Funding to upgrade Edenhope Early Childhood Service
Published on 09 December 2022
West Wimmera Shire Council has received more than $400,000 to upgrade the Edenhope Early Childhood Service building and yard.
The redevelopments will include an upgrade to the building’s bathroom, laundry, and storage facilities to enable inclusive access for all children.
The updates will improve supervision of the children, storage options, and hygienic practices, by providing increased safety, privacy, and dignity for all.
All outdoor works will be a collaborative project between children, families, and educators.
The outdoor learning environment will be redeveloped to be more sustainable through low-maintenance additions. It will also be upgraded to enable all-abilities access and create a consistent flow between indoor and outdoor learning areas.
Council received two grants from the Department of Education and Training’s Building Blocks grant program for these works.
One grant is for $342,199.77, which will be used to upgrade the building’s interior, and the other grant, for $70,000, will be used to upgrade the yard.
The Edenhope Kindergarten Parent Advisory Group will also contribute $6000 towards these projects.
Council Chief Executive Officer David Bezuidenhout welcomed the funding.
“Kindergarten is such an important learning environment for children,” he said.
“We are pleased to be able to upgrade our existing assets and create better, more inclusive facilities.
“We thank the Department of Education and Training for this generous funding.”
The upgrades at Edenhope Early Childhood Service will not only benefit the kindergarten program, but also the town’s long day-care service, facilitated playgroup, and before and after kindergarten care, as these programs use the building and outdoor learning area.
West Wimmera Shire Council’s early years has been significantly boosted in the past few years, with similar redevelopments happening in other towns.
Goroke Kindergarten’s yard was updated earlier this year, while Kaniva Kindergarten’s yard was updated in 2020, and renovations to the building were completed in October.