Nearly 12 months ago, Barham Pre-school’s Early Learning Centre (ELC) opened the doors to welcome local families with a much needed long day care facility in the town.

Fast forward to now and the operation of the centre as it stands today in providing places for 20 children up from 12 previously and the demand for the service continues to grow across the region.

ELC Long Day Care Director Kylie Symons spoke with ‘The Bridge’ this week on the overwhelming response since opening last year.

“We are having a look at the service as a whole now and considering provision for even more spaces as we also have a small waiting list as well.

“It’s a full house at the moment. I didn’t expect it to be as busy at it has been.

“We are taking interest from families locally and surrounding towns including Kerang, Koondrook, Cohuna, Murrabit and Moulamein, all seeking care.

 “We will have to consider our staff and not put them under too much pressure and work with current room regulations.

“We are looking at how our team will work together on how we use our facility to support the families.

“We are definitely growing, which is really exciting.”

During COVID-19 as a mother herself, Kylie understood the juggle of motherhood, work life and home schooling her son, the challenge other families also faced and the facility responded to provide a safe facility through COVID times and taking the correct measures for those using the service.

“We are taking all the precautions to ensure that everyone in the centre is healthy and safe.”

The centre’s main priority was also making sure that those children who didn’t attend over time were looked after upon return. We made sure they were made to feel comfortable and provided for a transition to fall back into normal routines.

Kylie shared that she had been receiving an amazing feedback from families.

“It has been amazing. We couldn’t have been blessed with better families, they really support us so much.