Concerns raised over the refurbishment and amalgamation of the Ravenswood Northern Support School campus are being addressed as the project continues.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Tasmanian Disability Education Reform Lobby’s Kristen Desmond and parent Vanessa Austin, along with Opposition Education spokeswoman Michelle O’Byrne, recently voiced concerns on aspects of the school upgrades.
Department of Education learning services operations manager Craig Woodfall said the department was focused on creating a Centre of Excellence after the school was identified as being badly in need of upgrades in 2014.
“This [campus] was not fit for purpose,” he said.
“The Minister came around and said ‘we need to do something about this, it can no longer wait’.”
Mr Woodfall said the school’s design was to be as flexible as possible and responsive to all student needs.
The school association’s chairman Brent Colgrave said the previous campus was badly run down, and the association had actively demand the highest standards in the redevelopment.
He said the association had worked with the department to make sure the upgrades were “grounded in good fact” and based on best-practice special needs schools interstate.
RELATED STORIES
Key issues raised by Ms Desmond included the construction of the school’s unisex toilets, two of which that have doors side-by-side and open onto a public hall, potentially creating a privacy issue.
Mr Woodfall said the department had arranged the installation of privacy curtains across the hallway, and a secondary privacy screen within the bathroom.
He said a St Giles occupational therapist commissioned to inspect the school reported the facilities were the “best they’d ever seen” for special needs students.
Low heaters on a hallway ceiling are also scheduled for replacement or upgrade, while a hallway that was believed to be too narrow for more than one wheelchair had lay-by spaces built in.
Mr Woodfall said further adjustments would be made to best use the new facilities and classrooms as the school’s 100 staff and 100 students moved into to the new buildings.
Other issues raised by Ms Desmond included an outdoor concrete path which was too narrow to allow two wheelchairs to pass each other, which will be widened.
Mr Colgrave said the association had actively sought feedback from the school’s parents on the construction plans, but had received limited feedback – something he said was understandable with busy parents struggling to find time.
The second stage of the rebuild is due to be completed in October.
