A grant for $131,676 means Winanga-Li Aboriginal Child and Family Centre can upgrade to a community pre-school.
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This means more families will have access to early childhood centres and parents will be able to get back into the workforce.
Centre manager Wayne Griffiths said everyone was very excited about the funding and the subsequent pre-school project.
“Access to early childhood [education] for kids is paramount,” Mr Griffiths said.
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The existing pre-school building has already been licensed, with more infrastructure to be built this year.
“Council has already approved an extension for us so now we’ll set up these plans and construct the new building right next to the existing one,” Mr Griffiths said.
“This will open up the scope for additional children to have access to a fantastic early childhood life.”
Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson said the grant came from the NSW government’s Capital Works Grants program, and would mean more choice for families looking for a community preschool.
“The funding means more children locally will have access to a quality early childhood education,” Mr Anderson said.
“This investment means preschools in the region electorate will have shorter waiting lists, parents will have more choice when choosing a pre-school and children won’t have to wait to start their preschool education.”
[The centre] is for any kids that want to come in here, not just Aboriginal kids.
- Wayne Griffiths, Waninga-Li centre manager
Minister for Early Childhood Education Sarah Mitchell said it was a great investment for Gunnedah.
“We will continue to invest in the children in our region, because we know our future doctors, teachers and farmers are being shaped in our pre-schools as we speak, so an investment in them really is an investment in our future,” Senator Mitchell said.
“This application has gone through an independent, competitive, merit-based assessment and I am pleased that Winanga-Li Aboriginal Child and Family Centre have been awarded this grant.”
Mr Griffiths said Winanga-Li recently held an open day for families interested in enrolling their children at the centre.
“We’ve got upwards of five new enrolments that will potentially come into the centre now,” he said.
“There were people who came all the way down from the Sunshine Coast, too.”
He said that the most important information visitors took away was that the centre was for everybody, and open to the whole community.
“It’s for any kids that want to come in here, not just Aboriginal kids,” Mr Griffiths said.
“Doesn't matter where they come from, they’ve got kiddies who need an early education.”