Labor promises outdoor classrooms for North Nowra, Moruya special needs students

For students like Georgia Absolm, living with a learning impairment can make the standard four-walled classroom a challenge. Cue a move to shift the chalkboard outside.

Labor has pledged more than $148,000 for outdoor learning spaces at the Havenlee School for special needs children at North Nowra and Moruya.

The standard four-walled classroom is a must for most schools across NSW but for students with physical and intellectual impairments, the enclosed space can be just another hurdle.

Havenlee School P and C president Pat O’Keeffe said students such as 14-year-old Georgia Absolm, who are living with intellectual and visual challenges, can find the classroom loud, chaotic and simply overwhelming.

“The old fashioned classroom is a thing of the past,” he said.

“If kids are tied up too long in the classroom, it presents behavioural issues and anxiety ... they are not able to concentrate.”

The school hosts 62 students with a myriad intellectual and physiological impairments, and stands to benefit from a funding pledge by Labor to help move the classroom outdoors.

Havenlee School P and C treasurer Adele Henry with Labor's Fiona Phillips, student Georgia Absolm and P and C president, Pat O'Keeffe. Picture: Nathan Schmidt

Labor’s Gilmore candidate, Fiona Phillips, made the announcement on Friday, pledging $148,373 for an outdoor learning space. The announcement follows similar funding pledges for schools across the electorate.

“I’ve come across many families and teachers and kids at Havenlee School, and I know how special this project is to people,” Ms Phillips said.

“Local children need outdoor spaces to play and learn, especially with the increased rain and storms we have had this year.”

The project will involve renovating the existing outdoor play area into a covered co-learning space, with the ability to host classroom-based learning as well as regular outdoor play.

For Mr O’Keeffe, news of the funding pledge was met with excitement.

“I’m really speechless,” he said.

“When I received the phone call that we received this funding, I was quite shocked and quite happy to get on the phone and tell people, ‘I’ve got news’.”

Mr O’Keeffe has been involved with the Havenlee School P and C for more than a decade after his child attended the special needs school, and said funding was often hard to secure.

Gilmore Labor candidate Fiona Phillips with shadow health minister Ryan Park. Picture: Nathan Schmidt

He believes outdoor learning, which follows school-run programs including hydrotherapy, will allow teaching staff to better manage students.

“This project means a heck of a lot not just for our kids, but for the community as a whole,” Mr O’Keeffe said.

“We have children with a lot of medical issues, so a very calm situation can turn into an emergency situation very quickly.

“If our kids are out in the playground, we really have to monitor them.”

The other issue is transportation.

Students are shuttled to North Nowra Public School for assemblies and large gatherings, which presents many challenges for staff.

“We don’t have anything of our own,” he said.

“We have a lot of students that get unsettled quite easily, so to transition from the classroom to the hall is a mammoth job for us.”

Mr O’Keeffe said it could take as long as 12-months to teach students how to calmly transition from the school to the hall. The new outdoor area would replace that difficult procedure.

Friday’s announcement also included a pledge by Labor for another $300,000 for covered outdoor learning areas in Moruya High School, 140km south of Nowra.

That comes less than a month after a similar project was announced for Bomaderry High School where Labor pledged $300,000 for an outdoor learning area. Another $45,000 was also pledged for shade and rain protection at Ulladulla High School.

Opposition education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek was present at that announcement and said that over the past two years of the Covid pandemic, children had suffered a particular loss having been forced out of the classroom.

“Remote learning, isolation from friends, missed events, have turned what should be some of the best years of their lives into a bit of a nightmare,” she said.

“Investing in school upgrades like these ensure our schools are equipped to provide kids the chance to participate in activities and events that are crucial to their development and wellbeing.”