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TEACHERS at Uralla Central School have been assured their workload will not increase after the evacuation of Rocky River Public School.
Staff and students at Rocky River were evacuated earlier this week and relocated to Uralla Central School after structural issues were discovered in the main schoolhouse.
A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Education said Rocky River students would see out the rest of the school term at the Uralla Central School site.
"The Department of Education has been monitoring ground movement at Rocky River Public School for some time, and after an engineering inspection of the main school building yesterday, a decision has been made to limit public access to that building until potential stability issues can be fully assessed," they said.
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While students of Rocky River School will attend the Central school campus they will continue to be taught by Rocky River staff.
Earlier:
Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall has moved to reassure the community that the emergency closure of the Rocky River school near Uralla, is 'temporary'.
The school, which was first opened in 1860 during the gold rush and remains the longest-established school in the Northern Tablelands, was evacuated earlier this week and its staff and 42 students moved across to the Uralla Central School, after engineers discovered serious structural issues in the historical main schoolhouse.
Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall said he met with Education Minister Sarah Mitchell on Thursday, to secure assurances that the situation would be short term.
"I was devastated ... to learn of the sudden closure of the school on Wednesday, and my first concern was for the students and the dedicated staff led by Principal Brad Hunt," Mr Marshall said.
"Showing true country hospitality, the neighbouring school, Uralla Central School made room for their guests and Principal Michael Rathborne put out the welcome mat."
While Mr Marshall said the relocation was a "quick and sensible solution", he also said he would make sure a promise to locate demountable buildings onto the Rocky River Public School site in time for term three, would be fulfilled.
"The extent of damage to the historical schoolhouse is not fully known, and work will continue to assess what will be needed to fix the problem," Mr Marshall said.
"I have met with the Minister today (Thursday) and shared the strong wishes of the Rocky River community that their school be restored as soon as possible and 162 years of education history be allowed to continue.
"I have secured welcome assurances from the Minister that restoration work on the building will be completed, as well as provision of temporary accommodation on-site, as an absolute priority."
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