International Chinese School

I would like to support the proposed new campus for the International Chinese School at 211 Pacific Highway St Leonards.
The existing school will be overcrowded in the coming year, the proposed location is closed to public transport, off street parking and drop zone is also available.
The site is not big but it is perfect for the school requirement, it is an isolation quiet site with good access to playground and open green space.
The school is well location in the centre of St Leonards, which is good for the Chinese community in the North Shore area.
Given the merits of the proposal, it is requested that the Minister approve the proposal so our children could have a new campus in 2020.

See attached submission. Thanks.

I support the International Chinese School's application to move to 211 Pacific Highway St Leonards. My grandchild attends ICS and has been given an excellent grounding in both English and Mandarin. The school and its community will be a great benefit to the local area.

There is a boom in primary school enrolments in the lower north shore and approval of International Chinese School's relocation will help meet the needs of local families. Surrounding public and private primary schools such as Greenwich, Cammeray, Lane Cove, St Mary's and Anzac Park have very high student numbers, and will find it difficult to absorb more students as more young families reside in the local area in the next few years. By repurposing the existing commercial building at 211 Pacific Highway for a private school, there can be an immediate increase in student enrolments from kindergarten to year 5, without the lag time associated with building a brand new school from the ground up. The proximity to the St Leonards transport hubs mean that the impact of cars during pick up and drop off with be mitigated.

I encourage the NSW Government to please approve the State Significant Development application for International Chinese School as it provides a specialised Mandarin program and can help meet the enrolment needs of local families.

Justin Hastings and Tiffany Tsao
2405/18 Thomas Street
Chatswood NSW 2067

23 October 2019

Re: State Significant Development - International Chinese School SSD-10260

Major Projects, Department of Planning, Industry and the Environment, NSW Government

To whom it may concern:

I write to express my family's support for the International Chinese School proposed relocation to 211 Pacific Highway St Leonard's. We (Justin Hastings and Tiffany Tsao) have two sons. One, Zephyr, is four years old, and other, Azure, is nearly two years old. We have enrolled our older son for kindergarten at ICS for 2020, and intend to enroll our younger son in ICS when the time comes.

We are intensely committed to bilingual Mandarin education for our children. As a Professor of International Relations and Comparative Politics at the University of Sydney who specializes in the international relations of East Asia, I've become acutely aware how vital it is that Australia have a cadre of citizens and residents fluent in both English and Chinese to prepare for the opportunities and challenges presented by the rise of China. International Chinese School is a key player in the creation of that cadre, and should be nurtured and emulated as a result.

We are moving to St Leonards in December of this year specifically so that our older son Zephyr can start Kindergarten at the International Chinese School in the St Leonards location in 2020. The location is ideal for us, inasmuch as it is close to public transport and an excellent playground and other recreational facilities, as well as close to the local Chinese population spread between St Leonards and Chatswood.

When we visited International Chinese School in Chatswood for the first time last year, it became clear that the school needed more space, and the location in Chatswood was not viable in the long term. We strongly prefer to send our children to a school that will be able to provide space for the entirety of their school careers, in no small part because they need a number of years to become fluent in Mandarin.

Taking all these factors into consideration, we urge the quick approval of 211 Pacific Highway as a school site for use by ICS in time for the 2020 academic year.

With sincere regards,

Justin Hastings, with Tiffany Tsao

attached

Re: State Significant Development - International Chinese School SSD-10260
Major Projects,
We write to express our support for the International Chinese School proposed relocation to 211 Pacific Highway St Leonards.
Our children began attending International Chinese School (ICS) in 2016, the second since the establishment of the school. It was via word-of-mouth that we’ve come to this school and we’re glad we did. For three years, we have been commuting/driving from Mount Colah to Chatswood so that we can access the only Mandarin Bilingual school in Sydney. In recent months, we have moved to Chatswood to be closer to the school. We anticipate that we may move to St Leonards, should the school relocate to this new site. ICS brings families to the community.
ICS is also a Christian school, which means a lot to our family. The teachers and staff not only support the students’ academic achievements but also care about their holistic wellbeing. This makes ICS a rather special place for both the students and their families. ICS brings families together.
Coming from a Taiwanese background, we hope that our children can use Mandarin to maintain their cultural identity and connection with other family members. We appreciate the bilingual Mandarin educational program on offer through ICS. Even though we attempt to encourage the use of Mandarin at home, it has been challenging to teach them reading and writing in Mandarin. ICS has provided a social, functional and educational environment for learning both English and Mandarin. We see being proficient in Mandarin opens up many opportunities for our children; not just in the future but starting now. Their respect for different cultures increases and their life experiences broaden. Having to know a second language will also provide more career options later on. ICS opens up children’s world.
211 Pacific Highway St Leonards will be an excellent site for the School. Both of our children are boys, and outdoor activities are crucial for their physical and emotional development. With this site being so close to the oval and the parkland, the students will have sufficient space to exercise and play. They will also be able to concentrate better with classroom learning after ample physical activities. In the current school site, such experiences are compromised because of the size of the playground. We need this new site for our children to continue to grow and flourish.
This site is also easily accessible by bus and train, which means families will not need to rely on a car to get to and fro the school. This school will also be able to service the increasing population in the area, being within walking distance to the high rise apartments in the area. More families can benefit from ICS.
We really urge a speedy approval of 211 Pacific Highway as a school site for use by ICS for the 2020 academic year. This will help families such as ours to plan for next year. We anticipate this relocation of the school will benefit not only the current students but also the wider community and generations to come.
Yours Sincerely,
P. and M. Lu

Please find attached my letter of support for the International Chinese School relocation to St Leonards.

Date : 23rd Oct 2019
Re: State Significant Development - International Chinese School SSD-10260
Major Projects,
Department of Planning, Industry and the Environment,
NSW Government,
I write to express my support for the International Chinese School (ICS) proposed relocation to 211 Pacific Highway St Leonard's.
My daughter is studying Year 4 at ICS now. She started kindergarten in 2015 at ICS. At that time, ICS is a brand-new school but it is a lovely school for my daughter to study.
In the last 5 years, she had the great opportunity to learn both English and Mandarin at ICS. The progress that I can see is extraordinary. Now, she can communicate with English or Mandarin speaking people in her daily conversation. It is a great skill set for her to develop her career in the future.
As we know that ICS has more and more students studying in the coming years, it is necessary to move to a bigger campus which is proposed at 211 Pacific Highway. With this relocation, more space for teaching and sport facilities can be utilized for ICS’s students.
We also understand that the approval process of the government bodies needs certain procedures to go through. However, if the approval can be granted in a speedy manner, both school and students will be gaining the great advantages as we can get prepared for the new school year in 2020.

Yours Sincerely

Mr. Ng

I write to express my support for the International Chinese School proposed relocation to 211 Pacific Highway St Leonard's.

Our daughter has been a student at ICS since kindy from 2017 until now. She has developed her confidence from the nurturing teacher’s environment throughout the years.

ICS is a great school which offer bilingual Mandarin educational program, and also grounded with the Christianity value of teaching. We strongly believe that ICS can offer a great education platform for the future ahead in Australia.

211 Pacific Highway, St Leonards is a great site for the School. Convenient location which is easily to travel to is one of the strongest reason why ICS should be located here. Our daughter travel to school via trains everyday, as we live in the eastern suburb. Distance to school is not a matter, as long as the site is easily tobe reached with public transport.

We as a school need the relocation for ICS in 2020, as the current premises cannot accomodate the number of growing class next year. We currently have class up to year 4 only, but in 2020 the need to have more classrooms is urgently needed. We will need more classrooms for the new year 5, and also significant growing numbers in students next year.

Kindly approve 211 Pacific Highway as a school site for use by ICS in time for the 2020 academic year. Your consideration in this matter is greatly appreciated.

I am writing to express my support for the ICS's relocation to St Leonard's. I have a family member who currently attends the school and have seen them grow and develop at the school into a bright and curious student, flourishing in both English and Mandarin. As someone who doesn't speak Mandarin myself, I do see the importance of providing a safe environment which is inclusive to those from other backgrounds and cultures. Allowing the next generation to understand the value of multiculturalism and identity would be beneficial, not only for the individual but for the wider community too. Relocating the school to St Leonard's would be great as it would be close to transport for students, will support a vibrant local Chinese population, and is practical in that it's utilizing existing infrastructure. The new building will provide a larger area for the school population to grow and nurture students growth well into the future. Again, I'd like to express my support for this approval in time for the start of the 2020 academic year. Kind Regards.

Dear Sir and madem
I write to express my support for the International Chinese School proposed relocation to 211 Pacific Highway St Leonard's.
Personally I love to see a school like this to express
Mandarin educational program on offer through ICS. eg. Maintaining cultural heritage, opportunities for children's future with Australia's increasing economic ties with China, increased respect and tolerance for other cultures.
My kids had almost one year school time with international Chinese school. They are so friendly and organised. Kids love it.
211 Pacific Highway is a great site for the School, will bring up north shore a great bright future for our kids

Re: State Significant Development - International Chinese School SSD-10260

Major Projects,

Department of Planning, Industry and the Environment,

NSW Government,

I write to express my support for the International Chinese School proposed relocation to 211 Pacific Highway St Leonard's.

My child is a current student of the International Chinese School (located at Chatswood). She loves attending school and looks forward to meeting and playing with her friends at school everyday. Unfortunately, the current location of the school is unable to accommodate the growing numbers and I support the project as this means that the school will be able to move to bigger premises.

With the school relocating to 211 Pacific Highway, this would also mean proximity to public transport, the children getting access to green and leafy setting with surrounding parklands and oval, and service to the significant local Chinese population.

I understand that the School has been searching for a suitable site for 5 years and there is an urgent need for the School to relocate in 2020 due to the significant growth in student numbers next year. The future of the School will be secured if the project is approved.

The speedy approval of 211 Pacific Highway as a school site for the International Chinese School is urgent as the School needs the site to be ready for use in time for the 2020 academic year.

My husband and I relocated to Australia from Shanxi, China in 2017.
As registrar of the School I speak weekly with applicants for enrolment at the school, the majority of which have Chinese heritage. The standout reason they seek enrolment is a desire to maintain their Chinese cultural heritage for their children. Many are second and third generation Chinese and are concerned that they are losing connection with their culture.
Further applications come from new arrivals from China. These are professional people who bring skills to and serve the local community. They are usually young professionals with young children. They choose the lower North Shore due not only because of the significant Chinese population, but also specifically because of the Mandarin bilingual immersion program offered through the International Chinese School.
Further, parents even from non-Chinese background choose the school because they are aware of the growing economic connection between China and Australia. They see the Mandarin education will open doors in the future fro their children. Language is the key to cultural understanding in preparing these students.
The has been a surge in interest in enrolment at the school over the past 12 months. There is an obvious need for the school to expand and the current temporary site is already crowded and near approved capacity.
After many years of searching, 211 Pacific Highway St Leonards is the only viable option. With two Kindergarten classes for next year, the school requires approval for the 2020 school year, or its future is in serious doubt.
Please also find attached a letter of support for the school and its proposed move received from the Australia China Business Council.

24/10/19

Re: State Significant Development - International Chinese School SSD-10260

Major Projects,

Department of Planning, Industry and the Environment,

NSW Government,

I write to express my support for the International Chinese School proposed relocation to 211 Pacific Highway St Leonard's.

My name is Cathy Hon, my son attended International Chinese School since the year they were founded. This is the first and only English/ Chinese bilingual full day school in New South Wales. The school has grown steadily and current premise is too small to facilitate the growing students. As a result, students are deprived of proper sports activities and accidents do happen from time to time due to the limited size of the playground. I hope the school can be allocated to a bigger and well equipped premise to solve the cramped campus issue we have experienced.

We value of the bilingual Mandarin educational program on offer through ICS. eg. Maintaining cultural heritage, opportunities for children's future with Australia's increasing economic ties with China, increased respect and tolerance for other cultures. We want the school to continue to expand and succeed. Therefore the need to relocate to a bigger and better premise is imminent.

The new site is not far from the train station and many parents can access via Public Transport, the size can accommodate bigger size of students and provide them a proper and spacious play area.

Please approve the move to 211 Pacific Highway as a school site for use by ICS in time for the 2020 academic year.

Yours Sincerely

Cathy Hon

I would like to express my family’s full support for the International Chinese School (ICS) proposed relocation to 211 Pacific Highway, St Leonards.

Being parents of a student of the International Chinese School, we are grateful and much appreciated on the introduction of bilingual Mandarin educational program by the school, it helps maintaining cultural heritage for families with the relevant background.

Bilingual education is a common way of education throughout Europe, US, Canada, Middle East, Hong Kong and South East Asia. Bilingual school students get to meet with people from different backgrounds. Learning about other cultures is important for children and helps them to understand the world around them, and learn to appreciate differences across cultures. Studies had shown that bilingual students are more comfortable in a multi-cultural environment and are more tolerant and open-minded towards people, cultures and languages.

More than ¼ world population are now speaking Mandarin, and with the increasing economic ties with China nowadays. We can see that students of the school are not only well prepared for the future, but with a comparative advantage for knowing a language which 1 in 4 people speaks worldwide.

The current site at 211 Pacific Highway is a perfect location for the school, with its proximity and access to public transport, oval and parklands. The relocation of the school will help meeting future enrolment growth in St Leonards Education Precinct and service to the local Chinese population.

We understood that ICS has been searching for a suitable site for 5 years, and is in urgent needs of relocation for 2020. The current school location will not be able to accommodate for the significant growth in number of students for 2020 (next year). Future of the school can only be secured by relocation from the current site to 211 Pacific Highway, St Leonards.

We urge you to approve the development application of 211 Pacific Highway St Leonards ASAP, so that it can be used by ICS for the 2020 academic year.

Please see attachment

Re: State Significant Development - International Chinese School SSD-10260
To whom it may concern,

I write to express my support for the International Chinese School proposed relocation to 211 Pacific Highway St Leonards.

St Leonards has been identified as a future Education Precinct to meet the growing needs of the community. International Chinese School offers a Christian and bilingual education, giving families more choices when deciding on primary schools.

211 Pacific Highway is an extremely suitable site for the School, it is close to public transport and has a leafy setting with surrounding parkland. This also means that sound would not be an issue unlike many other residential primary schools.

Good urban planning takes under consideration social, economic and environmental factors in their infrastructure and design. I believe that the establishment of a new independent primary school meets all of these factors.

Our built environment need to be balanced; the increase of high rise residential buildings in the area creates the demand for schools and shops. While there are other schools in the works, the establishment of ICS is able to meet the immediate needs of families in the local area. It is also socially mindful of its context as offering a bilingual education will further enhance the culture and heritage of the community, creating a sense of belonging and inclusivity to its people. Economically, the school will have a positive impact, bringing in international interest to the area. In terms of design and form, the school is taking over an existing building and will only require minor works, if anything it is beautifying the existing building.

When testing against every urban design factor, the introduction of International Chinese School successfully meets the criterion and will make a positive impact to the local community. I strongly support the speedy approval of 211 Pacific Highway as a school site for use by ICS in time for the 2020 academic year.

I object to the site at 211 Pacific Highway St Leonards being used as a school by the International Chinese School. The site is completely unsuitable for a school as it is in a cemetery, has no outside grounds and is on the highway.
The access to the school would be difficult as it can only be accessed from one direction.
The school proposes to use the carpark at Gore Hill Oval for school drop-off and pick-up. This is a public carpark and would be monopolised by the school at these times. Also, where would the school's staff park?
The school has no grounds and proposes to use the facilities at Gore Hill Oval. These facilities are public facilities and the public should not have restricted access. The International Chinese School, in their submission, gives a list of schools that use public facilities but just because this might be the arrangement for other schools it doesn't mean it is suitable in this situation.
40 km school zones would be imposed on the highway making travel along the highway even more difficult.
The International Chinese School is proposing to move from its current site because it wants to expand and one of the reasons it gives for expanding is that the larger the school the cheaper the fees. How long is it going to be happy having 210 students and want to expand again? Will they want to expand on this site?
Finally I think that a cemetery is a completely unsuitable site for a school. I imagine some pupils would access the school by walking through the cemetery which would be a very unsafe practice.

I wish to strongly support Option 4 for the relocation of the International Chinese School currently located on View St Chatswood to the proposed St Leonards/Crows Nest precinct. The location would allow the continuance of a well regarded and respected educational facility that is much needed by the young families living the the area, providing safe and accessible education for the growing population of young families with parents who purposely move to the district due to its close proximity to the businesses in the lower North Shore and thus are essential to sustain the commercial viability of the area. The school provides an attractive base for the surrounding businesses as it attracts families who will support the local businesses.

See letter dated 24 October 2019 from Willoughby City Council