Pooncarie residents have welcomed the opening of the town’s first accredited pre-school. The nearest pre-school, which was 116kms away in Dareton, meant that most children were previously getting remotely-educated through ‘School of the Air’.
Gyndarna Indigenous Corporation CEO Brady Matthews said that Pooncarie parents had contacted the Dareton based Gyndarna Pre-school last year asking if the school could assist in setting up a pre-school in Pooncarie. Mr Matthews said that it is difficult to develop young kids if they don’t have other kids to socialise with within early learning environments.
“Ninety per cent of a child’s brain development happens before the age of 5, so pre-school and early childhood education is quite crucial to their development and certainly prepares them for school.”
“If they miss out on pre-school, then when they are 5 or 6 and start school, that would be quite a shock to them, going into a class of however many kids.”
NSW state MP for Murray Helen Dalton said that the Pooncarie pre-school was something she and many others had been lobbying for a long time. She is pleased by what she believes will improve the education experience for children and parents Pooncarie.
“All children deserve access to public education, no matter where they live.”
“Well done too to Dareton’s Gyndarna Pre-school, the Isolated Parents and Children Association and Contact Inc. for lobbying the NSW Government on this,”
The Pooncarie Parents Committee organised an open day on Thursday 10th for the initial ten students. The Mayor came to perform an official ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome students and parents to the pre-school.
