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Perth private school builds $8m centre as demand for ECEC rises
Freya Lucas
Sep 24, 2024
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All Saints’ College in the Perth suburb of Bull Creek has opened a 97 place early learning centre in response to rising demand for early childhood education and care in the West.
The $8.4 million will educate and care for children from 12 months to four years of age when fully operational in 2025, and is one of a select few Perth private schools to offer the service.Little Saints, Principal Belinda Provis shared with local news source The West Australian, was built following a decision by the school to address the critical need for quality care for local families and to benefit its 248 staff members, many of whom are parents of early learners seeking care.
“We’ve priced it really competitively, so that even if people can’t afford an All Saints’ education after child care (sic.), everyone can hopefully have access to really quality education and care at this time.”
In addition to addressing the need for high quality education and care in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, Ms Provis hopes that providing discounted care on site will become a way to attract and retain staff to support the broader school community.
“We have quite strong demand from our own staff already,” she said. “And I know we’re going to have another 10 or so coming in next year, because I’m very pleased to say All Saints’ staff are really contributing to population growth.”
Her advice to other school leaders who may be considering a similar path is to view the creation of early learning spaces as a service to the community.
Schools, she said, are increasingly providing a wider range of services to communities with the decline of some other traditional agencies such as churches.
As an added benefit Ms Provis anticipates that Little Saints will provide employment and work-experience opportunities for senior students.Learn more about Little Saints here. The original coverage of this story is available here.
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