School Infrastructure

Guidelines for school site selection and master planning

Release date: 30 March 2021

Our draft School Site Selection and Development Guidelines give us an overview of what we should be looking for when we're planning for new schools.

Important considerations for schools sites discussed in the draft guidelines include:

  • Site size – accommodating the required building floor area and open space requirements
  • Location – ensuring safety, accessibility, transport networks and walkability are prioritised 
  • Community focus – providing an asset for the community, where we can share facilities like sports courts, halls, health hubs and more
  • Environmental and cultural setting – understanding and embracing the heritage, working with it as part of the school design
  • Risks – understanding the risks associated with a site, including flood and bushfire hazards
  • Site servicing – access to adequate water, gas and electricity. 

The Master Planning Guidelines for Schools complement our Site Selection Guidelines. The aim is to produce consistent outcomes from our master planning phases across projects and to focus on efficient planning pathways and transport planning requirements. 

The Master Planning Guidelines also note the importance of context and placemaking; where schools are part of the community and the importance of partnering with the community, so that we can design spaces to be shared with them. 

Also included are a range of checklists to support consistency across our projects through the master planning phase.

To provide your feedback on these draft guidelines, please contact the EFSG team via their website contact form. 

Buildings and walkways overlapping at Galungara Public School in Western Sydney.
Image: Buildings and walkways overlapping at Galungara Public School in Western Sydney.
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We recognise the Ongoing Custodians of the lands and waterways where we work and live. We pay respect to Elders past and present as ongoing teachers of knowledge, songlines and stories. We strive to ensure every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learner in NSW achieves their potential through education.

We recognise the Ongoing Custodians of the lands and waterways where we work and live. We pay respect to Elders past and present as ongoing teachers of knowledge, songlines and stories. We strive to ensure every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learner in NSW achieves their potential through education.