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Lockhart parents welcome town’s only LDC opening
Freya Lucas
Apr 15, 2025
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Parents in the regional New South Wales community of Lockhart have welcomed the opening of the town’s only long day care (LDC) service, conveniently located on site with the Lockhart Central School.
Just short of a year ago the town’s previous (and only) LDC option closed due to what the Department of Education called “significant child safety concerns,” leaving families stranded.The new service has the capacity to educate and care for 25 children from three years of age, and has been welcomed by parents and the broader community.
Speaking with local news source Region Riverina, Lockhart Central School teacher and parent Tara Buckley said that following the closure of the previous site, many parents, including herself and her husband, had to reduce the days they worked to look after their children.
“Everybody scrambled and looked for different opportunities in terms of employment, including dropping days off working and things like that to bridge the gap,” she said.
For the town, this meant an impact to services and trades.
Member for Wagga Dr Joe McGirr attended the centre’s official opening and highlighted the hard work of local parents and Lockhart Shire Council in getting a new LDC option up and running.
“Having a centre open in less than 12 months is incredible; you wouldn’t see that happen in the city and that’s a testament to the work of the Lockhart community,” he said.
Access the original coverage of this story here.
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