Childcare worker Rosalie Worth, aka Miss Rosie, was named the G8 Education national standout educator of the year for family engagement

Not all Coast childcare educators are created equal, this one is 1 in 10,000... IS SHE YOUR CHILD'S CARER?

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BEING chosen above 10,000 educators for an award is almost as wonderful as a child in your care naming a teddy bear after you so she can cuddle you at night.

Childcare worker Rosalie Worth, aka Miss Rosie, has been named the G8 Education national standout educator of the year for family engagement and her devotion to the children in her care.

During her 16-year tenure at Community Kids Broadbeach she’s mentored 30 educators and helped shape the lives of hundreds of youngsters.

But it’s her commitment to families such as Tash Oar and her children Amelie, Oliver and Finn Boekkens that she’s known for.

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Miss Rosie with children from Community Kids Broadbeach. She has been awarded for her commitment as an educator

When the family arrived from Belgium four years ago Miss Rosie helped settle Oliver into a new environment with unfamiliar faces and an unfamiliar language.

“It was a big adjustment for him but Rosie made it seamless. He settled in straight away thanks to Rosie,” Ms Oar said.

“Amelie and Rosie are very close and she is constantly talking about her at home. Finn (pictured above on Ms Worth’s lap) is at the centre now and although he is in another room with an educator, he adores, Rosie is always keeping an eye out for him.

“There are never tears at drop off time.”

Miss Rosie, of Mermaid Waters, said she loved the children and the award made her feel appreciated.

“I have a great imagination and I’m a bit outside the box. One moment I’ll break out into song because I feel like singing and the children like that,” she said.

“When the children are happy it takes away the stress for parents who have to work. They can see it’s all going to be OK.”

G8 Education CEO Gary Carroll said Miss Rosie was “one of the most potent reasons why the centre is always 100 per cent full and running a wait list, with word of mouth reaching far and wide”.

A spike in childcare fees is set to smash Gold Coast families - Jan 27

THE cost of childcare on the Gold Coast is rising faster than the national average, with fees jumping by 5.35 per cent between 2019 to 2020, the national average was 4.52 per cent.

Northern Gold Coasters are being hit the hardest, with a 7.6 per cent hike in fees, while those from Burleigh to Broadbeach copped a 7.5 per cent rise over 12 months.

Labor Senator Murray Watt said the official data, released by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment on families and children in child care, also predicted fees would continue to increase on average by 4.1 per cent every year for the next four years nationwide.

“This increase in fees will substantially outstrip inflation, which the Child Care Subsidy is pegged to, meaning out-of-pocket costs for families will continue to skyrocket in the years to come,” he said.

Bobby-Lee Bunney at her Ormeau home with children Liam 7, Amelia 2, and Alex 10. Childcare fees have made it hard for the mother of three to return to work full time. Picture Glenn Hampson

“This is unwelcome news for Gold Coast parents who are struggling with the rising cost of living and it means they’ll have less money to spend on essentials such as groceries.

“Scott Morrison has taken his hand off the steering wheel when it comes to child care and Gold Coast families are paying the price.”

Mr Watt added that nationwide, child care fees had soared by 36 per cent since the Liberal Government was elected in 2013.

He said his government’s Cheaper Child Care for Working Families plan would scrap the

$10,560 child care subsidy cap, lift the maximum child care subsidy rate to 90 per cent and increase child care subsidy rates and taper them for every family earning less than $530,000.

Jae Fraser, founder and managing director of The Scholars Group, who run the Little Scholars School of Early Learning at Ashmore, said fees across his centres ranged from $90 to $106 per day, depending on demographics, competition and services offered.

Jae Fraser, of The Scholars Group, at Little Scholars School of Early Learning Ashmore with Labor Senator Murray Watt and a group of happy daycare kids.

“We are seeing families struggling at the moment and the conversation families are having is whether it’s worth both of them working full time or one of them only doing two-to-three days,” he said.

Ormeau mother-of-three Bobby-Lee Bunney sends her two-year-old daughter Amelia to daycare, at $110 a day, but because she gets a Child Care Subsidy (CCS) from Centrelink, it costs her $84 out-of-pocket for two days of care. She recently set up a home business to help the family financially.

“If I was to return to work currently, with her being in five-days-a-week, most if not all of my income would be used for daycare fees. So it kind of becomes pointless,” she said.

Suzi Hall, of Helensvale, said it cost $103.50 per day to send her youngest to daycare, but after she received the CCS it was $44.48 per day.

Bobby-Lee Bunney with daughter Amelia, 2, at their Ormeau home. The Gold Coast mother says it would not be worth her going back to work full time because most of her wages would be used to cover childcare costs. Picture Glenn Hampson

“My oldest for after-school care at the same centre is $38.93 per day and $17.48 after the subsidy. So all up I pay just under $500 per fortnight. I work eight days a fortnight and after paying for daycare it brings my take home (pay) to just over $100 a day,” she said.

“I’ve been working since was 15 I’m now 33. Hubby and I have always worked to get where we are and want to show our girls the meaning of hard work. I’m very career driven and if I don’t work I can’t progress.”

An Ormeau woman, who did not want to be named, said the four-year-old child in her care was fully funded by the government for his four days, but otherwise it would have cost them

$17,632 a year. “That’s basically three years private schooling”.

Federal Member for Moncrieff Angie Bell said the key concern for parents was not the fees charged but their out-of-pocket expenses.

“The Morrison Government’s record $10.3 billion investment in child care, including an estimated $9 billion to subsidise fees, means out-of-pocket costs for parents were 1.8 per cent lower in the December 2020 quarter than their peak in the June quarter 2018,” she said.

“The government understands the importance of childcare and has put more money every year into our childcare system.

“We have boosted childcare funding and made significant reforms which are delivering better outcomes and you see that in the workforce participation rate for women that got to a record high before COVID-19 hit.”

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