The best place To Live - City of Greater Geelong

the february best 2009 place to www.geelongaustralia.com.au the best place to live www.geelongaustralia.com.au
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Playmates
wanted
Michelle Roncon, director of the First Steps
Child Care Centre is proud of its reputation as
an excellent child care facility.
The First Steps Child Care
Centre is one of the new,
independent, privately
operated centres that has opened
their doors to meet demand in
Geelong. The facility, which opened
in April 2008, is so far operating
below capacity.
“We have six rooms and 90 fulltime
places with about 50 per cent
occupancy at present,” says the
centre’s director, Michelle Roncon.
“And we have just opened our fouryear-old
kinder room this year.”
The centre is located in a quiet
corner of the suburb of Whittington
close to the Gordon Institute of
TAFE in the eastern suburbs of
Geelong.
“We are not on a major
highway so we have placed some
advertisements through the local
media, but word of mouth spreads
the message,” she says. “Really,
it’s the parents who promote the
centre among their friends. Families
of the children here get to know us
and word spreads.”
Spoiled for childcare choice
Childcare in Greater Geelong has
grown as the area has expanded and
developed in recent years.
Frank Giggins, co-ordinator of
family services development with the City
of Greater Geelong, says 11 new childcare
centres, and more than 1000 additional child
care places, had been provided in the past
five years.
“We have quite a significant level of
population growth and, accordingly, there
has been expansion in the availability of
child care through new commercial centres
opening,” he says.
There have also been increases in the
availability of outside hours school care,
school holiday care, and other options that
provide families with a range of choice and
diversity. There are 34 long-day-care centres
in the municipality, which provide almost
2750 full-time places. Seven childcare centres
are operated by the City of Greater Geelong,
which also operates family day care, vacation
care and occasional care services.
Two new commercial childcare centres,
offering another 240 full-time places, are
scheduled to open by the middle of this year.
“We are certainly better supplied with
childcare than many other local government
areas, although availability of
childcare often depends on the individual
circumstances and requirements of parents,
and the capacity of services to meet those
requirements,” Mr Giggins says. “However,
Geelong has an excellent and really diverse
range of childcare services to accommodate
various family needs, and vacancies exist in
many of the childcare services located across
Greater Geelong.”
invest:
Parents of young
children have plenty
of options, thanks to
planners’ foresight
The Golden Plains Shire has responded
to the growing need for childcare and family
services in the region with a co-ordinated
approach.
“We provide family day care, kindergarten,
occasional care and long day care
services through a hub at the Bannockburn
Family Services Centre,” says Matthew
Dawson, team leader of Child and Family
Services in the shire.
The facility, which has been open for
two years, also provides maternal and child
health services and family support counseling.
“We deliver an integrated service for
families so they can some in and find all they
need under one roof. It’s what families have
been telling us they want.”
Population growth, and the need for
services, has been rapid. “Bannockburn and
surrounding towns are growing now, with
‘We are certainly better
supplied with childcare
than many other local
government areas’
young families moving in and buying homes.
Naturally, they are seeking good-quality
services,” Mr Dawson says.
The shire is pivotal in the provision of
children’s services in the area. There are no
privately operated childcare centres. The
areas’s six kindergartens – two in Bannockburn
and one each in Rokewood, Meredith,
Inverleigh and Teesdale – are operated as a
shire cluster.
“We take care of the onerous tasks such
as employment and licensee requirements so
volunteer parents can focus on fund-raising,
maintenance and supporting staff at the
kindergartens,” Mr Dawson says.
The shire also runs biannual training for
all kindergarten teachers, assistants, childcare
workers and maternal and child health
staff. “We run them together over two days
so everyone gets the same message, and they
also share ideas and experiences.”
As a volunteer parent at her local kindergarten,
Kathy Kelly welcomes the fact that
the Golden Plains Shire shoulders the burden
of kindergarten operations in her area. “It’s
a lot easier for the parents because we used
to have to take care of employment and the
salaries,” she says. “But the shire takes care
of all that now.
“And if a teacher is sick the shire can find
someone to fill in because they have access to
a lot of different teachers across the board.
So we as parents can take care of the fundraising
and organise working bees while the
shire takes care of the everyday running of
the kindergarten.”
Jan Keats is the co-ordinator of Geelong’s
Regional Parenting Service, which is committed
to improving the level of parenting
skills in the community by ensuring that
parents have access to high-quality parenting
information and support.
The service, which is funded by the
Department of Education and Early Childhood
Development and delivered by the City
of Greater Geelong, has been operating for
10 years. It provides support to parents of
children ranging from newborns to teens.
Some of the most popular programs offered
by the Service are: Triple P (Positive
Parenting Program) for parents of children
aged two to five years; 1-2-3 Magic for parents
of children aged six to 10 years; ABCD
parenting Young Adolescents; Understanding
and Parenting Adolescents; First Time
Grandparents; Fathering Under 3s; Toddlers
and Single mothers.
First-time grandparents are keen to
brush up on their technique, Ms Keats says.
“They find things have changed since they
were parents. These days there are different
approaches and new expectations around
children’s sleep patterns, foods – including
allergies – and even safety. The group helps
them develop confidence and establish networks
of other grandparents,” she says.
The service also runs programs for fathers
of children aged less than three years, and
sessions that focus on positive parenting.
“Managing behaviour is always a hot topic,
and the importance of play, and positive
parent-child relationships.”
The service runs up to 50 programs a
year, all provided at no cost to participants.
a www.geelongaustralia.com.au
has a full list and contact details of child
care centres in the City of Greater Geelong
Barwon Health’s new $26m Emergency Department at the Geelong Hospital includes a three-storey facility which will include 40-45 cubicles/beds
(up from the existing 28), improved consultation and resuscitation facilities, separate paediatric services and an area for mental health patients.