Big fan to be a breath of fresh air for primary

After years of sweltering through assemblies, Karratha Primary School students and staff will be a lot cooler with the installation of a 3.5m-diameter fan in the ceiling of the assembly area.

The wide fan, which is almost as big as those at the Karratha airport terminal, was installed last month through a donation of $20,000 from Karratha Dampier Lions Club.

Principal Will Davis said Lions club members had offered to make a donation towards school equipment at the school’s presentation night last year, with the P&C committee taking them up on the offer for an overhead fan to cool the assembly area.

Mr Davis said the fan had long been needed and would make a big difference to student and staff comfort levels in the building.

“This time of year is a bit cooler but for six months of the year it gets extremely hot,” he said.

“This will make a massive difference.

“It will mean kids will be able to use the area more often and even increase use of the assembly area at times when we wouldn’t normally use it.”

Mr Davis said the fan’s unusual design had been chosen because the model had a record of meeting the demands of the harsh Pilbara climate.