Build it now: School call for fast-growing western Sydney suburb
MOUNTING pressure has been placed on the State Government to fast-track the opening of a new primary school in Jordan Springs, to ease some of the strain on local schools as parents decide where to send their kids.
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PLANNING is underway for a new primary school in Jordan Springs, a NSW Department of Education spokesman has confirmed.
“The NSW Liberals and Nationals Government has committed to a new primary school to service the community of Jordan Springs, with planning and construction to begin in this term of government,” a spokesperson for the Minister for Education, Adrian Piccoli, told the Penrith Press.
The remark comes as Londonderry MP Prue Car collects signatures to have a school built before 2019. The petition has so far been signed by 200 people.
“When I’m out and about, people are always asking me about the school,” Ms Car said. “It’s the biggest issue in that area.”
She maintains the school’s build can’t wait three years, due to surrounding schools already being overstretched and the suburb “growing at a rate greater than expected”.
“It’s having a flow-on effect to other schools in the area,” Ms Car said.
Considered to be part of Llandilo, when finished the 133ha Jordan Springs estate will have at least 1300 homes and house about 4000 people.
It is next-door to Cranebrook, where Henry Fulton and Samuel Terry Public Schools are at 100 per cent utilisation, figures obtained under Freedom of Information show.
Nearby Cambridge Gardens Public is operating at 107 per cent and Llandilo Public is operating at 93pc.
A Department of Education spokesman said, “100 per cent utilisation does not mean that a school cannot take any more students, but that all of the school’s teaching spaces, permanent and demountables, are utilised.”
While acknowledging Penrith schools are “doing great work with their students”, NSW Teachers Federation organiser, Michael de Wall, also noted they are “at the frontline of an emerging clash between enrolment growth and the underinvestment in school infrastructure”.
“When communities like Jordan Springs emerge, parents should have the convenience and certainty of access to a high quality local public school for their children,” Mr de Wall said.
He said a 2014 Department of Education submission to NSW Infrastructure showed public school enrolments in NSW are set to rise by 23 per cent over the 15 years.
“The DEC estimated the capital and land costs to build the required 6250 additional classrooms would be $8.25 billion,” he said.
“In this year’s budget the NSW State Government allocated only $1 billion over four years for public school infrastructure.”
Ms Car said despite a visit to the planned site of the new primary school at Jordan Springs by the Minister for Infrastructure Andrew Constance on March 24, 2015, there had been no funding allocation for two consecutive State Budgets.
As of February 2016, 17 government schools in the Penrith region were over capacity, including Cambridge Gardens Public (107 per cent utilisation), Kingswood Public (106pc) and Cambridge Park Public (104pc).
Statewide the most overstretched schools were Palm Avenue School in Westmead at 500 per cent utilisation, Lakeside School in Gateshead (350pc), and Girrakool School in Kariong (250pc).
“In rapidly growing areas like Penrith there is not only a need for new schools to be built, there is also a need for serious investment in high quality infrastructure for existing schools,” Mr de Wall said.
The Education Department’s spokesman said: “The department monitors population and development trends, so it can plan to meet enrolment needs in schools across NSW.
“In cases of sustained and stable enrolment increases, the Department provides additional permanent facilities, or new schools, as necessary.”
The Penrith region’s newest school — Glenmore Park’s Fernhill School, catering specifically for students with disabilities — is anticipated to be complete for Day 1, Term 1, 2017, the Penrith Press was told.
Overcrowded schools in the Penrith region:
■ Cambridge Gardens Public: 107 per cent utilisation
■ Kingswood Public: 106 per cent
■ Cambridge Park Public: 104 per cent
■ Castlereagh Public: 100 per cent
■ Emu Heights Public: 100 per cent
■ Henry Fulton Public (Cranebrook): 100 per cent
■ Kemps Creek Public: 100 per cent
■ Lapstone Public: 100 per cent
■ Londonderry Public: 100 per cent
■ Mulgoa Public: 100 per cent
■ Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High (Emu Plains): 100 per cent
■ Orchard Hills Public: 100 per cent
■ Samuel Terry Public (Cranebrook): 100 per cent
■ Surveyors Creek Public (Glenmore Park): 100 per cent
■ Werrington Public: 100 per cent
■ York Public (South Penrith): 100 per cent
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