Shoalhaven Community Preschool Incorporated
Shoalhaven Community Pre School is a community based not-for-profit preschool providing early childhood education for children aged 3-5 years. They were the first early childhood service established in the community, and have been operating for over 60 years.
IRCF FUNDED Projects
Staff Wellbeing and Capacity Building Program
IRCF Startup Grant
Supported with $15,000 to empower the staff, strengthen their resilience post-bushfires, and increase their cultural awareness through the provision of a tailored staff development program, cultural awareness training and the employment of an Aboriginal Identified trainee.
The Growth Strategy Project
Round 1
Supported with $22,000 to strengthen the leadership capacity of the Centre’s Director during the Preschools relocation and expansion through a wage subsidy, expert consultants and professional development.
Administration and Operations Manager
Round 2
Supported with $30,000 to support the final transition of the organisational growth and relocation of preschool.
When community organisations apply for grants, it can sometimes be hard to find a match between what is needed and what the grants can cover. FRRR recognizes that local groups on the ground know what their communities need and aim to assist these groups to accomplish what they set out to do.
One example of this is Shoalhaven community preschool, which has served children of the Nowra community for more than 60 years. The school is run by a committee of passionate parents and local community members who want the best for the next generation.
Recently the preschool encountered challenging times when Preschool director Kate Morriss was informed that school would have to relocate from the land it was on.
It was daunting position to be in, and one that Kate discussed with FRRR local community facilitator.
The preschool would have to find a new site and move everything across while ensuring there was as little disruption as necessary to children and staff. When talking about FRRR’s support, Kate said:
“It was actually the community facilitator (from FRRR) that suggested the wage subsidy as an option.”
A wage subsidy was part of the IRCF grant the Shoalhaven preschool received.
The grant helped the preschool to employ another educator, which freed up Kate’s time to focus on the challenging tasks ahead.
This time enabled Kate to apply for a capital works grant through the NSW Department of Education, which the Preschool was successful in receiving. This meant a new purpose-built building could be constructed, ensuring that the preschool will make a smooth transition into an exciting future.
Kate’s advice to others when thinking about applying for FRRR’s ICRF grants is to talk to FRRR’s people [community facilitators] on the ground.
“The FRRR’s process is really unique in working with what is a good fit for the organisation, it’s a really collaborative process.”
