Students starting at a newly constructed Sydney primary school next term will be learning in classrooms custom-made in Victorian factories.
More than 95 per cent of Jordan Springs Public School has been built off-site under a pilot of a new construction method that can deliver permanent buildings in shorter time-frames.
It is part of the state government's $6.7 billion commitment to accommodate surging populations in NSW schools.
The $50 million Jordan Springs school is the first of five to be built using the Design for Manufacture and Assembly construction method, which involves architecturally designed buildings being constructed in factories for more sustainable and efficient project delivery.
Classroom components were built in factories in Victoria, then transported up the Hume Highway over four weeks by large trucks under police escort.
While a typical school build takes one to two years, the school in Jordan Springs, north of Penrith, was assembled within seven months, with an extra two months needed to finalise additional works such as landscaping.
About 200 students have enrolled to begin learning on campus next term, six months ahead of the anticipated start date.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the new method had reduced on-site building time by up to 50 per cent, without project delays due to bad weather or external factors.
"We can really fast-track our school constructions, particularly in areas where we know there’s growth," Ms Mitchell said. "[This] method will be used in select locations, meaning we can deliver new, high-quality schools with minimal disruption to those communities."
While not all Sydney schools will be deemed suitable for the new construction method, the government has suggested it was a good option for fast-growing areas with high demand for enrolments. It will also look to move construction to NSW factories, instead of Victoria.
School enrolments in Sydney’s north-west have grown by 24 per cent in the past five years, and the region hosts the most schools that exceed their student enrolment caps by more than 150 per cent.
An artists impression of Jordan Springs Public School, which will open to students next term.
Minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the Jordan Springs school was a "fantastic collaboration" between educators, the department and community.
"You’re seeing western Sydney be a trailblazer for school construction right across the country, with this new modular construction technique, meaning we can pull schools out of the ground in a very short period of time," he said.
But Labor education spokeswoman Prue Car said Jordan Springs Public School, which was first promised by the state government in 2015, had come too late and that fast-growing western Sydney was lagging in school infrastructure it needed.
"Children who were in kindergarten when Jordan Springs Public was promised will be lucky to complete Year 5 there," she said.
"The government needs to be fast-tracking schools not congratulating themselves on a project that’s years overdue ... This includes unfunded school sites which sit empty in growing areas like Gregory Hills and Mulgoa Rise in Glenmore Park."
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the coronavirus pandemic had enabled some infrastructure projects such as schools to move faster. "That’s really been something we’re proud of in NSW and we’ll need it to continue," she said.
Other schools in the construction method pilot program are in the western Sydney suburbs of Schofields, Catherine Field and Leppington, as well as one in the regional city of Wagga Wagga.
Natassia is the education reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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2020-06-15 10:02:28Z
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