Sydney private schools to receive cash for new preschools

With six kids, including three under five, Celeste Kumar spends hours each week driving between childcare, primary school and after school activities, and the family home in Holsworthy, near Liverpool.

“There are a few preschools in our area, but there are no spaces anywhere,” she said.

It’s why she’s welcomed the announcement the state government will fund a new preschool at her older children’s school, St Christopher’s Catholic Primary School.

“It will be fantastic for us because we would only have one drop off and pick up, all the kids will be at the same location. It will save us quite a lot of time. We’re already on tight schedules, so every minute we can save travelling is great.”

Almost $16 million has been awarded to five non-government schools across Sydney and south-west NSW to build new preschools, as part of a $60 million NSW government program to build and upgrade 50 preschools co-located within independent and Catholic schools.

The state has also pledged to build 100 new public preschools by 2027.

Acting Minister for Education and Early Learning Courtney Houssos said the grants for non-government schools would “unlock more early learning places in growing areas”.

To be eligible, non-government schools must be within a “high-growth area”. They will be selected based on socio-economic status, student demographics, and whether they are a special school.

Enrolments in independent and Catholic schools have surged in recent years, with more than one in three NSW students attending a non-government school.

St Christopher’s principal Linda O’Regan said having a preschool onsite would help children transition in school.

“This will be a great way for us to know our learners so much better and more thoroughly before they come to school, the more information enables you to plan better and be ready for when the children come to school,” she said.

The announcement sits against a backdrop of crisis within the childcare sector, after an ABC Four Corners investigation last week revealed paedophiles were infiltrating centres as casual staff.

Data from Australia’s childcare regulator shows for-profit childcare services are, on average, rated as lower quality than not-for-profit services.

Kumar said she felt “safer” sending her child to a not-for-profit preschool linked to a school.

“Having the centre linked to Sydney Catholic Schools does give me a sense of comfort because it is scary sending your kids to daycare,” she said.

Early Childcare Australia chief executive Samantha Page said NSW needed more preschools, with children in high-growth areas “currently missing out or on waiting lists”.

“[But] what we don’t want to do is lose our community preschools, which have been long-standing, highly valued parts of the early childhood system,” she said.

Opposition education spokesperson Sarah Mitchell noted Labor had promised 50 preschools for non-government schools since 2023.

“Nearly a third of the allocated funding is being spent on just five preschools so it’s pretty clear most of these so-called ‘new’ preschools will be minor upgrades to existing services rather than genuinely new facilities,” she said.

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