Pre-school goes high-tech

Summer, Layla, Matthew, Angela and Alexis with Minister Wendy Lovell and Seymour MP Cindy McLeish. PICTURES: MELISSA MEEHAN

By MELISSA MEEHAN

TWO Yarra Valley kindergartens are set to benefit from IT upgrades, thanks to new grants from the State Government.
Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development Wendy Lovell and Seymour MP Cindy McLeish visited the Yarra Glen Pre-school to announce the funding on Wednesday.
Yarra Glen Pre-school and Upper Yarra Community House will both receive $1500 that will provide them with upgrades to their administration system and a new laptop, respectively.
“This small round of funding makes it possible to reward the hard work of committees and communities at local pre-schools,” Ms Lovell said.
“It’s important that they are able to offer state of the art services because early childhood education is one of the most important steps in setting children on the right path.”
Preschool parents’ committee president Kelly Coghlan said the funding would be a great help to the pre-school.
“We do really rely on fund-raising and the generosity of parents and members of the community,” she said.
“And in these extremely tough times for some families funding like this really helps us, and I guess, acknowledges the work of volunteers that keep the wheels turning.”
Ms McLeish said that local centres in the Yarra Ranges were among 643 Victoria pre-schools and children’s centres that would benefit from the grants.