Plan to offer long day care at Kalkee Road Hub
0ore than new long day places will be available by the end of the year under a Horsham 5ural City Council plan to ease the Wimmera¶s severe childcare shortage.
0ayor 5obyn *ulline said rooms at .alkee 5oad Children¶s and Community Hub would become available for long day care when current tenant Emerge Early /earning 6ervices shifted its kindergarten program to a new Horsham 1orth facility.
³Emerge Early /earning 6ervices has secured funding for a new two-room kindergarten to be located at the 5asmussen 5oad school site. 7his means there will be a chance for Council to host a much needed long day provider at the Hub,´ she said.
³7he new long cay care program at the Hub should be operational by 2 2 at the latest,´ Cr *ulline said.
Cr *ulline said there were at least 2 5 individual children on the waiting lists of Horsham s four long day care centres.
6he said access to child care could be a deciding factor in how long families stayed in the area.
³7he inability to return to work or to move to Horsham to take up skilled positions disadvantages our whole community, putting businesses and services under further pressure to find suitable staff. Our shortage of long day care provision also unfairly disadvantages women.
³%y reverting the .alkee 5oad Hub to the original design and use, which was for long
day care and in venue kindergarten, an additional new long day care places can be made available.´
³7hat¶s very good news not only for families but also local businesses,´ Cr *ulline said.
7he region¶s childcare problem extends beyond long day care. 7he recent decision of the 9ictorian *overnment to provide free kindergarten places to all three and four year-olds from 2 2 as well as move to hours of kinder provision by 2 2, will create further need for kinder provisions in the municipality.
However there is a general consensus that families are unwilling to µgive up¶ a full day of long day care (eight hours) to access five hours of kindergarten.
7his includes the issues of the inability to µswap¶ long day care days (due to demand) and also the difficulties for working families to accommodate drop off and pick up of children who finish kindergarten sessions in the middle of the working day.
³6o right now our priority is to try and improve people¶s options when it comes to long day care,´ Cr *ulline said.
Council will soon invite expressions of interest from providers to run the new long day care and all-day kindergarten program. 0aternal and Child Health 6ervices and 6upported 3laygroup will continue to operate from the Hub.