Capital grants money worth more than $300,000 is a saving grace for Gunnedah Baptist Community Preschool.
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The pre-school is among 28 NSW pre-schools to share in $8 million of funding from the Department of Education’s 2016 Capital Works Grants program.
News of the Gunnedah Baptist Childcare Association’s successful application came through almost three months after work had begun on an additional building in the pre-school grounds.
The new building will house a pre-school room, reception, offices, and bathroom facilities for staff, students and people with disabilities. The front entrance will be moved, with a wheel-chair and pram-friendly path to lead from the footpath to the reception area.
Pre-school director Julie Frend said it was a “relief” to get the ball rolling because capacity had been a long-term issue and previous applications for grants had been unsuccessful.
Gunnedah Baptist has had a waiting list for years and in January, created a third class – dubbed “the green room” – to help meet demand for places. The “green room” is housed in the Gunnedah Baptist Church hall until the new classroom is finished.
The new class means the pre-school has been able to offer 20 more places a day for three days a week, however, it will be open for an additional two days once the new classroom is complete. The pre-school has also increased its hours and is now open from 8am to 3.30pm.
The combination of changes created a need for three more staff members and staggered start times.
“We’re excited. We’re loving the way we can have increased flexibility for families that may need to change days,” Mrs Frend said.
Gunnedah Baptist Childcare Association chair, Jayne Barker, said the expansion had allowed the pre-school to welcome new families this year and the building would provide space for professionals to meet with parents and staff.
“The new facility will make it easier for parents coming to the pre-school,” she said.
Mrs Frend said the inclusion of disability-friendly facilities was also a positive development.
“As far as wheelchairs and prams, this is a big step forward for us,” she said.
“The green room children are very keen to make the transition and they’ve made it into a project to watch the room built.”
The furnishing of the new building will be funded by the childcare association and the director said she was thankful to the previous fundraising committee for saving finances with the expansion in mind.
Gunnedah mayor Jamie Chaffey said the expansion was a positive for the community.
“Any funds that are made available to organisations within our community to assist, to shorten the waiting times and to create extra positions that will help us to encourage young families to the region, which will assist in getting some much needed skills and labour force into the Gunnedah region, is certainly welcomed by the Gunnedah Shire Council,” he said.
“This now being the second childcare facility within Gunnedah to move forward with expansions certainly helps us as a community to address this specific need that we have in front of us right at the moment.
“As our community is currently experiencing strong economic growth and many businesses are feeling the pains associated with that growth, having more childcare spaces available certainly will help us to encourage stronger residential growth within the Gunnedah local government area.”
Cr Chaffey said there was currently a gap in the childcare market for facilities that meet the needs of parents who worked irregular hours within industries such as nursing and aged care.
“I’m certainly looking forward with interest to see how that potential market may be fulfilled within our current childcare facilities that we have,” he said.
Long day care centre Li’l Achievers will triple in size when it expands to accommodate 80 children all year round.
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