A government grant of just under $15,000 will pay for Armidale’s Drummond Park Preschool to have a new Indigenous-themed garden.
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“It will provide an inspired and respectful setting in which to learn about and connect with Aboriginal culture,” Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall said.
The school is one of 12 preschools to share in almost $143,000 allocated in this round for Northern Tablelands under the NSW Government’s Quality Learning Environments fund.
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Preschool director Jo McDermott called the funding wonderful news.
“The Aboriginal-inspired front garden upgrade will be an invaluable resource for educators and children at the preschool,” she said.
The front garden will have an outdoor eating area, deck, additional rock garden, and native plantings of edible foods.
The new garden builds on work last year, which included an Aboriginal mural.
The preschool caters for 18 children each day, with a staff of five, and has operated since 1971.
The school has also applied for a grant from Crown Lands to improve bathroom facilities and build a new office area.
Once those are approved and completed, the front garden works are hoped to be completed by the end of the year.
The Quality Learning Environments program, introduced in 2018, aims to address safety, health, or other functional needs related to preschools’ physical environments.
It is part of the NSW Government’s $332 million Start Strong Program, which ensures that all children in the state can have 600 hours of quality preschool education in the year before school, no matter where they live or their circumstances. The program was introduced in 2016, and has been extended to 2021.
“Preschools in my electorate,” Mr Marshall said, “are committed to ensuring our children have access to top quality early childhood education, which, as the local member, makes me extremely proud.
“This funding will improve the quality of the learning environment for children, and parents can rest assured that their children are having the best start possible to their educational journeys.”