Frigid temperatures caused water pipes to burst at Charnwood-Dunlop School and Giralang Preschool. Photo: Education Directorate.
One public school and one preschool are closed for repairs today (23 June) due to frigid minimum temperatures bursting water pipes over the weekend.
Education Minister Yvette Berry notified the public on Facebook that “several schools” had been impacted by the cold temperatures.
Charnwood-Dunlop School alerted parents and carers via email, text alert and social media at 4:17 pm on Sunday (22 June) that the school would have to be closed for repairs.
“We apologise for the late communication; however, Charnwood Dunlop School has experienced damage as a result of several burst pipes over the weekend due to the cold temperatures,” a statement read.
“As a result, there is no water available at the school, impacting drinking water, the use of toilets and the fire suppression system. Due to these systems at the school being offline, the school will be unable to safely operate tomorrow.
“We will require all students to remain at home tomorrow Monday 23 June 2025.”
The Education Directorate confirmed to Region that it became aware of Charnwood-Dunlop School’s burst pipes on Saturday (21 June) morning.
“We believe the pipes were damaged late on Friday night / early Saturday morning,” a spokesperson said.
“The Directorate tried to rectify the issue over the weekend, but unfortunately the repairs at Charnwood-Dunlop required parts that were unable to be sourced over the weekend.”
Plumbers have been at Charnwood-Dunlop School since 7:30 am today (23 June), working on the issue.
“We will communicate with impacted families later today regarding school operations moving forward,” the spokesperson said.
Cracked and burst pipes were also discovered at Lanyon High School, Richardson Primary School, Miles Franklin Primary School, Hughes Primary School and Fraser Primary School over the weekend.
“Issues with the pipes at those schools were able to be rectified more quickly and those schools are in operation today,” the directorate spokesperson said.
Further checks this morning found burst pipes at Shirley Smith High School, Duffy Primary School, Red Hill School and Franklin School.
All these schools were able to open as normal.
But burst pipes discovered at Giralang Preschool this morning also meant that the site needed to be closed.
“The rest of Giralang Primary School is operating as normal,” the directorate spokesperson said.
“The Education Directorate is working to reopen both Charnwood-Dunlop School and Giralang Preschool as soon as possible.”
According to Weatherzone, Tuggeranong recorded its coldest June morning in 25 years on Saturday (21 June) with a minimum temperature of -7.5 degrees.
Canberra reached a frigid -7.6 degrees just before 6 am – comparable to Antarctica’s Davis Station – which was the Capital’s coldest June morning in 39 years (and its coldest morning in eight years).
