New $17 million Fernhill School officially opened

Students with physical and intellectual disabilities will benefit from a hydrotherapy pool, sensory garden and purpose-built learning areas at the new Fernhill School, officially opened today.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Education Minister Rob Stokes were joined by Member for Mulgoa Tanya Davies to officially open the $17 million school.

“The hydrotherapy pool, sensory garden and other facilities like the accessible hall, covered outdoor learning areas, games court and play areas are all tailored to meet the students’ needs,” Ms Berejiklian said.

The school, which opened for students and staff at the beginning of the 2017 school year, can accommodate up to 120 students in Kindergarten to Year 12 with disabilities.

Education Minister Rob Stokes said the well-thought out facilities would support teachers in developing teaching and learning programs for all students.

“All schools, particularly schools like Fernhill, are about fostering great supportive relationship between teachers, students and their families and the built environment here has been shaped with this front of mind,” he said.

The NSW Government has provided more than $1 billion directly to schools or through specialist programs and services to assist students with disability or special needs in either regular or support classes.

For 2017, an extra 124 specialist support classes were established in NSW public schools to cater for an additional 850 extra students. Approximately 25 of these specialist classes were created in south-western Sydney.

Mrs Davies welcomed this major investment in education in the Mulgoa electorate, following last month’s multimillion dollar commitment to rebuild St Clair High School.

Over the last two financial years, more than $1 billion has been allocated to public school infrastructure. A total of $2.6 billion has been allocated for capital investment in public schools for 2016-17 to 2019-20.