South Australia's Preschool Infrastructure Strategy
Focus areas and actions
1. Infrastructure planning
Knowing where new preschool capacity is needed
As steward of the early childhood system, the OECD is supporting sector planning. We will share information with the sector about where modelling indicates new preschool capacity is needed and we plan to keep updating this as new information becomes available. This will help ensure that our infrastructure investment is targeted to the locations that need it the most.
Around two-thirds of children are already accessing early childhood services at the age of 3. In line with the Royal Commission’s recommendations, children already attending long day care will access their preschool program in that setting.
However, many families who want a place in long day care cannot access one. Although we are focused on creating additional preschool capacity, where possible, we will leverage our infrastructure planning and investment to support the creation of additional long day care. Read more under Preschool Infrastructure Grants Program.
When planning for expanded capacity in government preschool, we are considering local early childhood supply and the potential impact on the viability of long day care services.
What we heard
- Our sector partners know their local communities and how to meet their needs, but they have limited visibility of broader demand. They would benefit from information about projected shortfalls in preschool capacity to support their planning processes.
- Early childhood providers, local councils and Regional Development Australia can all share rich local data and intelligence. This should be considered when planning for new preschool capacity.
Optimising infrastructure
Before an infrastructure solution is considered, it is expected that services will make the best use of their existing infrastructure to accommodate 3-year-old children in a preschool program.
Many providers are already considering ways to optimise existing infrastructure and capacity to support more 3-year-old children to access preschool programs.
Depending on the service type, a range of models can be, and are, used to increase access for children, such as:
- recruiting degree-qualified early childhood teachers to lead preschool programs in existing 3-year-old rooms in long day care settings
- offering preschool programs over 2 days per week
- offering more days per week
- delivering preschool to mixed-aged groups.
OECD Local Teams across the state will provide support and advice to services about implementing the reforms and are available to discuss strategies to help families access 3-year-old preschool.
Undertaking planning for an infrastructure project
Once a provider is confident of the need for more capacity in their area and that a new or expanded service would be financially viable, they need to conduct detailed project planning. This would include:
- community consultation
- design
- estimating costs
- seeking development approvals.
What we heard
- There are complex considerations when evaluating whether to undertake an infrastructure project. For older facilities, for example, infrastructure works such as expansions may require changes beyond the proposed scopes of works, to bring the buildings into alignment with updated regulations. This has potential implications for cost and feasibility.
- Many providers, particularly those that operate a single service, felt they would need additional support to undertake the planning and pre-construction work required for an infrastructure project.
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| Why we are taking action | What we are doing |
|---|---|
| We need a clear, shared picture of where new infrastructure is needed across the state to support the roll-out of 3-year-old preschool. This will support the state’s investment decisions and provide clarity to the broader sector, including all types of providers, about where projects need to be prioritised. | 1.1 As system steward, the OECD: |
| Local data and knowledge are vital to inform our understanding of preschool demand and the needs of local communities. | 1.2 We will build on our consultation discussions and develop mechanisms for organisations such as local councils, Regional Development Australia or local networks to share information and to supplement modelling and local planning. |
| We want to support quality providers with limited infrastructure experience to plan and deliver infrastructure projects in areas of demand for preschool. | 1.3 Supports are available for providers to undertake an end-to-end infrastructure project. This includes comprehensive written resources and testing an advisory service for smaller eligible providers by referral that need additional support. More information is available under Sector supports for delivering preschool infrastructure projects. |