Community preschools in NSW oppose move towards more children, fewer staff

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NSW will increase funding for community preschools next year, but individual centres will have to take on more enrolments to maximise their share.

Operators say the new funding model will affect the quality of care and could leave some centres financially worse off.

The NSW education minister has urged concerned preschool directors to contact the Department of Education.

Sarah Kearney sends her daughter to a community preschool on the NSW far south coast, and says the care she receives there is "exceptional".

The 42-year-old mother of two said a high staff-to-student ratio at the Moruya Preschool Kindergarten was a key factor.

"The staff pick up on any signs that she might need extra support," she said.

"They're there to support us parents, and they watch all the children really closely, which I think is what parents want."

But there are fears that situation could change when the NSW government introduces a new funding model next year.

The Universal Funding Program will actually increase funding for community preschools from $540 million to $625 million, but individual centres will have to take on more enrolments to maximise their share.

Last week NSW Education Minister Prue Car urged community preschools to take in an extra 10,000 students across the state.

She suggested they use a ratio of one staff member for every 10 children.

"What a lot of these community preschools are saying is that they're full based on the ratios that they want to have, one to three or one to four," Ms Car said.

There are 710 community preschools in NSW, funded primarily through government grants and subsidies, which are supplemented by parent-paid fees and local fundraising.

They differ from public preschools, which are operated by the NSW government, and commercial operators.

Community preschools are run by volunteer parent management committees, are not-for-profit, and have a particular focus on catering to all children with diverse abilities and backgrounds.

An e-petition highlighting concerns about the new funding model has garnered more than 40,000 signatures after being launched by staff at Mittagong Community Preschool on November 2.

Families and directors of not-for-profit centres have rallied across the state, including in Sydney, Nowra, Lismore, Queanbeyan and Coffs Harbour, with another protest held on Thursday outside NSW Parliament.

Among the protesters in Nowra was Sharon O'Brien from the Lyrebird Preschool, who used a funding estimate calculator published by the NSW Department of Education to gauge the effect of the change.

"We are $100,000 short on operational expenses that have been allocated under this new funding model," she said.

"We take well above our proportion of children with support needs, Aboriginal children with disadvantaged, who we actually financially support by enabling them not to pay fees at all.

"Myself and my team have had many sleepless nights since the data from the funding calculator has come out."

The director of the Keiraville Community Preschool in Wollongong, Margaret Gleeson, said it operated with a ratio of one staff member for every seven children.

She said the centre was licensed by the NSW Early Learning Commission for a maximum of 40 children per day, based on an assessment of environment, equipment, and staffing.

"If I go over my 40 children a day, even by one person, I'm breaching the law. I can be fined," Ms Gleeson said.

NSW Greens MP Abigail Boyd, who chaired the Inquiry into Early Childhood Education and Care, said not-for-profit community preschools were known for providing high-quality early education.

"What I found in the inquiry was that amongst all of the really shocking stories of incidents happening in the sector, there was a really good story in there too, and that was community preschools," she said.

"Because they're not-for-profit, they often take the children with additional needs that other for-profit centres won't."

According to a report by the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority, 75 per cent of community preschools were rated as exceeding in the National Quality Standard, compared to the 25 per cent of early childhood education and care services run by commercial operators.

Community preschool directors and parents have argued that imposing a ratio of one to 10 would compromise those standards.

"The bare minimum ratio is not quality," Jamberoo Preschool director Belinda Hibbert told a 100-strong rally in Nowra last week.

"Take more children, they say, but we're already maximising spaces and are still full with waiting lists."

The education minister has said "transitional funding" would be available to help centres adapt to the changes.

Ms Car said the directors of centres that did not have the physical space to increase enrolments should contact the Department of Education, so they can be assessed on a case-by-case basis.