Parents who send their children to ACT Catholic early learning centres will be faced with less flexible options for enrolments next year, in a move some fear could impact on working families.
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From 2022, the eight preschools operated by the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese will only offer children care from either 8am to 5.30pm or from 9am to 3pm, with parents locked into arrangements for the whole year regardless if their circumstances change.
Some in the preschool community have told The Canberra Times that the changes would potentially negatively impact working families or those who only work part-time and wanted childcare arrangements that could change to suit their needs.
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Centres were previously open from 7.30am to 6pm, but parents had the option of electing to have only care during school hours or adding before or after school care on top of it.
The changes will also see parents lock into 40 weeks of part-time or 48 weeks of full time care, with no option to change times or the amount of days should a family's circumstance change.
Currently, parents have the option to change from five days a week to five days a fortnight, or to increase or decrease the amount of hours their child is enrolled in, depending on the time of the year.
Some have expressed concern the more rigid options could impact on enrolment numbers.
The enrolment period for Catholic preschools in the ACT for 2022 started at the beginning of May.
Parents at some preschools have been informed of the changes.
"Catholic Education has done some remodeling of our eight Catholic early learning centres," Holy Spirit Preschool in Nicholls told parents.
Mother Theresa Preschool in Harrison principal Peter Hughes said in a newsletter the full extent of the changes would be announced in coming days.
"I am aware there is discussion taking place amongst families in online forums about what the changes may be," he said.
"For the last two years, the Catholic Education Office has been working with a group of industry experts from Wollongong University to examine all eight Catholic early learning centres to make them more sustainable going forward."
Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese director of Catholic Education Ross Fox said different models for enrolments had been considered for some time to enable growth at the centres.
"Information regarding our service offering from 2022 will be provided to families as soon as possible to support enrolment activities," Mr Fox said.
"In the interim, we would like to ensure that we will continue to operate as normal, offering a curriculum based on the Australian National Early Years Learning Framework, led by early childhood trained teachers and educators.
"We know how valued our early learning centres are and we will continue to focus on supporting families in the transition of their children into our kindergartens."
Enrolments for Catholic preschools in the ACT are set to close on May 28.
Do you know more? Email: andrew.brown@canberratimes.com.au
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