PARENTS rejoice, there’s a new before-school care service in Tamworth open for business.
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Operating from the Tamworth West Public School on Bridge St, the new service is able to take in 30 kids, from 6.30am.
The service will be trialled during Term 3 and there’s potential for more spaces to be added if there is a huge demand.
Tamworth Regional Council community care manager Heather Lynn said there was a need for the service at the school.
“The principal contacted us because we have an after school service here, currently, and we also run a vacation care program, which is very popular,” Ms Lynn said.
“The principal was concerned there was, maybe, quite a lot of children here that were here early.
“And we [now] provide supervision from 6.30 to 9 o’clock and breakfast.”
However, the facility will only be open for Tamworth West Public and St Joseph’s, with no bus service available to other areas of the city.
“We walk them up [to St Joseph’s] with supervision,” Ms Lynn said.
“At our other location, at Tamworth public, there’s buses that take children to their locations where they attend school. At Tamworth public, there’s approximately 25 children that attend there.”
There are only about five or six children currently using the service which opened on July 24, but Ms Lynn anticipated the demand would increase, as word spreads.
“They might be obligated with their current child care service, or with family, or whatever they’re doing currently,” she said.
The school will continue its after-school care too, supervising 45 children each afternoon and 58 children a day, during school holidays.
After-school care is approved for 30 children daily at South Tamworth and 100 children at East Tamworth.
Fees for before school care start at $16 per child, per day, from 7am and $18 from 6.30am.
Child Care Benefits and Child Care Rebates are available to eligible families.
Year Round Care at Tamworth Public School will continue for children in schools in the East Tamworth area.