01 - Department of Education and Communities - NSW Government

SAFE, CHALLENGING AND CREATIVE SCHOOLSTHE WORKING ENVIRONMENTSchool SecurityThe DSE spent more than $8.6mon school security during 1997,including the installation ofsurveillance systems, mobile andstatic security guard services,School Watch Programs and a basestation facility.A total of 5921 incidents of theftand vandalism were reported in1996/97, an increase of 590 overthe previous year. However, thecost of these incidents fell from$14.9m in 1995/96 to $12.3m in1996/97. The 1997 figure is stillwell above the $8.1m recorded in1995/96.There was also a fall in the numberof fires on school premises, from123 in the previous year to 83 in1996/97. Although this resulted ina fall of $2.7m in the cost of firesto a 1996/97 level of $7.3m, thecost per incident increased.The number of apprehensions onschool premises also decreased in1996/97 from 713 to 664.School Air ConditioningDepartmental research indicatedthat demountable buildings are 2to 5 degrees Celsius hotter thanpermanent buildings.In response to this, the Governmentin 1997 announced that more than300 government schools in highheat-stress areas across the Statewill benefit from a better targetedand expanded air conditioningprogram. It will provide immediaterelief to thousands of students andsee more than 1500 classroomsacross regional and rural NSW aircooled over the next three years.Funding for the new program willbe expanded from its current $2mper year to almost $5m per year andwill see the hottest classrooms inthe high heat-stress schools aircooled as the first priority. Allbuildings in these schools will beassessed and school communitiesconsulted to determine the hottestclassrooms that need to be airconditioned.The type of air cooling to beprovided will depend on thelocation of the school. In arid areas,evaporative cooling is the preferredsolution. In humid areas and indemountable buildings reversecycle air conditioning will be usedto lower summer temperatures.These will also provide economicalheating in winter.School MaintenanceThe Department developed a newstrategy for delivery of schoolmaintenance which involves theselection of contractors to providea maintenance service to schoolsfor a six year period. Maintenancecontractors provide customisedneeds-based service for plannedand emergency work.Benefits of the new approachinclude schools receiving a regularand responsive service onmaintenance, maintenance fundstargeted to areas of greatest needand a consistent standard ofmaintenance applied across allschools in the state.The Covered Outdoor LearningAreas program was completed in1997 with the provision of shadeshelters in a further twelve schools.Ensure safeworkingpractices forstaff andstudents anddeliver lowerlevels of workrelatedaccidents atschool andreduced levelsof disruptiveincidents.DSE Annual Report 1997 73