By NICOLE VALICEK
HOBSONS Bay parents wanting to enrol their children in three-year-old kindergarten next year could face longer waiting lists and fewer centre options.
Due to Federal Government changes to kindergarten structures, four-year-old kindergarten programs will require a mandatory delivery of 15 hours per week in 2014. As well as replacing the previous 10 hours and 45 minutes, more staff will be required and in some cases three-year-old programs will be displaced from centres.
Three year-old kindergarten programs currently operate from 14 kindergarten services across the municipality.
The Robina Scott Kindergarten in Williamstown will not be offering a three-year-old program in 2014, but The Range Children’s Centre in Williamstown and Home Road Kindergarten in Newport will offer modified programs in 2014.
According to Hobsons Bay City Council this will mean a reduction of three-year-old programs by 46 places, with 60 families currently on the waiting list for a 2014 program.
Hobsons Bay City Council adopted its Three Year Old Kindergarten Policy on 28 May.
Hobsons Bay mayor Angela Altair said the council supported local kinders and provided many of the facilities where kinder programs were held, but the management of local kinders rested with community organisations and independent committees.
“As part of the policy, the council will explore facilities to support the delivery of three-year-old kindergarten across the municipality.”
The council has identified the Williamstown Childcare Co-operative’s current building in Cecil St as one possibility for three-year-old programs.
Robina Scott Kindergarten president Scott Sagona said have been preparing for the mandatory changes but as a result cannot run three-year-old programs.
“When our five four-year-old programs go from 11 hours to 15 hours we don’t have enough space in the rooms or hours in the week to run the three-year-old program.”
Home Road administration manager Karly Konlan said the centre placed a high importance on retaining the number of three-year-old places they currently have on offer.
She said they would still offer 92 places but the three-year-old hours would be reduced to two two-hour sessions.
Ms Konlan said they knew other centres would not be offering the three-year-old program, so they made the decision to offer the highest number of places available to families in Hobsons Bay.
She said parents have been informed about the changes but that there will still be 60 children on the waiting list after offers go out this week.
“Anyone that misses out on a place is going to have no other options at the moment.”
“I think obviously the three-year-olds weren’t considered when the Government was looking at universal access and increase for four-year-olds.”
