News
9 October, 2025
Locals urged to rally behind school
Local residents are being urged to show their support for Penrose Public School as it faces potential closure.
Local residents are being urged to show their support for Penrose Public School as it faces potential closure.
A decision on the school’s future is expected within the next few weeks – possibly before the end of the month.
Community members continue to express concern over a lack of consultation from the NSW Department of Education and hundreds of people have already signed a petition protesting the school’s closure.
Local parent Ellie Egan has taken to social media to urge more people to sign the petition if they haven’t done so already or to show their support in other ways.
She has encouraged people to write to Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman or the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning, Prue Carr.
A working bee is being planned in the school grounds on a date yet to be confirmed.
Those people planning to enrol their children at the school for 2026 are being urged to indicate their intention as soon as possible to help stave off the potential closure.
Wingecarribee Shire Council has already resolved to fight the potential closure of Penrose Public School – and any other school in the local government area.
Mayor Jesse Fitzpatrick has described local schools as “critical elements of village identity, vitality and resilience”.
He said the potential loss of Penrose Public School was not just about enrolments but was something that went to the heart of the village’s social infrastructure.
Mrs Tuckerman has been urging the government to explore ways to boost enrolments at the school but has said she is concerned about the future of small schools across her electorate and wants to ensure that “due diligence is being done so that communities are being informed”.
Penrose Public School is described on the NSW Government website as a well-established school surrounded by a “unique, beautiful, rural village environment”.
According to the NSW Government it is a “true community school where students, their families, staff and the local community are welcome, valued and involved”.
Avoca Public School, also in the Wingecarribee Shire, closed earlier this year.
Parents are being told the schools are being placed in recess as opposed to being permanently closed because of low enrolments.
Read More: Penrose, Southern Highlands, Wollondilly