Milestone for preschool

President Georgiena Ryan said it was good to see so many people turn up to the opening, including former director for 17 years Mary Crimmins and Member for Murrumbidgee and NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli.

Mrs Ryan said the committee was pleased the building had been completed and was the cumulation of a

lot of hard work, fundraising and grant application

writing before the first sod was turned.

The preschool received more than $617,000 from the Coalition fo Australian Governmets (COAG) National Partnership on Childhood Education which aims to provide universal access to education for children in the year before school.

Mrs Ryan said there were some outstanding items to be completed by the committee, including landscaping to provide shade in the summer and a garden for preschoolers to play in.

There are also still spaces available at the preschool for three- and four-year-olds in Junee.

“It’d be good to see more children get a grounding in education before starting primary school,” Mrs Ryan said.

The preschool itself had humble beginnings and two establishment attempts, one of which raised some funds but failed to bring the service to Junee.

Barbara Manwaring proved the third time was the charm, with a public meeting leading the preschool starting in the St Joseph’s Hall in Anzac Avenue in 1970.

Half-day sessions for the preschool more than 40 years ago cost 40 cents with the school relying on volunteers from within the community.