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WA Deaf School
Growth and Development
Founded at a time when children with hearing impairments were often excluded from mainstream education, the school made a significant step towards providing better support and learning opportunities for deaf children in Western Australia.
The school originally started in a modest building but quickly expanded to cater to the growing number of deaf students. In the early 20th century, it was renamed the WA School for the Deaf and Dumb, reflecting the language commonly used at the time, though later generations would view this terminology as outdated and offensive. In the decades that followed, the school became simply known as the WA Deaf School.
For many years, children from all over the state boarded at the Cottesloe site, sometimes living there for months at a time. From around 1967, the boarding facility for the school became known as the Mosman Park Hostel.
The school provided both academic education and practical life skills training, helping students learn how to navigate the hearing world while embracing deaf culture and sign language.
September 2021
Changes in the System
As attitudes towards disability evolved, so did the education system. From the 1970s onwards, there was a growing movement towards integrating deaf students into mainstream schools. This resulted in a gradual decline in enrolments at the Cottesloe campus. By the 1980s, the WA Deaf School began scaling back its boarding facilities and eventually, the school closed altogether in 2001, although it appears that administrative staff continued to use the building for the next two decades.
October 2021
Redevelopment in the Pipeline
In April 2023, the historic 126 year old building was sold for $35 million to Cottesloe Living, Health and Aged Care, a joint venture between Hall & Prior Health and Aged Care and the Fire and Emergency Services Superannuation Fund. The purchase came as little surprise, especially given that the third stage of the neighbouring Wearne Hostel development had been planned for the site occupied by the school’s rear building and basketball courts, pending the full sale of Stage 2.
On 25 May 2023, a Heritage Agreement was signed between the Heritage Council of Western Australia and the new owners, outlining required conservation works to be completed within 12 months of the agreement’s signing.
As of January 2024, plans were well underway to redevelop the heritage-listed building and surrounding site into a residential aged care and retirement living community.
November 2021
