Member for Wollongong Paul Scully visits the construction site for the new Lake Heights public preschool. Photo: NSW Government.
A new public preschool for Lake Heights is under construction, one of six across the Illawarra promised to be open by 2027.
Excavation works are underway at Lake Heights, and construction has also begun on preschools at Berkeley West, Hayes Park, Cringila, Barrack Heights and Lake Illawarra South.
Each of the schools is co-located with their local public primary school, to help young learners adjust before their formal transition to “big school”.
Once open, the preschools combined will provide places for up to 320 children each week in the year before they start school, providing early learning programs and making the drop-off and pick-up runs a bit easier for parents with other children at the same school.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces and Member for Wollongong Paul Scully attended the Lake Heights Public School preschool construction site on Monday (2 March).
He said the preschools would help local families give their kids the best start to school, regardless of their income.
“It’s exciting to see work underway at Lake Heights Public to deliver a new fee-free public preschool,” he said.
“This is just one of four being built in the Wollongong electorate to help families access education sooner to give their children the best possible start in life.
“The Minns Labor Government is making sure in Wollongong and across the state our littlest learners start their education on the right foot.”
Lake Heights Public School Principal Kieren Corbyn said it was an opportunity for the school to be more involved with local families, before formal education began.
“We are very excited about connecting with the families in our community and welcoming our youngest learners,” he said.
“We look forward to supporting the beginning of their school journey at our new public preschool.”
In addition to state-of-the-art learning areas, each new preschool will include staff facilities, a kitchen, toilet facilities and landscaped outdoor play areas.
They form part of the NSW Government’s $769 million commitment to double the number of public preschools in the state.
Once complete, up to 9000 children will benefit from access to fee-free, high quality early education in their local community.
Of the 100 new public preschools, 51 are in metropolitan Sydney and 49 in regional NSW.
The new public preschools are among some of the first built in NSW in almost 20 years.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said all children should have access to early education.
“Where your child lives should not limit what they can achieve,” she said.
“For far too long, families in communities like Wollongong had limited access to quality early childhood education.
“This is all part of the Minns Labor Government’s commitment to give every child in NSW the best start in life.”
