Mr Paul Desmond, Chief Executive Officer of Sandhurst Catholic Early Childhood Education and Care Limited (SCECE&C Ltd), welcomes the announcement of a $1.8 million grant from the Victorian Government to establish a new Early Learning Centre at St Joseph’s School in Nagambie.
“It is with much excitement that I am able to announce SCECE&C Ltd has been successful in securing a Building Blocks Capacity Modular grant to construct the Nagambie Early Learning Centre,” he said.
“It’s fantastic to see the Victorian Government invest in early childhood education to support young families in the Nagambie community,” said Paul.
The grant will enable a two-room kindergarten modular building to be constructed with associated connections, landscaping and carparking on land provided by St Malachy’s Parish.
Parish Priest, Fr Tony Hill said the successful grant reflects the health of the Nagambie community. “The region is growing, and I am delighted that the government is investing in the infrastructure to ensure that families will continue to settle in the Nagambie area,” he said.
The Building Blocks Capacity Building Grant provides funding for projects that create additional kindergarten places for three and four-year-old children by building new, or expanding existing, infrastructure.
The Chief Early Childhood Officer, Carla Jeffrey said there is an increased demand for kindergarten places in the Nagambie region and that it will continue to increase with the universal roll-out of three-year-old kindergarten next year.
“Attending high quality early childhood education gives children the best start in life and the kindergarten years are crucial in providing opportunities for children to learn and develop,” said Carla. “Providing funding to construct a modular Early Learning Centre at St Joseph’s School will ensure that more children in the Nagambie region will have the opportunity to benefit from a quality community kindergarten program.
The Principal of St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Ms Maree Findlay acknowledged and thanked the Minister for Early Childhood, Ms Ingrid Stitt MP for supporting the Sandhurst Catholic Early Childhood Education and Care Limited (SCECE&C Ltd) advocacy for this project.
“At St Joseph’s School we are committed to providing a strong foundation to support learning across all year levels, so we’re delighted to work with SCECE&C Ltd to ensure that the provision for early childhood is fully supported within the Nagambie community,” Ms Findlay said.
The $1.8 million Victorian Government grant will fully fund the construction, landscaping and connections of the Nagambie Early Learning Centre. The modular construct will be built offsite with a planned opening date in January 2024.
