Published on Friday, 8 July 2022 at 1:17:39 PM
The Town welcomes 50 additional Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) places, serviced by Child Campus Hedland and operating from Saint Cecilia’s Catholic Primary School.
OSHC services cater for children from kindergarten through to age 12 and includes before and after school care and vacation care with operator applications managed by the Education and Care Regulatory Unit at the WA Department of Communities.
Mayor Peter Carter welcomed the establishment of an additional childcare option to support working parents during the term and over the school holidays.
“This much needed addition of 50 places comes after the approval of 21 places at Baler Primary School late last year – with the provision for additional places in the future,” Mayor Carter said.
“This support promotes opportunities for parents and carers to increase their working hours which will then support our local businesses currently experiencing staff shortages.”
Sharing school spaces for OSHC services offers a cost-effective option to provide a familiar and supportive environment with facilities for programs and activities.
Mayor Peter Carter acknowledged that a key focus area of the Town’s Community Development Plan 2022-2027 is liveability and includes the community aspiration of providing more childcare opportunities.
“We understand that childcare availability in the town and the wider Pilbara region is at a critical level and has been an ongoing issue for local families since 2008.
“While local governments do not directly provide childcare facilities or service provision, the Town is committed to advocacy, facilitation and supporting operators to increase crucial childcare services for our community.
“The Town is working to provide various methods of support to increase places at local childcare operators including a new Community Childcare Grant and supporting the waiver of endorsement fees for the RDA Pilbara administered Designated Area Migration Agreement childcare worker applications.
“This recent news is evidence of working collaboratively - I would like to acknowledge the Town’s involvement with the Pilbara Childcare Collaboration Network facilitated by Hedland Collective, Saint Cecilia’s for their resourcing, support and access to the school grounds, and Child Campus for their service expertise.”
Click the link to access the Town’s Community Development Plan 2022-2027
Image credit: Local Hedland children enjoying OSHC - play based learning experiences for all age groups.
For media information:
Town of Port Hedland, PR and Communications Team
Email: media@porthedland.wa.gov.au
Phone: 08 9158 9300
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