The traditional classroom could soon become a thing of the past, if the multi-million dollar revamps planned for two Wollongong primary schools are anything to go by.
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Plans worth more than $21 million have been lodged for approval with Wollongong City Council, with Gwynneville and Wollongong public schools both in line for a futuristic makeover.
In an overhaul worth just over $12 million, Gwynneville Public School will be almost completely knocked down and rebuilt.
Flagged by Premier Gladys Berejiklian in July, the redevelopment will replace the school’s existing aeroplane hangar buildings that were imported from England about 60 years ago.
Instead of the traditional classrooms, the new plans reveal the school will be made up of open “learning studios”, which will be broken into practical activity rooms, common areas, presentation space and differently sized learning spaces.
In the plans now on display with Wollongong council, the NSW Department of Education says the proposed buildings are “state-of-the-art” and ”future focused to enable a collaborative teaching and learning environment rather than the traditional classroom setting Gwynneville currently adopts”.
Lessons will also be able to take place outdoors, with sensory garden beds and edible plants making up the landscaped areas.
The overhaul also includes a new school library and administration block and will increased the capacity of the school to allow for 275 students.
The $9 million upgrade planned for Wollongong Public School will also expand the capacity of the school, the plans say, catering for a projected population growth in inner-city Wollongong.
Once complete, the school’s population will be able to grow by nearly 40 per cent, taking in an extra 161 students and 23 new staff.
The proposed development include the demolition of the school’s covered outdoor learning area, covered walkways and toilet block.
A new outdoor area will be built, along with a new two-storey learning building with 11 “studio spaces” inside.
Like at Gwynneville this will be “future focused” and will include performance space, a library, communications rooms and flexible learning common areas.
According to the plans, the makeover will not impinge on the 133-year-old school’s significant heritage value as it will be sympathetic in design and will not affect the Victoriam-period bell tower and main school building.
Both developments have been referred to the Southern Joint Regional Planning Panel for approval.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
