Two schools in Canberra's inner north will be permanently expanded to keep up with growing enrolments.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
An inquiry into management of ACT school infrastructure was told on Monday the Education Directorate had committed to expansions at Majura Primary School and North Ainslie Primary School in light of capacity pressures at both schools.
Executive branch manager of enrolment and planning, Vanessa Attridge, said the directorate had done a roadshow through inner north schools to learn about the needs and aspirations of the booming area.
"We then did a further layer or a deeper layer of engagement with in particular Majura Primary and North Ainslie Primary School," Ms Attridge said.
"Both are high-demand schools experiencing capacity pressure from enrolment growth in their priority enrolment areas.
"And from there, we've seen the government commit to working with those two school communities towards permanent expansions at both of those schools."
Ms Attridge said directorate officials were regularly meeting with the schools to work on the next stage of planning.
Consultants and parent advocates have been warning for several years that another public primary school would be needed in the inner north to support urban infill projects.
Enrolment projections released last year showed that Majura Primary School's population was expected to grow by 208 students to a total of 918 students by 2030.
North Ainslie was expected to have 91 extra children in that timeframe.
Education Minister Yvette Berry told the inquiry the government would consider constructing vertical schools as land in the territory becomes more finite.
"I think it's probably more suitable in the sort of high school, college space than in the primary, early childhood space, just from the sort of feedback that I've been getting from teachers and others and parents about their experiences in those kinds of schools," Ms Berry said.
"I don't think it's a policy direction at the moment but definitely something that is on the directorate's radar as ... our city continues to grow."
READ MORE:
Executive group manager of business services David Matthews said directorate officials visited public schools at least every two years to assess the total capacity of the school.
The capacity assessment calculates 25 students per usable classroom space, which does not include halls and libraries but does include specialist teaching spaces such as music rooms or language rooms.
Ms Attridge said the COVID-19 pandemic hadn't had a significant impact on enrolment forecasts so far and that enrolment growth in public schools was expected to be 1.9 per cent annually.
"In 2021 we saw around 145 fewer students compared to 2020, so a fairly minimal impact, which we saw is due to international migration.
"So we'll continue to monitor that to see if there will be any future impacts on forecasting in the future."
Ms Berry said construction of new schools in surrounding towns in NSW would take further enrolment pressure off ACT schools.
Mr Matthews said as of August 2020 there were 2647 students receiving disability support, which equated to 5.3 per cent of the public school populations.
He said the directorate did not have a central point of information on the accessibility of school campuses.
The committee will hand down its report on the inquiry by May.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram