Western Sydney, Nowra, Albury and Lennox Head to get new public preschools

The Minns government will spend nearly $770 million building 100 brand-new, low-cost public preschools. See where the first ten will be.

Ten primary schools in western Sydney and regional NSW will be the first to have new public, low-fee preschools built on-site as the state government begins making good on one of its major election promises.

The Minns government will spend $769 million to double the number of public preschools, with the first of 100 to be built alongside new schools at The Gables, Nirimba Fields, Sydney Olympic Park’s Carter Street Precinct, Melonba, Liverpool’s Gulyangarri Public School, Wilton Junction Public School in southwest Sydney, Nowra on the south coast, and in the Albury suburb of Thurgoona.

Preschools will also be built at the redeveloped Melrose Park Public School and relocated Lennox Head Public School.

Work is currently under way in the Department of Education to decide which of the state’s 1670 other public primary schools are in greatest need for the 90 more co-located preschools yet to be announced.

Former head of the NSW Independent Planning Commission Abigail Goldberg will oversee the short-listing and consultation process, which is expected to take several months before being finalised at the end of the year.

An artist’s impression of Lidcombe’s Carter Street Precinct. A new school will be built here, with a preschool co-located.

Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car said quality preschool was a “top priority”.

“This is the largest expansion of public preschools in NSW history,” she said.

“Growing stronger connections between early learning and primary education will help children learn important skills for life and learning, and give parents and carers great choice and flexibility, particularly in those areas of greatest educational need.”

Premier Chris Minns’ government has promised to build 100 new public preschools at a cost of $770 million. Picture: NCA Newswire/Monique Harmer

Premier Chris Minns said his government remained committed to giving NSW families universal access to preschool, and more services in the areas in the areas that need it most.

“Investment in quality early childhood education and care has lifelong benefits for our young kids and is key to getting parents back into the workforce,” he said.

Advocates in the childcare sector say the government must also address the workforce shortage. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

Early Learning and Care Council of Australia CEO Elizabeth Death said in NSW’s ‘childcare deserts’, where there were more children than there were preschool places, “those would be the sensible places” for the government to intervene.

“One in four children are starting school in NSW already behind their peers, and if a child starts school behind, they generally don’t catch up,” Ms Death said.

Those who attend get two years of quality early education before starting school are proven to be more likely to get a job and are less likely to end up behind bars, she said.

“There needs to be provision for every child, no matter what their postcode is, no matter what their parents do.”

However, the government must also concurrently address the workforce crisis in the sector, she said.

“We have more than 21,000 vacancies for early childhood teachers and educators across Australia. Any plan to increase the number of services must concurrently address the shortages with an urgent, strong and adequately funded workforce strategy.”

Western Sydney mother Nergis Gungor said any additional preschool and child care facilities in the area would be valuable for her family and other local parents with young children.

“For a couple of years family day cares (and preschools) have been shutting down,” the mother of three said.

“A lot of places are booked out there and there is a waiting list for all the good ones.”

Ms Gungor said she was “very happy” the government was looking to prioritise investment into preschool aged children and their families.

“I’m happy they have improved on that,” she said praising the idea for co-located on site preschools in primary schools.