Inner west parents are having to wait up to two years to get their child into out of school care

AFTER the biggest baby boom in the country just before 2011, Sydney’s inner west has hit an Out of School Care crisis point with hundreds of families on a two-year wait list.

Eva Antonova with her daughter Maya is concerned that there is a 2/3 years with for Out of School Hours care services at Leichhardt Public School..

SYDNEY’S inner west recorded the biggest baby boom in the country before 2011. Now it’s facing an Out of School Care crisis with hundreds of families on a two-year wait list.

Five years after the baby boom, the kindy kids are starting school and their parents have limited options.

Annandale North, Haberfield and Leichhardt Public School confirmed they have a two-year wait list for a place in their after school care programs.

Leichhardt’s Out of School Care is one of the worst affected with 150 children waiting to attend on certain weekday afternoons.

Kate Browne has two children at the school and said a complete overhaul to the system was needed.

“Getting my daughter in was a massive stress for me, at first I absolutely freaked out — I just assumed schools would have enough spaces,” she said.

“This is not the 1950s, living here is expensive and most parents both work full time.

Haberfield Public School also has a two year waiting list.

“I got my daughter in at the 11th hour but then my other daughter had to go somewhere else. The logistics of picking them up was a nightmare.”

“There are other options as there are a few performing arts centres that will pick kids up from the school but these are costly and are not covered under the child care rebate.

“I have also heard a lot of people have nannies but the cost of this is about $25 per hour.”

“This is a community issue and the council needs to lean in — we need a change.”

Eva Antanova said the issue had caused mental and financial stress for their family. “I had to cut my working hours just so I could pick her up. It is putting a lot of pressure and stress on our family.

“They have shuttle buses going from Leichhardt to Balmain for the elderly. Why not invest in something like that to shuttle the kids to after school care?” she said.
“In many places overseas they even have longer school hours — I would like to see that here.”

Former Leichhardt Mayor Darcy Byrne said while school places had increased, after school care had suffered.

“Instead of building new schools, the government has expanded classrooms which means after school care has been crowded up as their space is taken away by demountables,” he said.

Eva Antonova with her daughter Maya at Leichhardt Public School.

“This year in the Leichhardt area alone there was a shortage of 300 places.

“Former Leichhardt Council has increased places in some centres and is opening a new centre in Lilyfield this year but the bottom line is that this problem is going to get worse.

“The department needs to do something about it as there is a risk of backyard operations popping up which are not regulated or safe for children.”

Parents said the state government and Inner West Council had offered very little to help frustrated families.

The Inner West Council will open a new centre in Lilyfield from 2017 but has no plans to open more in the near future.

The Council has also applied to increase after school care capacity at both Marrickville West and Camdenville Public Schools, but has no guarantee.

A spokeswoman from the Department of Education said schools could apply for a one-off grant of up to $30,000 to increase Before and After school care capacity.

“The grant can be used for site modification, fitout and project management costs or to pay for necessary equipment to support new or expanded services.” she said.

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