Mt Gambier Childcare grateful for parent support during staff shortages

Mount Gambier Child Care Centre on South Australia’s Limestone Coast has reached out to local media to express gratitude for its parent community who have been “so understanding” after a recent decision by the service to hold bookings following the sudden departure of a staff member.

The service reached out to families sharing candidly the difficulties they were having in terms of meeting regulatory requirements after the staff members departure, acknowledging the challenges in finding available childcare.

Chairperson Shelley Fisher said many of the parents understood the centre’s position, acknowledging the strength in the local community, with parents rallying around to support. 

Assistant Director and Educator Jess Wilkin told Border Watch that even when the service is able to recruit to fill the vacancy left by the departed educator, there will still be challenges for local families. 

“The positions that we have available will alleviate some of the pressures, but they certainly won’t alleviate all of the pressures, and they’re not going to alleviate the pressures that families feel who are waiting for childcare,“ she told the paper.

“The hardest thing for us is, even once we are able to reinstate the bookings that families very kindly placed on hold for us while we sort out this situation, I don’t think it’s going to sort out the other 80 on our waiting list.“

To read the original coverage of this story please see here.