SWAN Hill will get a new kindergarten in 2021 to cater for an influx of up to 140 pupils to coincide with the introduction of three-year-old kindergarten in 2022.
The state government has invested $5 billion in a decade-long reform to deliver a full 15 hours of three-year-old kinder.
Shine Bright Shamrock Park will be located in St Mary’s Swan Hill’s multipurpose room, catering to both three and four-year-old kindergarten.
The kindergarten will be run autonomously by Shine Bright, who already operate five kindergartens in Swan Hill and surrounding areas.
Shine Bright project manager John Scobie said in 2021 four-year-old kindergarten will be introduced with a capacity of 22 pupils, followed by three-year-old kindergarten in 2022.
“This is on the back of provisioning three-year-old (kindergarten) that is coming on board in Swan Hill in 2022,” Mr Scobie told The Guardian.
“So we’ve really got to look at opportunities to increase our capacity.
“We think there will be 100-140 children that will come into the system.”
The partnership has been able to go ahead with permission from Swan Hill Catholic priest Father Matthew Thomas.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity from our point of view with the holy family parish,” Mr Scobie said.
“We’re really happy about the partnership and that degree of professional co-operation.
“And, we’re excited about adding the facility in Swan Hill, particularly with three-year-old (kindergarten) coming on board in 2022.”
Mr Scobie added research said getting children into education earlier resulted in better long-term outcomes.
“The whole reasoning for it is around younger people becoming better, older people and making sure they’re able to have better outcomes,” he said.
As part of the state government’s plans, in 2022, five hours of subsided kindergarten will be introduced, increasing to 15 hours by 2030.
So, St Mary’s school principal Kate Quin said it was the perfect time for the new kindergarten service to run.
“In light of this, Shine Bright is planning for infrastructure and staffing requirements to absorb additional children within their services,” Ms Quin said.
“The partnership with St Mary’s is a strategic response to this change in policy.”
Enrolments for the 2021 kindergarten year will open in February and will being included in Shine Bright’s options for enrolment in the Swan Hill region.
Other stakeholders involved in the process include Swan Hill Rural City Council manager of family, youth and children’s services Jan McEwan and Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh.
Ms McEwan said the introduction of the new centre comes on the back of council’s early to middle years plan, covering ages 0-12.
“Looking at our infrastructure and workforce, considering the government’s introduction of three-year-old kindergarten, from 2022, the early years is probably the more significant part of the plan,” she said.
While Mr Walsh said you get better educational outcomes when investing in early years of education, saving money later in the child’s life.
The name Shamrock Park comes from to the sports ground that was on the site before St Mary’s was built.
