Mount Gambier preschools are being encouraged to take part in a trial of out of hours care in a bid to make preschool hours more family-friendly.
The State Government this week announced that it would trial out of hours care in 20 public preschools across the state following the release of Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care.
The government announced it will adopt the very first recommendation in the report to reduce the rate of South Australian children entering school developmentally vulnerable from 23.8% to 15% within 20 years -below the national average of 22%.
As such, work will immediately begin on expanding Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) in South Australia, with more than $10m of investment into the sector.
This includes a $1.7m trial at 20 preschool sites, specifically in regions of capacity need such as the northern, northeastern and suburbs.
Government preschools are run using a sessional model, usually offering preschool from around 9am-3pm.
In contrast, most non-government preschools offer long day care, from around 7am-6pm.
The Department for Education will seek expressions of interest from preschools who would like to take part in the trial, with particular emphasis on communities with higher levels of disadvantage in outer northern Adelaide and Gawler, outer southern Adelaide, SA’s major regional centres including Mount Gambier, Port Pirie, Port Augusta, Whyalla, and Port Lincoln, outer regional SA communities including Fleurieu Peninsula, Mid-North, Flinders Ranges / Mount Remarkable, Yorke and Eyre Peninsula and metropolitan Adelaide, in areas of disadvantage.
The Royal Commission into Early Education and Care had submissions from a wide range of stakeholders who highlighted the need for government preschools to provide care options that meet the changing needs of working families.
In addition to the trial of OSHC in preschools, more than $10m has been committed to increase support for OSHC services run on public school sites and to reform how these services are governed.
This responds to the findings of the Royal Commission about the difficulties school governing councils have in effectively operating high-quality OSHC programs.
The government is also committed to changing the structure of required OSHC qualifications so more staff will be available to ease workforce shortages.
This is in addition to the changes made earlier this year to widen the accepted range of qualifications for OSHC educators.
