Today I went on a Road Trip to look at schools in Sydney.
The children liked the little Steiner school at Castlecrag best. It’s probably my favourite school in Sydney, only for K-2 but so gentle and sweet. There are lovely trees on the property.
Playground
http://bit.ly/2mvyLB location of the school
The kids jumped out of the car and explored. A friend’s boy who was cranky and wanting to go home snapped out of his bad mood immediately when he saw the lovely garden and play equipment. It is a child-centred playground and they know it:
- Beautiful water sculptures, which the kids would have played happily with for hours
- Wooden climbing frames, designed with lovely organic shapes
Climbing frame
- a big sandpit to dig and play in
- Soft gentle sensitive rainbow coloured fabrics in windows
- Hand knitted toys in windows at children’s eye level
- A garden with peas, broad beans, spinach, silverbeet, parsley and pansies ready to harvest. Sunflowers on their way.
- The verandahs have polished wooden floorboards, varnished in a warm golden colour, with little wooden seats.
Slide
“The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility.
These are the three forces which are the very nerve of education.”
Rudolf Steiner
My boys did say that, “You can’t play soccer there.” They like a big soccer field.
My 5 y.o said, “On another Sunday can we go to that school again? I found a strawberry plant. I just want to see the strawberries because that spikey one didn’t look ready.”
When I drove past other state schools, the kids immediately knew whether they liked them or not from the outside. “Where’s the garden?” they asked of one which was completely covered in asphalt.
On our Sydney Road Trip we visited Killara High School because it has a good reputation. I’m not sure who told me or why, but several people recommended it, so I walked through the gates and had a look around.
- Huge grassy oval surrounded by gum trees opposite the school.
- Lovely gum trees
- 20 magpies stood around me- the black & white birds in this picture
Killara High School
- A high black fence- many schools have Brunswick green ones
- Stock standard NSW Government School architecture
- Dull, metallic, unfriendly, gaol-like dark Brunswick green, brown or silver steel.
- There are few curves, no vegie garden, no fruit trees
Why don’t state schools have organic shapes in their architecture?
I know state schools which have secured the Federal Labor Government’s Building the Education Revolution (BER) grants, where there was little choice but the standard pre-fab hall which is manufactured off-site, with massive roller doors and few windows. Plans I’ve seen remind me of an aeropolane hangar with a COLA outdoor shelter attached. They’re not cheap- between $1 and 2 million and they have to hurry up to get them put in place by a certain date.
I spoke to a builder who has read the information on the BER website closely: www.buildingtheeducationrevolution.gov.au . There is a 19 page document called, ‘Building the Education Revolution Guidelines’ http://bit.ly/2wkS3N
He said private schools get total flexibility in being able to spend the money any way they want within the parameters of building. He said government schools have a lot of limits because they have to be DET (Department of Education and Training) approved. Amongst the ‘Conditions for Funding’ it states:
“Design templates or configurations must be used by states, territories and BGAs, wherever possible. Consideration will be given to a school that has a preapproved design ready to build, or can demonstrate that non-use of a template is reasonable, appropriate and that the building process can still be expedited and achieved in prescribed timeframes.”
I spoke to a builder in charge of 6 BER projects. He sounded frantic. He said the Catholic schools he is organising are having renovations and additions. The government schools are having halls with the same template, the difference is that one is having toilets and the other isn’t.
The 1st builder I mentioned, said if schools wanted to object to the standard hall, they would have had to go into the third round of funding, which is apparently being cut.
“It was better to shut up and not object, so we got a hall. You have to play the game. If we’d objected to the hall we ran the risk of missing out.”
When I asked him about the design of the hall he said, “form follows function. It’s a hall.”
Why is bureaucracy so rigid? “In future they might have more environmentally sensitive designs. It doesn’t have to be that way,” he said.
Why do children in government schools get this uninspiring, insensitive architecture?
There seems to be two separate rules for government and private schools. I went up to a Spring Fair at a Steiner school in the Blue Mountains. They have funding from the BER to build a new performance hall. We had a good chat to the guy who’s creating it, an English builder who lives in the Mountains. He worked on the recreation of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for 5 years, which was built using rendered straw bales and thick wood beams held together with pegs. He’s a craftsman and he’s recreating that method at this school. There were so many architect-drawn plans and there had been so much community consultation. They cut down trees off the land for the beams and got free fill from local roadworks for their new driveway. They have used their money so carefully. The boys were learning how to make the long hexagonal pegs to hold the thing together using a special tool, it was great.
Where are the best high schools in Sydney which have these qualities:
Emotionally healthy principal, strength-based parent involvement, great programs in place, natural gardens, spacious grounds, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) families and healthy food at the canteen?
Which primary schools and high schools (preferably co-ed) do you recommend and why?
Kish
November 10, 2009
Fantastic Article. I’m so glad that people are thinking about all these elements that build the foundations of a child’s life. I hope there is much, much more improvement in these most essential, early stages of children.
karenwilde
November 11, 2009
Outstanding article. It’s a shame that the big wheels of funding and Government don’t move as quickly as we’d like them to, especially when it comes to something as important as nature in a school yard.
Having seen the pictures – I’d want to go to the Steiner School too!
Radhika
April 27, 2010
Fantastic article Frances! I thoroughly enjoyed the depth of discovery. I do not have children however I am flabbergasted that there is a distinction between state and private schools and how they spend public funds. Fair to say I am not amused. Thanks for sharing the insights.
francesjones
April 27, 2010
Thanks everyone.
I see these prefab halls being built in most school grounds in Sydney, the same halls squashed into limited playgrounds & I think, “They’ll be there for 100+ yrs.”
It’s such a pity that all our wonderful architects who could have done custom designed halls/renovations were barely involved in the BER.
At our school, the hall’s nearly finished. It is the same size as the old hall, which was too small. They’re now saying they need an extra classroom.
It was all such a rush, there was so little discussion & planning. I understand why- the GFC panic …
Guess who’ll be paying for them for the next hundred years- our children. Like in other economies throughout the world. Oh dear.
francesjones
July 3, 2010
I’ve taken photos of a few different ways the BER Economic Stimulus Plan has been spent:
St Spyridon’s new hall:
http://francesjones.posterous.com/st-spyridons-new-hall
Kindle Hill Community School BER Hall:
http://francesjones.posterous.com/kindle-hill-community-school-ber-hall
Randwick Public School BER Hall:
http://francesjones.posterous.com/randwick-public-school-ber-hall
http://francesjones.posterous.com/how-to-wreck-a-playground
Double Bay Public School BER Hall:
http://francesjones.posterous.com/double-bay-public-school-ber-hall
It’s interesting that the state schools without a blade of grass on their grounds have the standard template hall as if it’s just plonked down on asphalt, incongruous with the rest of the historic schools.
Of course the Stimulus Package was designed to stimulate the economy quickly.
I wonder what would have happened if state schools were given more time to consult their community, to have architects draw up plans which fitted into their unique school.
I’m passionate about the need for schools to have funding for buildings, gardens, shade, play equipment, teaching materials and programs. It’s all important. I’m very involved in my boys’ P&C. We fundraise and take time to consult the parents to ask how they want to spend the money, then we vote on how it should be spent. It’s democratic and everyone has a sense of being involved. We have a choice and we care, because our children are there for six years.
Some schools and P&Cs (Parents and Citizens Organisations) are dysfunctional, not harmonious and undesirable dynamics play out, but there are ways of changing that.
High EQ- Emotional Intelligence- is required by Government leaders, Principals, teachers, P&Cs, which is modelled to the -> kids.
If I had billion$ to spend, I’d roll out evidence-based programs into schools such as KidsMatter http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/primary
KidsMatter Primary is the first national mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention initiative specifically developed for primary schools.
Look at rate of divorce, sexual abuse, depression and substance abuse. Many parents smack their children. Children are dealing with a lot emotionally. They need to process their emotions, to be able to focus on school work and play happily with their friends.
My priority is psychological, emotional and behavioural health because when people improve their thoughts, feelings and behaviour, that goes down generations.
hakea
January 14, 2011
Hi
I am interested in the wooden play dome pictured in your blog.
We saw one at the Steiner school in Hazelbrook as well. It was more rustic, higgledy piggledy, than the one you have pictured. We didn’t have a camera on the day.
We want to build one for our kids. How long would you say each strut was approximately? I’ve searched on the internet and the few plans I have found say that for a 5 foot high dome, the struts should be 2 foot long. The dome on your photograph looks to have longer struts as they are almost as long as your son is tall.
Your advice would be appreciated.
Frances Jones
January 14, 2011
Hello! nice to see you here. I just read lots of wonderful writing on your wordpress site. Goodness, I have no idea about the play dome. I have friends whose children are at that school, so I could email them with your questions. However the child in the picture was 1m tall at that time so that might help. You can’t get there to have a look? They have wonderful new buildings, that school has spent their BER money beautifully. I could meet you there, I’d love to have a look around again.
Frances