Builders have returned to the site of the recently opened Hazel Glen Primary School to begin construction of the Doreen South Early Learning Centre.
The $5 million integrated early childhood and family services hub is expected to open in January next year.
Enrolments opened on March 1. Local families will also be sent letters and invited to information sessions in late April.
Whittlesea mayor Mary Lalios said she had heard anecdotally that residents were struggling to find occasional care. “This [centre] will be a welcome addition,” she said.
Tenders for the project closed last December 18.
Melbourne-based firm Brand Architects, which has done works at Toorak Primary School, NMIT Fairfield and Heidelberg and various TAFE centres, won the tender and has contributed $2 million to the project.
The centre will include two sessional kindergarten rooms for four-year-olds, one long-day-care room for three- to five-year-olds and facilities for maternal and child health services. To ensure the new childcare quotas for 2016 can be met, the new rooms will cater for up to 33 children.
State government regulations mandate that all children have access to 15 hours of kinder per week before their first year of school.
Hazel Glen Primary School will manage the centre, and there will be a direct pedestrian link between the two.
