Inner west parents fight to save council-run preschool

The Save Globe Wilkins Preschool campaign is in full bloom and hundreds turned out to support Sunday’s spring picnic and its message that the preschool must not be shut down.

Globe Wilkins Preschool committee members Ramona Hewitt, Jemma Mcgirr, Paul Chamberlain, Stephanie Colls, Kathryn Greguric and Ariane Durkin at the Spring Picnic community event for threatened Globe Wilkins Preschool at Marrickville park. Picture: Monique Harmer.

The Save Globe Wilkins Preschool campaign is in full bloom and hundreds turned out to support Sunday’s spring picnic and its message that the preschool must not be shut down.

The event was organised by the parent-led Save Globe Wilkins action group to raise awareness of the plight of the preschool.

The parent of a child at Globe Wilkins Preschool, Stephanie Colls, said the community would be at a loss without the preschool.

George Doech, Hector and Stephanie Colls at the The Spring Picnic. Picture: Monique Harmer.

“There is a high level of enrolment for disabled children and low income families,” Ms Colls said.

“If the centre were to close it would be devastating, it means those kids don’t get an opportunity to get a decent early learning experience. It’s about making sure everyone in our community has access to the best education.”

Ms Colls said unless there was a lease extension or a new facility found, the centre would be homeless when their lease expired in 2019.

Felicity Gini and Isla Shelley at the The Spring Picnic. Picture: Monique Harmer.

The preschool’s home, Marrickville’s Wilkins Public School, is under pressure from student numbers – enrolments have jumped 54 per cent over the past decade. This pressure could see the preschool forced off the site.

The State Government is refusing to provide further infrastructure as the school has “available” space – the space that the preschool has resided on for 20 years.

India Talman enjoying the Spring Picnic in Marrickville. Picture: Monique Harmer.

A Department of Education spokesman said the preschool used the equivalent of four classrooms and school students would get priority when the preschool’s lease expired next December.

“The department continues to look at ways a preschool can operate on the school site while at the same time addressing the needs of the school,” the spokesman said.