Before And After School Care For Public Primary School Students

Parliamentary Secretary for Education Gareth Ward MP has today welcomed news that before and after school care will be made available to all parents with children at public primary schools across the by 2021 under a NSW Liberals & Nationals Government.

Mr Ward said that the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government will invest $120 million to dramatically expand before and after school care, providing working families more access to affordable, convenient and flexible services.

“We know that a major challenge for working families is accessing affordable and convenient before and after school care,” he said.

“We want to ensure that care is available to everyone who needs it and at a location that is convenient.

“It isn’t good enough for there to be growing waiting lists for before and after hours school care while community resources remain under-utilised. This will ensure we provide the support that modern family life demands.”

“Under the new policy, the NSW Government will work with schools across the Illawarra and South Coast to ensure that all families in the community have access to before and after school care.

“This will involve opening up services in new school locations and providing transportation for students to and from offsite providers or to locations at other schools,” Mr Ward said.

Before and after school care services will be available to primary school aged children from 7am to 6pm and the move will provide local families with greater choice and flexibility when it comes to the school drop-off and pick-up.

“We are giving parents and carers better options for before and after school care that is most convenient for their individual circumstances,” he said.

“The NSW Government will also reduce the cost of before and after school care by up to $225 per child per year, through a capped rental subsidy of up to $15,000 for providers who use school grounds to provide services.

“The policy will also make life easier for schools, with the creation of a new specialist team in the Department of Education to coordinate services and manage leases to relieve this burden from principals.

“This is about making life easier for parents and carers, teachers and principals, by ensuring our students are well cared for before, during and after the school day.  

“We want to free principals and teachers up so they can get back to focusing on teaching and learning.

“We will work with our local schools, P&Cs and principals to make sure they have the equipment and resources they need to provide the high quality out-of-school care that families expect in every local community,” Mr Ward concluded.

The $120 million strategy includes:

• $50 million over four years to help schools buy new equipment and expand their facilities;
• $40 million over four years to provide rental subsidies to service providers located at public primary schools if they can demonstrate savings have been passed on to families;
• $20 million over four years for an implementation fund focused on schools where a standalone service may not be viable, including smaller schools and rural and remote communities; 
• $8.5 million over four years for a team of specialists to help coordinate services and resources on an area or regional basis, to make it easier to setup and maintain a service and to take the hassle out of managing contracts with providers for principals; and
• $2 million for a new website and mobile app to allow parents and carers to search for and book student places online.