Gordonvale will get a new early childhood and family support centre along with an extra 24 kindy places, Treasurer and Member for Mulgrave Curtis Pitt announced today.
Mr Pitt said he was delivering on an election commitment to build a new centre at Gordonvale State School, which would be operated by The Benevolent Society.
“The Palaszczuk Government will provide $2.2 million towards construction of this new centre in response to a growing community demand,” he said.
“It will be a new purpose-built facility that delivers a wider range of childhood care and education services.
“It’s great news for children and their families and great news for jobs and the local economy when construction gets underway.”
Mr Pitt said the early years service would enable the not-for-profit Benevolent Society to expand the service it currently provides at Gordonvale community hall.
“The Benevolent Society is consulting with local stakeholders about the types of services to be provided in the new facility,” he said.
“But it will focus on early childhood education and care, family support and child and maternal health.
“That’s a great outcome for the local community because it will better support the needs of families and young children in Gordonvale.”
Education Minister Kate Jones said the Palaszczuk Government wanted schools to become hubs that provide a range of affordable child and education-focused services.
“We want to ensure every Queensland child has access to quality early childhood care and education services that will support their safe, healthy and successful development,” she said.
The Benevolent Society’s Cairns Early Years Centre has already relocated five staff to Gordonvale State School where they are operating from a classroom under team leader Claudine Wiesner ahead of construction starting on the new building.
“We are already working closely with Gordonvale State School to deliver services including school readiness programs, outreach to hard-to-reach families and child health and wellbeing assessments,” Ms Wiesner said.
“We look forward to welcoming more families to the new integrated early years service at Gordonvale State School.”
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