The ribbon was officially cut to open the $6.8 million families centre in Mooroopna on Thursday, March 17.
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The facility — that will be able to service 100 children — provides healthcare and support services alongside early education for children and their families, from maternal and child services and paediatrics, to playgroups, long day care and three- to four-year-old kinder.
The centre is part of the Shepparton Education Plan, which addresses poor education outcomes of children in City of Greater Shepparton.
“We knew that our figures were really falling right across the spectrum, from the very earliest to the end of secondary,” state Member for Shepparton Suzanna Sheed said.
“And so, it’s come to pass that we’ve had a massive investment in education here in the last few years. And that hasn’t been by chance.”
The first stage of the $140.5 million plan was addressing the immediate need in secondary education, with the Greater Shepparton Secondary College upgrade.
Stage two is addressing poor education outcomes through early education intervention.
“Not just kindergarten and school, but a place for all the professionals to be able to work from and engage with families and treat people and have therapists if we need them,” Ms Sheed said.
“All the spaces are now in this place to provide the young people of this community with what we know they need.”
The facility has been operating at various levels of capacity since May last year due to the pandemic, but was now fully operational.
Before the Welcome to Country, Yorta Yorta man from Wulumbarra Mick Bourke conducted a Smoking Ceremony to cleanse the body and the mind.
He banished any bad energy and replaced it with guidance from Yorta Yorta elders, starting with the “little burrai”, the children attending the family centre, followed by the politicians and dignitaries.
Mr Bourke said “it’s a must” to teach the kids about First Nations culture, explaining the significance of the ceremony to the children while he conducted them around the communal “bitja”, the fire.
Victorian Early Education Minister Ingrid Stitt said it was especially relevant to honour First Nations people on the day of the ceremony, as it fell on national Close the Gap day.
“The national agreement on closing the gap has 17 really important targets and outcomes,” she said.
“The third of those targets is around early childhood education and making sure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children right across the nation, including Victoria and regional Victoria, have the very best start in life.”
Children not having access to early learning, leaving them unprepared and behind the ball when they start school, has been identified as a huge problem in greater Shepparton.
Ms Stitt said the centre was a “huge step forward” to addressing poor early learning outcomes in the region.
“Unfortunately, there have been parts of our state that have historically missed out on those educational outcomes and our government is absolutely committed to doing something about that,” she said.
“This project really represents a great example of when the community and all levels of government come together with one very strong goal in mind and that is to make a real difference and give children the very best start in life.
“It will also play a role in developing happy, healthy and resilient young people as well as supporting families and the broader community.
“The value of early learning cannot be underestimated in the context of future health and education outcomes of the area.”
City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Kim O’Keeffe said before the opening of the facility there was a gap in the access that families had to these services in the region.
“It’s exciting to see this building now up and running and seeing families utilising a facility that many perhaps didn’t connect to the services and the opportunities that they didn't have before,” she said.
“It just makes it so much easier for people to use those facilities and also for staff and beyond to make sure that people are getting the support, and families and children are getting the support that they need.”
Non-profit organisation Coleman Foundation, which partnered with the Department of Education to delivered improved outcomes to communities that have socio-economic challenges, would continue to consult with community members about what other services they would like to see at the centre.