Kids benefit from grants

By Ed Merrison
KINDERGARTENS and child care services in the City of Knox will share in well over $200,000 in State Government grants to boost safety, buy equipment and improve general amenities.
During a visit today to FW Kerr Preschool in Ferntree Gully on Tuesday, 1 August, Minister for Children Sherryl Garbutt said 55 Knox kindergartens and child care services received a total $223,259 in grants.
“Thousands of Victorian kindergartens and child care services who applied for grants of up to $5000 were successful, including FW Kerr Preschool,” Ms Garbutt said.
“This funding boost will support a swag of priority projects to make local kindergartens more appealing and comfortable for the children and staff.”
Ferntree Gully MP Anne Eckstein said the minor capital grants would help keep local children’s services accessible and appealing.
“The Bracks Government is investing heavily in children’s services in areas like Knox and helping working parents balance the competing demands of work and families by better integrating early childhood services,” she said.
Ms Eckstein said a mix of non-profit long day child care and occasional childcare services, and community-based kindergartens and outside school hours care services would use the grants to make more pleasant and safe environments for young children in Knox.
“The grants are allocated to upgrade outdoor play areas, buy new materials or audio-visual equipment for activities, replace furniture or provide heating or cooling.”
FW Kerr Preschool, one of 29 council-supported preschools currently operating in the municipality, received a maximum grant of $5000, which will pay for extra storage cupboards in the playroom.
Dobson Ward councillor Karin Orpen, who was also present at Ms Garbutt’s visit, said the council placed a high premium on early learning and had showed it with its purse, with more than $750,000 going towards its preschools in the past year.
“Anything we can get back from the Government to offset the costs of work to be done in our preschools is appreciated,” she said.
FW Kerr Preschool committee president Nicole Culhane praised the teacher’s efforts in applying for and winning the funding.
“You have to be specific in terms of what the funding is for and you’ve got to do your research, so the teachers have got to be on the ball,” she said.