With about half of eligible children in Logan not attending kindergarten, Logan Together brought the local community together as part of Logan loves Kindy month in October to increase awareness of the benefits of kindy to assist more children to enroll.
The tour was designed as a ‘hop on hop off’ bus tour that visited a selection of community kindergarten services and kindergarten programs in long daycare centres. Parents, carers, and children were encouraged to come along, learn more about their local kindy and have fun too.
Free “snack packs” were made available, along with some light on-board entertainment “kindy style”.
Logan Together Executive Director Matthew Cox said, the Covid pandemic had highlighted the importance of high-quality, affordable early learning and childcare to provide the best life opportunities for children and families in Logan.
“We know that children who go to kindy arrive at school significantly readier to learn. We’re increasing awareness of the benefits of kindy and offering community members assistance with enrolment through ‘kindy champions’ based in the community, fact sheets, information resources, competitions and a bus tour of local quality early learning centres.
“The bottom line is when our children do well, our society and economy will do well too. Early learning should be a priority for all levels of government, all sides of the political spectrum, and we believe the system will work best if people and communities at the local level are empowered for collaborative design and delivery,” Cox said.