Tuesday, 8 February 2022

Parkdale Preschool

Mr RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (19:16): (6193) It is great to rise on the adjournment debate and ask the Minister for Early Childhood to join me at the Parkdale Preschool to officially open their new building works upgrades and improvements to their wonderful facilities. It is quite humbling to consider that for generations Parkdale Preschool has supported so many in our local community. When you stand in these some 74-year-old premises and think of the community that has owned these buildings and the kids that have had their foundation in education there and gone on to challenge the world and their community and gone on to bigger and better things and think that it started right there in the heart of Parkdale, it is a wonderful contribution.

Recently the Victorian government invested close to $500 000 in response to a grant that was put forward by the community, and it has just about reached its completion. We have seen the progress shots. The development that went on during December and January was amazing to see, and that transformation of these premises is going to benefit our students into the future. I want to give a big shout-out to an extraordinary parent in our local community, Katrina Kenah, who was part of the grants application writing program with the dedicated committee of Parkdale Preschool, and also to the efforts of our early childhood educators. They did an extraordinary job putting this together, and the application to the state government to secure this funding was for the benefit of all of our kids as well. It goes with investments that are unprecedented in Victoria’s history. Universal three-year-old kinder being rolled out across all 79 municipalities, the 5 hours that are being provided to metropolitan councils right across the City of Kingston community, are changing the lives and outcomes of our youngest Victorians. And we know the benefit—the true benefit—of those first two years of early childhood education. It is truly transformational in the development and growth of our young people.

And that investment has seen upgrades to facilities such as Elonera kindergarten, which was recently upgraded; Chelsea and Chelsea Heights kindergartens, which have been projects that we have been involved in in the past; and numerous partnerships with the private sector to meet those outcomes and to deliver a wonderful program and a nation-leading investment—$5 billion over the decade, with the full 15-hour kinder program by 2029. We are really excited in the Parkdale community, indeed in the Kingston community, about this investment and the development that has happened at Parkdale Preschool.

I had the chance to turn the first sod with some of the little legends that have gone on to transition into primary school across our local community. I think most of them are going on to Parkdale Primary School, a wonderful school in our local community. I want to acknowledge everything that has been done by our early childhood educators. We thank them for their service to our community under challenging circumstances. We love and appreciate all the work and dedication that you have shown to support our youngest Victorians.