The City of Sydney is investigating the feasibility of using a community facility to provide out-of-school-hours care for 50-60 students to meet the urgent need for places in Erskineville and Newtown.
In addition to considering the use of City-owned buildings for additional OSHC places in the inner west, the City is advocating for more flexibility at school sites and better use of existing services to meet demand.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the City was also investigating the potential for providing transport from schools to another facility with available capacity to address the short term need for the Erskineville and Newtown school communities.
The City’s review of out of school hours services for primary school children found that more children enrolling in inner-city schools, and the needs of working parents had increased the demand for OSHC services.
“Before and after school care makes life easier for the thousands of working parents across the inner city, and we’re exploring every possible option to meet the growing demand for this essential service,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
“As more families move into the inner city, we need to create more flexible uses for school halls, classrooms and other school venues, ensure principals prioritise these services in their school planning, and adapt state government polices to support the growing demand for out-of-school-hours care.
“The NSW Department of Education policy recommends out of school hours care only be provided in surplus on-site venues, and not in school halls or classrooms. Very few inner-city schools have surplus sites and minor changes to this policy would help create more places.
“Schools are purpose built to look after children – if they can look after 200 children from 9am–3pm, they should also be allowed to look after 200 children outside those hours.”
National regulations stipulate the amount of indoor and outdoor space that should be provided for each child. Within these regulations, the Department of Education has the ability to offer waivers to new operators and flexibility in how they apply the regulations.
The Lord Mayor has written to the NSW Premier asking him to address the application of this regulation. The City believes that through regulatory change and a more flexible approach to the use of shared space at school sites, many more places would be created.
The City’s review of out-of-school-hours care also found while there were reports of undersupply in Newtown and Erskineville, services in other areas were often underused. Evidence suggests this is a mismatch between supply and demand in certain locations, rather than a general undersupply.
Enrolments at some schools in the City of Sydney area have trebled between 2010 and 2013 and these numbers are expected to increase even further, especially in urban renewal areas such as Green Square.
“We run six out of school hours services of our own, providing 270 approved places, and three of these services are free. We also provide grants and spaces that support non-profit services,” the Lord Mayor said.
The six City of Sydney OSHC services are in Millers Point, Pyrmont, Ultimo, Redfern, Woolloomooloo and Surry Hills. Three services offer free places to low-income families. The City provides grant funding for a not-for-profit OSHC provider in Glebe, and community space to a not-for-profit service in Woolloomooloo.
The City also provides a free to low-cost vacation care program in school holidays at community centres across the local area.
For more information, visit cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
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For media inquiries: City of Sydney Senior Media Adviser Jodie Minus 0467 803 815 or jminus@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
For interviews with Lord Mayor Clover Moore: Matt Levinson 0499 319 385 or email mlevinson@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au