Kindergarten and daycare enrolments soar

Families with young children attempting to get their children into kindergarten and/or daycare might struggle, with enrolments soaring and waitlists getting longer and longer.
As we have seen with the real estate boom, there are lots of people looking for a change of scenery and making the move to Phillip Island and surrounds.

This has bought new families to the area and kinders and daycares are having to increase their capacity to keep up with demand.
Sio-Ching McFee from the Phillip Island Early Learning Center (PIELC) said that whilst there is always a waitlist for daycare, it just keeps getting longer.

“Usually, people understand that there is a waitlist, but people moving down from Melbourne expect that they will just be able to get their child in because you have that luxury in Melbourne,” she said.
“They are shocked to find that there is a waitlist.”

PIELC has increased the size of two of their kindergarten classes and employed an extra kindergarten teacher, in an attempt to service the strong demand being experienced.
Currently the Early Learning Center is running at full capacity, with 230 pre-school age children.

Newhaven College does not have an early learning centre, but new principal Tony Corr told the Advertiser he has been fielding requests about enrolling children in kindergarten.
“I have had cold calls already from parents, saying the school needs an early learning centre,” Mr Corr said.

“There is strong population growth here and with more people working from home in the wake of the pandemic, the demand will only grow,” he commented.
Mr Corr believes that some serious thought needs to go into providing this influx of children with a place to start their learning journey.

“There is a massive demand.”
“Kids need to grow and learn in a calm, relaxed and safe place and this area provides that,” he said.

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