The pre-school officially opened a new wing on Wednesday, enabling the pre-school to offer 260 places a week under the one roof.

The completion of the expansion has been long-anticipated, with staff originally hoping to move in two months ago.

The new section houses a reception area, office, disabled toilet, and a pre-school room, which houses the Green Room class, which has the capacity to provide 20 places a day. The class has been housed in the Baptist Church hall for nine months in anticipation of the expansion.

Green Room teachers Rebecca Thurbon and Bridgette Hatton are thrilled to have a space of their own.

“It’s a massive relief and I’m so pleased that the families can finally benefit from that room,” Ms Thurbon said.

The early childhood educator said it was also good for the kids to have a space to connect to and be under the same roof as the rest of the children.

“It certainly makes programming a lot smoother for the kids,” she said.

 “The children are more settled.”

Ms Thurbon said personally, it was great to be near fellow staff.

“A big thing for me is being under the same roof as the other teachers,” she said.

“We’re all one big happy family.”

Director Julie Frend said it has been exciting to see the staff and children settle in.

“Bec and Bridge have got some really great ideas, things they want to set up to make it a really fun learning space,” she said.

Mrs Fend has been at the pre-school for 15 years and said the Gunnedah Baptist Childcare Association had been discussing an expansion for about five years but began to consider it seriously in the last 18 months.

The project received a financial boost in May when the association found it would receive $300,000 from the Department of Education’s 2016 Capital Works Grants program.

Mrs Frend said the expansion was great news for both the pre-school and parents.

“It’s a massive step forward, particularly with our funding now with kids funded to attend pre-school 15 hours a week before they attend big school,” she said.

“We do have vacancies now [for 2018] as result of our expansion.”

Currently, the Green Room has children aged 3-5 but next year the focus will be on school readiness for 4 to 5-year-olds.

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