
But questions remain over whether the increase will be enough to meet the continued surge in enrolments at both sites with figures showing Chatswood Primary added 305 students from 2015 to 2020 while Chatswood High School added 302.
The enrolment squeeze has sparked continued concerns among parents about existing constraints at Chatswood Public resulting in staged recess and lunch breaks and assemblies split into four sessions due to size limits at the hall.
The Department of Education this week said it was “still investigating options” for a new primary school to create an additional 1000 places. Sites earmarked for the new school include the Sydney Metro Dive Site on the corner of the Pacific Hwy and Mowbray Rd.
Plans show both schools will remain open to students during the redevelopment by staging construction works, teaching students in demountables and using “quieter construction equipment” during school hours.
The department said relocating 150 students from the Intensive English Centre to St Ives High School by the start of term four this year would provide “much needed capacity for Chatswood High School”.
Plans show the project will create 20 new teaching/operational jobs by 2023 and promote “future-focused learning” for students.
“Both schools have seen significant enrolment growth exceeding predicted current and future capacity, with resulting pressure on available space and facilities at each school,” the department said.
“Across the two schools, the upgrades will support high-quality educational outcomes to meet the needs of students within the local community and deliver innovative learning and teaching spaces”.
Plans show two heritage listed school buildings at the primary school, dating back to 1895, will be retained as part of the project.
Community groups will also be able to hire hall facilities from 4pm to 10pm on weekdays and 6am to 8pm on weekends.
Car access at the primary school would be relocated from the Pacific Hwy to Jenkins St and new drop-off zones would be added on Oliver St for the high school.
If approved, the redevelopment is due to be completed by late 2023.
Plans are currently open for public feedback.