Willyama High School in western NSW is being demolished and rebuilt after an extensive mould outbreak, splitting staff and students across three sites in Term 1.
Many electives were cancelled due to a lack of appropriate facilities, but the public school’s students were reunited for the first day of Term yesterday at a temporary replacement site while the Government plans a permanent rebuild.
“In the meantime, we are ensuring all Willyama students can access high-quality learning in one place, with all the resources they need,” Education Minister Prue Car said.
Focus groups with parents at other Broken Hill schools also continued yesterday with more community consultation planned throughout May.
The temporary school, comprising demountable buildings next to Broken Hill High School, is about 3km from the Willyama grounds.
It is made up of 17 general classrooms, a senior study area, four supported learning classrooms and rooms for elective subjects such as art, music, science and woodwork, along with staff rooms and an administrative office.
It will share sports facilities and a hall with Broken Hill High School but otherwise operate separately as a distinct school community.
But there are concerns leaving students in demountable classrooms could lead to poorer educational outcomes and make it harder to retain staff, Broken Hill Mayor Tom Kennedy, a former Willyama student, said in March.
An independent hygienist reported that the exact cause of the mould outbreak at Willyama could not be determined, but was likely caused by a combination of factors including a cooling system being left on, and water ingress during an unseasonably wet summer.
Images in the report showed mould around air conditioning ducts, on concrete, in cabinets, table tops and in long smears across carpets.
Fungal growth was also observed on drum kit skins, fabric desk chairs, paintings and mouse pads.
