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Arghgh!... There's No Place at the Kindy!

4/20/2012

10 Comments

 
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Parents are going stir crazy trying to find a kindy or child care facility which has vacancies, while other centres are struggling to keep afloat. Some believe that it's where the new kindies have been built that is causing dramas for parents, with critics of the program — and even some beneficiaries — pointing to glaring inefficiencies.
By Freya Petersen
IN BRISBANE'S inner southeast, child rearing has become like a competitive sport, so scarce are vacancies in some day care centres and kindies.
An uneven spread of child care and kindy services in Brisbane is causing anguish for parents and business owners alike, with some centres hopelessly oversubscribed while others struggle to survive.

In Bulimba recently, dozens of parents were queued up from before dawn in an effort to get their children a berth at a local kindergarten for 2014.
Meanwhile, in other suburbs, early learning and day care businesses are struggling to survive because of competition against state-built centres they say weren't needed.

Critics have blamed poor analysis and political interference with creating a problem they say could have been avoided.

Starting from scratch

After its re-election in 2009, the Bligh government sought to increase participation of the state's 53,000 kindy-age children in some form of early learning program from 29 per cent in 2007 — the lowest in the country — to 100 per cent (or "universal access") by 2014.
Since then, they've built 102 new state-owned kindergartens, out of 240 originally promised by 2014.
By 2011, the government announced that it had exceeded its targets, with 69 per cent of four-year-olds already enrolled in an early education program delivered by a qualified teacher.
But it's where they've been built that is causing dramas for parents, with critics of the program — and even some beneficiaries — pointing to glaring inefficiencies.

Early one Sunday morning

Bulimba mother-of-three Felicity Donaldson knew from experience what to expect when trying to enrol their daughter Claire at the once-yearly sign-on day for the 88 berths at the local C&K kindergarten.
"My husband got up at about 5.30 on Sunday, and he was probably there a bit after 6," Ms Donaldson said.
By the time he got there, the line was already stretching up the block. Still, they got their spot.
"We went at about the same time for each of them… For Emma (their older daughter), we were about 65th on the waiting list, whereas for Claire we're 28th.
"The local recommendation has been that if you don't go to the sign-on day then you probably won't get a place for your child because of how popular the kindy is."
Popular, and the only purpose-build kindergarten program within a 10-minute drive, which for busy mums and dads (often with multiple care- and school-age kids) can mean the difference between a busy morning and a breakdown-inducing one. Adrienne Webster said her middle child missed out on a place at Bulimba C&K after making a flood-delayed move to the suburb from Adelaide, despite her eldest child securing a place at Bulimba State School, a less-than-one-minute walk from the kindergarten.
"So for an entire year, I had to drive to Coorparoo, and it almost broke me," she said.
Mrs Donaldson said it was neighbourhood lore that before the centre added places a few years back, parents had even camped out overnight to ensure their child a place at the kindergarten — one of a critical few in an area has seen its population of well-to-do young families multiply in recent years.
Bulimba C&K director Sue Reynolds said the centre actively discouraged camping outside the night before sign-up, and while it did have a "healthy waiting list", all those who lined up on sign-on day for the past three years had secured a place at the kindergarten for two years later.
The Logan-Woodridge area was one area where C&K kindergartens were filling “much slower than (in) other areas".
“That would suggest one of two things — either the government got their formula wrong, or more likely the community doesn't understand yet — or doesn't appreciate yet — the benefit of a proper kindergarten program.”
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The flipside of the coin

Meanwhile, just across town, Moorooka C&K director Simone Sullivan said their centre had six vacancies out of 22 places offered.
Karen, who works at Moorooka Early Learning Centre, says of the area's many child care and early learning centres that "everybody's struggling. I don't think there's enough children to spread around".
C&K chief executive Barrie Elvish, whose company was contracted by the Department of Education and Training to operate many of the new state-school-based kindergartens, said both kindy and regular child care services were unevenly spread across Queensland generally, and the Brisbane area in particular.
So much so that C&K recently commissioned Access Economics to assess of the government's funding model for the new kindergartens.
“As soon as the election is over we'll go and talk to the government, whoever it may be, as to the deficiencies that have been identified by this independent review,” Mr Elvish said.
He said while the majority of C&K centres in the state were full, “there are some which aren't full and which are struggling for numbers and they're primarily in areas where there is an oversupply of long day care services”.
Mr Elvish said that in some areas of the state, "you could suggest that the infrastructure's got ahead of the demand, whereas in the past, demand exceeded supply".
Picture
Dozens of parents were queued up from before dawn in an effort to get their children a berth at a local kindergarten for 2014.

"After its re-election in 2009, the Bligh government sought to increase participation of the state's 53,000 kindy-age children in some form of early learning program from 29 per cent in 2007 — the lowest in the country — to 100 per cent (or universal access) by 2014."

Picture
Picture

"Queuing overnight for a spot in your closest kindy can mean the difference between enduring  busy mornings and breakdown-inducing ones."

Numbers game

In planning the roll out of new services, the state government said it relied upon a combination of 2006 census data and Office for Economic and Statistical research, which estimated the population of four-year-olds in a statistical local area.
It also used vacancy rate data from the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
Meanwhile, Childcare Queensland — an umbrella body for many of the state's privately run long day care centres — provided its own research that suggested vast disparities in the vacancy rates of centres across Queensland.
An acute example was in Cairns, where the group's research — relying on respondents to an annual survey — showed at least 470 vacancies per week.
"We're just surviving," said a spokeswoman for the private Sunshine Child Care and Learning Centre in Aeroglen, who gave her name only as Dawn.
"We have 72 per cent occupancy. But Cairns is not a very big area."
A spokesman for Childcare Queensland, Peter Price, said the group initially welcomed the government plan to improve access to early childhood education in Queensland.
"We thought, this is great because in all the areas of need there will be more (centres) being built," Mr Price said, adding that politics could have played a part in decision-making.
"Politicians lobby, particularly with a state election coming up. (And) they don't look at the reality.
"And you get silly situations where there are a lot of vacancies and the government announces that they're going to build a centre.
"It's another ABC debacle all over again, essentially," Mr Price said, a reference to the collapsed child care group run by entrepreneur Eddy Groves.
Child care Queensland's president, Gwynn Bridge, warned in 2008 of the impact of the new centres on existing services, writing in an editorial on the Care For Kids website that, "should these centres begin to appear in areas where services are experiencing low occupancy rates, it is a concern that we will see market failure of existing services. Already some state/territory governments are building early learning services next door to or in close proximity to existing services."
Graham Sagar, the group's treasurer and himself a centre operator, agreed that while investment in child care was to be encouraged, poor planning posed risks to existing services.
"If an area needs a centre and doesn't get one, that's an issue. What's a bigger issue is if an area doesn't need a centre and the state government decides to put one there."
10 Comments
Tim
4/20/2012 10:59:25 am

"My husband had to get up at 5:30 - ON A SUNDAY! - to enrol"

"I had to drive to Coorparoo for a WHOLE YEAR and it ALMOST BROKE ME" (a 12 minute journey according to Google Maps).

Geez people are sooks.

My understanding from the article is that there are plenty of places available, just not in the trendiest, closest centres.

Reply
M
4/20/2012 10:59:58 am

"there are plenty of places available, just not in the trendiest, closest centres". Does that not suggest that there is an inefficiency in the system. In an efficient system, child care centres would be built in places where they are needed. Calling these people sooks is a bit rough. I'm sure they are doing the best that they can within the circumstance that they face, and when given an opportunity to talk to a journalist they said what they thought. Good article.


Reply
Neslom
4/20/2012 11:00:24 am

No there are not plenty of places. I have 2 kids and they are enrolled into 3 day care centres as this is the only way we could get the whole working week covered.


Reply
Gazza
4/20/2012 11:01:13 am

Lots of latch key problems in the pipeline.

Reply
Jasper
4/20/2012 11:03:30 am

I got up at 4am and lined up from 4:30. (Actually, it turned out to be a good time, chatting and sharing coffee with other parents.)

We weren't as on the ball with getting our daughter into a childcare centre and are now very unhappy with the only centre in our area that had availability.

We weren't going to make the same mistake again.


Reply
Get Real
4/20/2012 11:03:55 am

What a pointless article. Keep in mind this is BULIMBA we're talking about. This isn't about spaces in child care centres, its about Mrs Hyphenated-Surname driving little Tarquin and Portia in mummy's 4WD which was a birthday present from her daddy for a total of 2km to what is a kindy where all the 'best mum's' go to. My wife is a Kindy Director and always has spots a week or so before kindy starts so if camping out for a space is the norm why is this the ONLY time i've ever heard of such a thing before.... but she works in a normal suburb....an area where people care more about their kids education and not where the big decision is where to go for coffee and a manicure after dropping off the kids.
You know why all this is so funny?
Cos its true...

Reply
cc
4/20/2012 11:09:12 am

agree with a previous poster that this article seems to be somewhat confused - childcare and C&K kindergartens are two different options. The lack of kindy places and the lack of childcare places are two different issues. If the C&K kindy vacancies aren't being filled up in certain areas, perhaps that is because their models are a little outmoded. Most C&K kindies operate from 9-2.30, often with an alternating five day fortnight. That's not an option for most working families. Oh - and the trip from Bulimba to Coorparoo is nothing compared to the travelling many families must do each and every day to access childcare and schooling.

Reply
Anjela
6/4/2012 08:04:32 am

This year a C&K was placed on school grounds directly opposite my Centre and another only 1 km away, both experiencing low occupancy in a semi rural area. The outcome has been devastating with now lower occupancy and staff losing their full time positions after 7 years at the Service. Disgraceful planning with tragic outcomes for all.

Reply
karen
6/4/2012 08:54:01 am

that's tough

Reply
read more link
8/11/2013 05:08:42 pm

It will be embarassing news for parents because there are no kindergartens or childcares available in Brisbane for their kids. It is mainly due to the uneven spread of child care services in Brisbane. Hope the government will involve into this issue and sort it out.

Reply



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