General News
10 March, 2023
Shire prioritises early years
The local shire's journey to improving early years living will climax in 2025 with the completion of the new Dunmunkle Childcare Centre coinciding with the rollout of the state government's Pre-Prep program and council's Early Years Strategy. The...
The local shire's journey to improving early years living will climax in 2025 with the completion of the new Dunmunkle Childcare Centre coinciding with the rollout of the state government's Pre-Prep program and council's Early Years Strategy.
The Yarriambiack region will be one of the first six local government areas to receive the Pre-Prep program, which will double the number of free kindergarten hours to 30 per week.
Yarriambiack mayor Kylie Zanker said Yarriambiack is at the forefront of this rollout because of their commitment to improving early years development.
“I’m really passionate about early years because it is a fundamental growth and learning stage,” she said.
“I like to believe we are always trying to think of ways to make sure that children, especially younger ones, have the learning outcomes they need.
“Generally speaking, rural children’s literacy and learning is a lot lower, so whatever we can do to enhance and be positive and grow those outcomes, the better off our youth and children will be.”
The effects of the rollout will be intensified as council predicts that 2025 will also see the completion of the long-awaited Dunmunkle Childcare Centre.
The centre, established on the current site of the kindergarten in Murtoa, will act as a hub for early year access.
“My understanding is it will have maternal and child health, childcare, a one-stop shop for parents,” Cr Zanker said.
“It will have clinicians come to visit, speech therapists and podiatrists as well, so parents can really utilise some of those specialised services.”
At the February 22 council meeting Cr Zanker also announced the development of the Early Years Strategy 2023-2027, which will be built around community consultations adressing what parents think their children need.
“Some of the information we have shows that childcare is looking quite short, but ideally we want to document what future direction parents can see,” she said.
“Some other examples we’ve seen are access to specialised services for parents, but often times the waiting lists for those services are quite long.
“In the past we have linked with the Royal Children’s Hospital for baby and sleep clinics, things like that, so going forward we’re seeking feedback (on how to build on those services).”
Council is asking parents to consider the following questions to help with developing the strategy: What do you need? What do you feel is missing? What is working well? What can council add?
The strategy does not have a set completion date as yet, but will be drafted and available for community feedback following the community consultations.