Like most Canberrans, Sammy Anderson wakes early each day and heads off to what he calls ''work''.
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But not many locals would get to spend business hours in a sandpit - that's a role solely for three-year-olds.
Young Sammy attends the Goodstart Early Learning Centre in Garran, a former ABC Learning Centre that went into voluntary liquidation in 2008.
Three years on, the centre is booming under the new ownership of Goodstart Childcare, consisting of the Benevolent Society, Mission Australia, the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Social Ventures Australia.
Angela Anderson drops her son Sammy there each day, confident in the new management. ''The centre has been able to maintain its staff and there haven't been any drastic changes,'' she said. ''The parents are always welcome and invited along to lots of activities. Before the owner got the profit, now it is going back into the centres.''
Regional manager of Goodstart Childcare Rebecca Watson said the not-for-profit organisation had already put $10million into its 650 centres nationwide. ''We've been in a bit of holding pattern since the receivership but there has been a real sense of anticipation with the re-branding of the centres,'' she said. ''Staff have been able to see the new brand with the children being central to everything we do. Because of the nature of the organisations involved, there is a real focus on inclusion and reinvestment back into the centres.'' Ms Watson said the board was also developing a strategy to assist families in need.
