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Students and staff at Penrith Public School now have access to a new state-of-the-art building, thanks to a $10 million investment from the NSW Government.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell today officially unveiled the new two storey building, as the NSW Government continues its record $6.5 billion rollout of 190 new and upgraded schools.

“The upgrade at Penrith Public School has delivered 12 cutting-edge classrooms, to give students the best possible learning environment to thrive in,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“This is yet another example of what our record investment in new and upgraded schools is delivering for students and teachers right across the State.”

Ms Mitchell said Penrith Public School is one of 22 new and upgraded public schools that have opened in 2019.

“Seventeen new and upgraded schools opened their doors to students in time for Term 1 and we have delivered another five in time for Term 2,” Ms Mitchell said.

“The NSW Government will continue to get on with the job of delivering for schools across the State, so every child has access to world-class facilities.”

Minister for Western Sydney and Member for Penrith Stuart Ayres has welcomed the significant upgrade at Penrith Public School.

“Penrith Public School is now the perfect example of Penrith heritage and new Penrith coming together,” Mr Ayres said.

The NSW Government’s record investment in new and upgraded schools is on top of the $1.3 billion to wipe the school maintenance to zero and the $500 million Cool Classrooms Fund to provide new air conditioning units.

Australia’s biggest public transport project, the North West Metro, will open to customers on Sunday 26 May, delivering a turn up and go rail service from Rouse Hill to Chatswood.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Transport Andrew Constance today confirmed the opening date of the new Metro line, which is now undergoing final commissioning.

“This is an exciting time for the future of public transport. Thousands of commuters will have access to world class metro rail,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“We have delivered the North West Metro on time and more than $1 billion under budget.

“This project is the result of hard work, discipline and focus. I want to thank all those involved in delivering this important project.”

Mr Constance said the Metro North West Line includes 13 stations between Tallawong and Chatswood and 4000 commuter car parking spaces.

“The new generation of driverless trains have now completed more than 180,000 kilometres of testing and final commissioning is underway,” Mr Constance said.

“Sydney Metro is Australia’s first fully accessible railway which will deliver fast, safe and reliable travel.

“The Metro line is currently being extended from Chatswood to Bankstown and by 2024 Sydney will have 31 metro stations and a 66 kilometre standalone metro railway.”

At full operation, trains will run every four minutes in each direction at peak times on the Metro North West Line, with the ability to run up to every two minutes in the future.

Before and after school care for all children at public primary schools is on track for 2021, with consultation to begin with principals and school communities next month.

Parents will also be able to register their interest in a before or after school care service where they might not have one or theirs is full via Service NSW from July 1.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said implementing the key election commitment was a major focus for the NSW Government.

“We are getting on with the job of delivering this important initiative to ensure working families have greater access to more affordable, convenient and flexible child care services,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“No matter where you live or what your circumstances are, parents should have access to quality and affordable out of school hours care for their children”.

Ms Mitchell said consultation on the $120 million investment would begin in Term 2.

“We will work closely with our schools, P&Cs, principals and parents – as well as the before and after school care sector – to develop flexible and creative solutions that offer parents support and choice, as well as ensuring schools have the equipment and resourcing they need to deliver these wonderful services,” Ms Mitchell said.

Schools in metropolitan and major regional centres will be required to open their playgrounds, halls or classrooms for before and after school care and school holiday care from 7am to 6pm.

At smaller or remote schools where an on-site service is not feasible, transport will be offered to get students to and from offsite providers or other schools.

“We need to use our wonderful school resources better. It is not acceptable that there are waiting lists for before and after school care, while our school grounds are under-utilised,” Ms Mitchell said.

A new specialist team in the Department of Education is being created to coordinate services and manage leases to relieve this burden from principals.

The NSW Government will also reduce the cost of before and after school care by up to $225 per child per year, through a capped rental subsidy of up to $15,000 for providers who run services on NSW Government school grounds.

The $120 million strategy, over four years, includes $50 million to help schools buy new equipment and expand their facilities; $40 million to provide rental subsidies to service providers at public primary schools if they can demonstrate savings have been passed on to families; and $20 million to help schools where a standalone service may not be viable, including smaller schools and rural and remote communities.

There is also funding for a team of specialists to help coordinate services and resources to make it easier to setup and maintain a service and to take the hassle out of managing contracts with providers for principals; as well as funding to help parents and carers search for and access places online via Service NSW.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Deputy Premier John Barilaro have outlined the newly elected Government’s priorities ahead of the first Cabinet meeting today.

“I’m looking forward to delivering great opportunities and quality of life for all citizens across NSW no matter where they live or what their circumstances are,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“A strong economy is fundamental. We need to ensure that NSW continues to be an attractive location to invest, which will in turn enhance capacity to develop new industries and drive jobs growth.

“Jobs are fundamental. We will prioritise higher education and skills to ensure we have a workforce that is able to adapt to the needs of Australia and the world.

“We will also focus on tackling social issues to reduce disadvantage.”

Mr Barilaro said improving the quality of life for people across NSW, particularly in the regions, will be a major focus for the Government.

“We know many of our regional and rural communities are doing it tough. Providing water security and better connecting our communities will be key priorities,” Mr Barilaro said.
“We have an opportunity to unlock enormous economic potential with better connections between the regions and Sydney and, crucially, from region to region.”
The key policy priorities of the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government are:

• A strong economy, quality jobs and job security for workers of today and tomorrow;
• Highest quality education no matter where you live or what your circumstances may be;
• Well-connected communities with quality local environments;
• Making Government work better for you by putting the customer at the centre of everything we do; and,
• Breaking the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage by fixing problems that have been in the too-hard basket for too long.

A strong economy, quality jobs and job security for workers of today and tomorrow: We will build the strongest economy in the region, providing the jobs and investment opportunities that will take NSW to the next level.

By diversifying our economy, we can deliver greater economic growth, and more and better jobs. Continued jobs growth and business investment is the key to the wages growth required to help individuals and families to get ahead. We have the capacity to be a global leader in areas such as fin-tech, med-tech, research and development, robotics and information technology. And we will continue to reduce taxes so businesses can grow and prosper.

Highest quality education no matter where you live or what your circumstances may be: We will prepare the most dynamic, qualified and skilled workforce in the world.

Higher education and skills standards will ensure a flexible workforce, able to adapt to the ever-changing external environment and access lifelong learning opportunities.  This will help take NSW to the next level and ensure capacity to develop new industries.  We will focus on the quality of life-long learning, whether it’s pre-school, school, vocational education or mature-aged re-training. And we will focus on areas where educational outcomes need improvement.

Well-connected communities with quality local environments: We will deliver the infrastructure that connects communities and improves opportunity and quality of life.
Our ambitious infrastructure pipeline must make all our cities and towns more liveable, whether country or city. Not just transport infrastructure, but social infrastructure like schools, hospitals, sporting and cultural institutions, parks and public space. We will deliver cleaner, greener urban environments and more secure water supplies for the bush. These infrastructure investments will be integrated completely with our regional growth strategy and will connect communities like never before.

Making Government work better for you by putting the customer at the centre of everything we do: We will provide world-class services for every citizen, no matter where they live or what their circumstances may be.
The newly established Customer Service Cluster will use technology and data to better integrate government services and massively improve the quality and level of services available.  In the same way we have revolutionised customer service through Service NSW – where citizens can now conduct more than 850 transactions in one place – we will now focus on how people interact with our schools, hospitals and social services so that each of these services are re-designed to work better for each citizen, and improve their lives at an individual level. And we will continue to reduce red tape, simplify processes and deliver measures to help people manage their cost of living.

Break the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage by fixing problems that have been in the too-hard basket for too long: We will focus on social reform in areas that have been longstanding challenges.
With strong fundamentals now in place, we can focus on the most difficult problems that our community faces, including those which have driven intergenerational disadvantage. Already, we have begun work to reduce the rate of suicide, provide permanency for all children in out of home care, ensure social housing tenants have a pathway to independence, tackle indigenous disadvantage, and reduce rates of recidivism and the prison population. We are not here to avoid the toughest problems or simply to mark time – we are here to make a real and lasting difference.