SOUTHERN Yorke Peninsula Community Childcare Centre (SYPCCC) will be officially opened this Friday, August 30.

The initiative has brought 120 new childcare places per day to the region, which previously had just 14.

Of these, 80 places are available at the SYPCCC, trading as Minlaton Family Centre, and 40 are at the Maitland Family Centre, which was also opened as part of the project.

Both are owned by Yorke Peninsula Council and operated by Yorke Peninsula Learning and Care (YPLC).

The two centres employ about 50 people, more than 30 of whom are studying early childhood education.

The availability of child care has allowed parents to return to work, or increase their hours, relieved the pressure on grandparents and other carers and is, in time, expected to help the region retain young working families.

For these reasons, an independent cost-benefit analysis has shown every dollar invested by council in the project will create $52 of economic value for YP.

The complicated project started with advocacy from passionate local mums, Katie Hughes, Anna Phasey and Amy Honner. 

This led to a community survey, needs analysis and project plan which illustrated the desperate lack of child care and the many impacts it caused — including parents unable to work and children lacking social development opportunities.

This work allowed council to secure $2.25 million through the Federal Government’s Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Fund.

A dual tender process then secured SYPCCC builder Romaldi Construction and operator YPLC.

As construction at Minlaton got underway, council and YPLC worked to renovate and reopen what is now the Maitland Family Centre.

A partnership with ELC Training allowed staff at Maitland to study formal early childhood education qualifications, so the region would, in time, have enough qualified childcare staff. 

These staff members learned on-the-job at Maitland, and many have since moved on to Minlaton.

Minlaton Family Centre opened for term 3, 2024, and has operated successfully since day one.

“We are incredibly proud to have brought two fantastic childcare centres to Yorke Peninsula,” Mayor Darren Braund said.

“Thank you to everyone involved, from the amazing parents who advocated for child care, through to the project management team led by CEO Andrew Cameron, and of course Yorke Peninsula Learning and Care.

“We encourage anyone who could use the service, or who wants to find out more, to contact YPLC.”

Award-winning project

ESTABLISHING childcare centres at Minlaton and Maitland through the Yorke Peninsula Childcare Initiative has earned YP Council the Excellence in Local Economic Development Award at the LG Professionals SA 23rd Annual Leadership Excellence Awards.

All 68 councils across South Australia contested the awards, which recognised the best of the sector’s contributions to local communities.

“The childcare project has involved a tremendous amount of work from a lot of people, and it was heartening to have it formally recognised in this manner,” chief executive Andrew Cameron said.

“It shows how our organisation can create real and lasting positive impacts for our community.”

Mr Cameron thanked the entire YPC team, all staff and elected members, for supporting the project, which had made 140 childcare places available per day, up from just 18 previously.

“Special thanks to all staff members who have played direct roles in the childcare project, LG Professionals SA staff and board for hosting the awards, our category sponsor Norman Waterhouse, and the judges who chose our project over some tough competition, including AFL Gather Round,” he said. 

“A big thank you to Michael French and the team at Yorke Peninsula Learning and Care, our private partners in this endeavour.

“And finally, we thank the Southern Yorke Peninsula Childcare Feasibility Group, and in particular Katie Hughes, Amy Honner and Anna Phasey, whose advocacy helped shine a spotlight on the need for additional child care within our region and led to the wonderful results we have achieved.”

Minlaton Family Centre official opening Friday

MEMBER for Grey Rowan Ramsey will officially open the Southern Yorke Peninsula Community Childcare Centre, operating as Minlaton Family Centre, this Friday, August 30.

Mr Ramsey will represent the Australian Government, which provided $2.25million for the centre through the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Fund.

He will be joined by Yorke Peninsula Council mayor Darren Braund and other YPC representatives, Michael French and his team at Yorke Peninsula Learning and Care which operates the centre, and other invited guests.

They include the Southern Yorke Peninsula Childcare Feasibility Group members Amy Honner, Anna Phasey and Katie Hughes, who led community advocacy for the centres and have been involved throughout the project.

Due to the space available within the centre, and to minimise disruption to the children in care, the opening event is invitation only.

High level of care

MINLATON Family Centre has had an exceptional start to providing its service with the team working diligently each day to build relationships with families and children, to ensure the environment is as calm as it can be. 

Yorke Peninsula Family Learning and Care managing director Michael French said it had been a great relief to commence the service and he was proud to witness the passion and commitment from their staffing team.

“Our team has shown from day one they are going to create a great home in the community for our young families,” Mr French said. 

“In the space of education and care of the children, our focus is on delivering a service highly connected to the community, allowing the children to benefit through these connections.

“In the short term, the focus is strongly on building the skills of our team, many of them joining us in a career change.

“As they develop skills, you should expect to see the activities the children are involved in on a day-to-day basis build in connections to the broader community, allowing the children to learn and grow with the great benefit these connections deliver.

“Our commitment on service is to deliver a high quality of care and additional services to the community. 

“At Minlaton this includes seeking to add additional services for families that may not otherwise be available locally such as allied health and the like through our on-site consulting room. 

“A final key focus for us is to continue to offer the service in Minlaton and Maitland as a local training bed for community members who want to take up a career in early childhood education and care. 

“This commitment should be a great aligned benefit for the community to enable more people to gain the skills in careers they can access without having to leave the region.”

Minlaton Family Centre has ample space for more enrolments and, for the service to be viable, need many of them to be filled. 

“Families can be assured, currently, spaces are available in all age groups across the week both in Minlaton, and in Maitland at the smaller service commenced there,” Mr French said.