Parkside Preschool to receive $5000 grant

Parkside Preschool will receive a grant of $5000 as part of the Victorian Coalition Government’s recent minor capital grants for kindergartens.

Member for Box Hill, Robert Clark MP that Parkside Preschool is among 87 kindergartens across the state that will share in $700,000 worth of grants to improve play areas and facilities.

Mr Clark said the $5000 grant will assist the Box Hill North service in refurbishing their wet area and storage space to increase access to play equipment.

“The grant will be of great benefit to the preschool and the children, improving the safety of the kindergarten room by removing obsolete shelving and making it more accessible,” Mr Clark said.

Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development Wendy Lovell said the minor grants were announced as part the Coalition Government’s recently announced $20 million children’s capital grants program.

Further grants to be announced are:

• Integrated Children’s Centre Grants – worth up to $1.6 million to support the building of brand new centres offering kindergarten, day care, maternal and child health and early childhood intervention services all under the one roof.
• New Early Learning Facilities Grants – worth up to $650,000 to support communities to establish new early learning facilities to meet demand for kindergarten places.
• Early Learning Facility Upgrade Grants – worth up to $350,000 to support existing services to upgrade and extend their facilities to meet the demand of kindergarten places.

“This investment is a big boost for Victorian families, ensuring they have even greater access to high-quality early childhood education and care services,” Ms Lovell said.

“Importantly, the capital grants will deliver modern infrastructure to parts of the state where demand for early childhood education and care services is strongest.”

This $20 million program brings the Coalition Government’s investment in children’s capital projects to new record highs.

Since December 2010, the Coalition Government has allocated $106 million of state and national partnership funding towards building and upgrading hundreds of services, including many in regional Victoria.

For more information, please visit www.education.vic.gov.au/ecsmanagement/capitalprogram.