William Campbell College to reopen school for abused children at Nowra Hill

A school for young children traumatised by abuse and neglect plans to reopen on a new site six years after it closed because of funding woes.

Eight years after it closed its doors, the William Campbell College primary school for children with special assistance needs plans to reopen on a new site at Nowra Hill.

The school, which caters to children unable to attend mainstream schooling, opened at McMahons Rd in North Nowra in 2010, but closed only four years later in 2014.

Under plans submitted to Shoalhaven Council, a campus will be built on farmland owned by the William Campbell Foundation, near the HMAS Albatross airbase and Nowra Airport.

“The closure has not deterred us from planning the future for our purpose-built school to be constructed,” the foundation’s website says.

“If anything, it has made us more determined to see the construction of the school come to pass.”

An artist impression of the William Campbell Foundation-proposed school.

Work on the three-block school is slated to take place in three phases.

In the first phase, two classrooms will be built, with each housing 20 children. There will also be areas for practical activities, toilets, a meeting room and a server room.

The first stage will comprise students from kindergarten to Year 6 and will be initially be available to children within the agency, other out-of-home-care agencies and, if necessary, to the general community.

The new school will be built on a farm property at Nowra Hill

“The children enrolled will have had limited educational opportunities and have been traumatised by abuse and neglect.”

The school will be primarily an agricultural learning centre, consisting of agriculture, permaculture, aquaculture, music, arts, and crafts lessons.

The foundation’s website said the guiding vision of the school was to construct a campus where a holistic approach to children’s needs could be applied through education, health, welfare, as well as social, cultural, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

“The model of the school has far reaching effects both for the child‘s personal growth and for the community, which will reap the benefits of each child eventually becoming a dignified and mature adult who can bring to society the benefits of their educational and personal achievements,” the website states.

Children who are unable to participate in mainstream education will the first to be enrolled at the new school.

A revised environmental assessment was submitted to Shoalhaven Council on Wednesday.

The documentation includes an aircraft noise intrusion assessment for the proposed stage one school building, noting that the noise from planes from the airbase and airport should be reduced by using certain building materials.

Approval for the project has not yet been given.