Six preschool and long day care (LDC) facilities in Armidale and Guyra, in regional New South Wales, will benefit from $74,162.69 in funding through the NSW Government’s Quality Learning Environments (QLE) program, local MP Adam Marshall has announced. 

Mr Marshall visited Galloway Children’s Centre to view the service’s kitchen, which will benefit from a $6,000 funding allocation to be used to add new cabinets and benchtops, a commercial fridge, a stove and a washing machine. 

“In the past educators feared poor diets were impacting children’s behaviour and so reinstating the kitchen has helped teach kids about better dietary choices while putting a healthy meal in their tummies,” Mr Marshall said.

“It’s fantastic to see these centres continually working to improve their facilities so that local children can have the best, and most positive, start to their education journey.”

Galloway Children’s Centre Director Sarah Grant said the service was “so appreciative” of the funding, which will allow for a “fast track” of the kitchen upgrade, and allow the staff to provide nourishing meals for the children. 

“In 2019, when the old kitchen was reopened, we had little money to invest in improvements and so made do with the highly impractical workspace,” she said.

“As a not-for-profit it would have been another few years before we could afford to complete the works ourselves and I really don’t know that our dated kitchen would have held out that long.”

Other preschools in Armidale and Guyra will also benefit from the funding pool, including Guyra Preschool and Long Day Care, which has been assisted with $13,873.64 to purchase new outdoor climbing equipment.

The Yarm Gwanga Preschool and Early Education Centre will spend $13,044 on new furniture and resources, while Adventureland Preschool will use its $15,000 allocation to refurbish an outdoor space to feature an interactive creek bed with Aboriginal perspectives.

St Peter’s Preschool will receive $11,273 to install a splash pond, water hand pump and swing set, while $14,971 will add new windows for additional supervision at Boongaiai Preschool, along with a purpose built cubby play structure.

The Quality Learning Environments (QLE) grants provide early childhood education facilities with funding of up to $15,000 to purchase resources and activities which improve physical or educational learning environments. They can also be used to provide specialised educational programs for children to address identified educational needs.

Further information about the grants is available here.