Region’s first public school in 10 years opens its doors to students
THE Penrith region’s newest school officially opened its doors this week. It is the first public school to open in the local government area in a decade, with another in the planning phase.
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THE Penrith region’s newest school officially opened its doors this week.
Fernhill School in Glenmore Park is the first NSW public special needs school to open since George Bass School in 2014, and the first public school to open in the Penrith local government area in a decade.
The new $16 million school opens with 40 students, but at capacity will cater for 160 students in kindergarten to year 12 with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities.
“The last NSW public school to open in Penrith LGA was (special needs school) Penrith Valley Learning Centre in 2007,” a spokesman for the Department of Education told the Penrith Press.
The new Fernhill School is fully wireless and designed to be both energy efficient and ecologically sustainable.
There’s a swing purpose-built for kids and adults in wheelchairs, a water play area, a wheelchair accessible sandpit (you can wheel your chair underneath it) — and a bike track.
The track has line and lane markings just like a real road, so kids can learn the rules while having fun. There’s even a heated indoor pool.
“We’ve got state-of-the-art whiz bang everything,” principal Julie Raciborska told the Penrith Press, pointing to one of the school’s interactive learning stations which has a panel that can move up or down and be tilted from 0 to 90 degrees.
“It’s absolutely fantastic,” she said.
The school boasts 16 classes, offering extensive levels of support for the physical, intellectual, sensory or behavioural learning needs of individual students.
“It’s beautifully flat,” Ms Raciborska said with reference to the lay of the land.
“People who can propel themselves should be able to get themselves around the school in perfect safety.”
The name of the new $16 million school was chosen by the community, to reflect its historical ties to Fernhill estate in Mulgoa, built in c. 1845 by grazier Edward Cox.
The logo was designed by a student from Glenmore Park High School.
“This was the one that fitted because it’s a fern in the shape of a hill,” Ms Raciborska said.
“We’re planning to have some of the high school students come over and work with our students on the (new) edible garden.”
Ms Raciborska has staggered the student’s start, with only eight students attending the first day, Tuesday.
One was six-year-old Annelise Buda, of St Marys.
“I think as a first day it’s a good idea (having fewer students),” her father Claude Buda said.
Annelise has Rett syndrome, a neurological disorder affecting one in 10,000 females, explained Mr Buda.
“It’s exclusive to females because it’s a genetic mutation of the X chromosome,” he said.
Ms Raciborska arrives at the school from Passfield Park School in Minto, where she was also principal.
The DET’s spokesman told the Press the Department has begun planning for a new primary school in Jordan Springs.
He said the allocated capital expenditure for government schools in the Mulgoa electorate in 2016/17 was more than $13.5 million, which includes a $12.2 million two-storey learning centre at St Clair High School to replace a building destroyed by fire two years ago.
FEATURES:
■ A hydrotherapy pool
■ Three sandpits
■ Basketball and handball courts
■ A bike track
■ Two covered outdoor learning areas
■ Wall dividers that double as whiteboards
■ Wheelchair accessible sensory garden
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