Wentworth Point High School has a dance studio, two commercial kitchens and a music room that will house a baby grand piano. And if founding principal Melissa Johnston gets her way, the school might soon have its own sheds for rowing – a sport traditionally dominated by private schools.
“It is something unique, and it’s an opportunity that many students wouldn’t get to do in public school,” says Johnston.
The new Wentworth Point High School on the banks of the Parramatta River.Credit: Janie Barrett
Sydney’s newest public high school, which cost $160 million to build, will welcome its first students next month.
Nestled on a peninsula on the banks of the Parramatta River, the six-storey, vertical Wentworth Point High School is in one of the most densely populated suburbs in the country. Wentworth Point is the only Australian suburb with no houses; it only has apartments.
Principal Melissa Johnston says the community were clear they wanted sport to be on the agenda.Credit: Janie Barrett
“Something that’s really important for students growing up in this type of environment is actually outdoor physical activity. From the community meetings, I knew sport was a desire, a real need for this community,” Johnston says.
The school will house about 1500 students once a school hall and a public park is completed next to the school, which will provide additional playing fields for students. Until then, a nearby shopping centre will let students use a nearby privately owned park a few minutes’ walk away for sport on Tuesday afternoons.
Students will use five flights of stairs and a lift dedicated to students to move around the school.Credit: Janie Barrett
When Johnston gave the Herald a tour of the new school on Thursday, students were trickling into the empty school to visit the uniform shop ahead of the first day of term on February 6.
About 180 students are set to start year 7 this year, with the school to fill up gradually with a new year 7 class until it reaches capacity.
The school day will have only four 75-minute-long learning periods in a bid to minimise movement across the campus’ six floors. Students will have a five-minute “buffer break” to give them time to get to their next class.
The school will eventually have 1500 students.Credit: Janie Barrett.
Most classrooms are arranged in “pods”; large glass doors can divide areas into four rooms. Eventually it is likely the school will have different staggered start and finish times for junior and senior students, Johnston said.
Speaking to primary school students last year, Johnston asked some of them to nominate their favourite part of the new school.
Inside the school’s commercial grade kitchens.Credit: Janie Barrett
“Their favourite part was the little circle of grass … because they’re living in units,” she said.
Wentworth Point High P&C president Leon Li said the suburb was unique in its diversity. At the adjoining public school, parents came from 60 different countries. There will be a large cohort starting year 7 who come from Mongolia.
Jenny Li said she was looking forward to playing sport at the school and using the new facilities.Credit: Janie Barrett
Li’s daughter Jenny, 11, is set to start year 7 next year. She said her favourite thing about the school was simply that it is shiny and new.
“Because it’s new, we’ll be the first people to use it,” she said.
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