KINDERGARTEN and childcare capacity in Swan Hill has grown with the construction of a new three and four-year-old kinder building at Young Adventurers.
“We’re so happy to see new families able to get off the waiting list and enrol with more places opening in childcare and three and four-year-old kinder,” owner Marg Hartshorn said.
“It’s a relief for parents, who have been on the waiting list for up to 18 months and need this service to go back to work.”
Mrs Hartshorn stressed the importance of increased childcare and kinder capacity in Swan Hill and the region.
“The community needs these parents back at work – they’re our doctors, nurses, teachers,” she said.
As the three and four-year classes have moved into the new facilities, there was increased capacity in both childcare and kindergarten.
The centre enrolled 20 new students in the mid-year intake, the most in 10 years. In comparison, 10 to 15 places are normally available at the new year intake.
Parents and carers were recommended to check their progress on the waiting list.
More spaces would become available incrementally, to allow for the classes to adapt to their new peers and onboarding of new teaching staff.
“We don’t want to burn out our teachers – we’ve been successful in filling four positions and we’re about to do another recruitment drive,” Mrs Hartshorn said.
“The 2025 three and four-year-old kinder programs are full but not fully staffed yet, as we need both teachers and teaching assistants.”
The kinder students moved into the new building last week.
They were enjoying the space to do more activities together and adopting a new passion for exploration.
“One of the kids was excited that everyone could fit on the new couch at once – it was a bit squished but everyone was included,” Ms Hartshorn said.
With their own, more spacious kitchen in the new building, students were also starting to volunteer to help with morning tea preparation, and developing teamwork and independence.
The teaching staff were equally excited, as the space allowed for ongoing projects, activities and toys to stay out, and larger play spaces such as the new Lego table to fit in comfortably.
Teachers could tailor the learning space with more developmentally appropriate toys that were unsuitable to a mixed-age environment. These included toys targeting fine motor skills that present a hazard to younger students, or activities that cater to the growing attention span of older students.
The new building includes two classrooms, one each for the three and four-year classes that are three times the size of the original classroom, and can be combined or separated at teachers’ discretion; a purpose-built office and tearoom for staff; and a series of outdoor areas including veggie planter boxes, playgrounds and seating.
