Haddon Pre-School expands to meet huge demand on Ballarat's fringe

The growing town on Ballarat's outskirts has seen increased demand for kindergarten services as new families move in to the area.

A $2.7 million expansion of the kinder, part of a Building Blocks Partnership between Golden Plains Shire and the state government, will provide up to an extra 50 kindergarten places for local children each day.

Two single room modular kinder buildings will be installed at the kinder, with the existing outdated kinder building to be demolished.

Golden Plains mayor Cr Brett Cunningham said the first modular building would be in place for the start of term one, 2024, before the existing building is demolished and replaced with the second modular building.

The kinder's extensive yard and playgrounds will also be upgraded as part of the project.

Early childhood education minister Ingrid Stitt visited Haddon Pre-School Centre to make the announcement, reading the children a story before joining them in the playground.

"We will replace this ageing infrastructure with a new facility and create an additional 50 places for families in this growing part of the (Golden Plains) council area," Ms Stitt said.

Upgrades to many kindergartens, particularly older facilities in regional areas, have become critical after the state government announced free three year old and four year old kinder programs and increased hours for four-year-old kinder to better prepare children for school.

"Demand has never been higher for kinder places across the state," Ms Stitt said.

"We've got expansion of three-year-old kinder happening across the state, and over the coming years will double the number of hours that four year olds receive when they are at kinder which will set them up for a fantastic life-long love of learning."

The expansion though is not without its challenges, namely recruiting enough qualified staff and providing enough physical space for the increased numbers and hours.

Ms Stitt said there would be a need for another 11,000 kinder staff over the next decade and government initiatives to attract new teachers and educators would help bridge that gap.

A current search of job ads for kindergarten and early childhood educators in the Ballarat region shows scores of job vacancies.

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"We will continue to invest whether it's in professional development or mentor support for new teachers, or providing incentives to help staff areas in some regional parts of the state," she said.

"We are working with tertiary institutions to make sure there are scholarships in place to attract people into early childhood education. We are confident we are building a strong pipeline for teachers and educators."

A new kindergarten is also scheduled to open at Napoleons Primary School next year, providing up to 96 extra kindergarten places for local families.

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