âUp and not outâ: Sydney to get more vertical schools in highly populated areas
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More high-rise public schools are set to be built in highly populated parts of Sydney over the coming years as a way to overcome a shortage of affordable land and ensure schools are closer to where students live.
Two so-called vertical schools of up to 17 storeys have opened in Sydney in the past 18 months, presenting unique challenges for education officials who are now looking at ways to make lifts âkid-proofâ.
New school projects driven by election promises over priorities: Auditor-General
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The majority of NSWâs new school builds over the last three years have been determined by government promises and election commitments, rather than priority projects identified by the education departmentâs infrastructure arm, an audit has found.
NSW Auditor-General Margaret Crawford said new school builds and upgrades led by School Infrastructure NSW had not all met the highest needs of the stateâs students.
In her audit, released on Thursday, Ms Crawford called on the education department to commit to a 10-year project priority list.
New school projects driven by election promises over priorities: Auditor-General smh.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from smh.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Among these schools are Armidale Secondary College (pictured), Ballina Coast High School and Arthur Phillip High School.
The new and innovative Ballina school which opened in 2019 has a total of 63 new classrooms, ready to take on more students, along with six outdoor learning spaces.
The school has become known quickly for its impressive indoor sports and community centre with four sports courts which are open to the public.
As a community, Ballina has benefited from the joint-use project which is a first of its kind in Regional NSW.
Further south, the first high-rise public high school stands tall. The 17-storey school is large enough to educate 2000 students.