At a meeting with John Barilaro and Early Childhood Education Minister Leslie Williams last week, representatives from Braidwood Preschool impressed the importance of enrolling young children who are not currently funded by the NSW Government.
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Preschool Association president Samara Zeitsch and director Kathy Toirkens asked the Minister to increase funding for NSW preschools as well as to remove the financial penalty to services enrolling children who are not in the year before school.
The meeting in Queanbeyan provided an opportunity for the Minister to hear about the value of Braidwood Preschool to the community it serves. Kathy and Samara told the Minister that the preschool provides early education and care, and aims to meet parents’ needs by enrolling children aged 2 to 5 years.
They talked to Ms Williams about how important it was to the parents and to the preschool’s ongoing viability, to enrol younger children who are not funded by the NSW Government, in addition to the children who are aged in the year before school, who are funded.
Ms Williams and Mr Barilaro were given a copy of the preschool calendar, and were told how the community of Braidwood supports the preschool through fundraising events and in-kind support.
They showed Ms Williams photos of how the preschool committee had improved the preschool building, through the office extension, and in the playground through improvements to soft fall, storage and the play area.
Mrs Williams discussed with Kathy and Samara how the preschool might use the recent grant of $7000 to improve access and participation of children who are in the year before school, with the aim of 95 per cent of children attending an early childhood service for a minimum of 15 hours per week.
Ms Williams said she hoped to visit Braidwood Preschool in the future.
