Preschoolers feel heat

By Rebecca Fraser
A BERWICK mother has expressed concern over the temperature inside Casey’s preschools.
Fearing the heat inside could trigger health problems with young children, Gwendoline Preschool committee president Natalie Morris has now called on Casey City Council to change its policy and install air conditioners in all new preschools in Casey.
The mother of two’s concerns arose after she noticed the temperature inside the Gwendoline preschool in Berwick seemed very high.
She said the room, which houses 26 children, was “stuffy and unbearable”.
These concerns led the committee to write a letter to the council that was presented at a recent meeting by former Casey councillor Ben Clissold.
Ms Morris said they had already charted the preschool’s temperature in the cooler months but she was worried that this could climb “10fold” in the warmer weather. She said this was the second year the preschool had been in operation and the first time they had four groups of children.
She said the heat, glare and airflow had been a major issue for their committee and teachers this year and also posed an occupational health and safety issue.
Ms Morris said the committee had contributed and installed window tinting to the high windows to reduce glare, which had helped, but this was still not enough.
“The preschool is a new design and there is a lot of glass. It is meant to be cooler in summer and warmer in winter but this is just not working.
“With 26 little hot bodies in the room it does get unbearable and parents should not have to bust a gut to put money back into a council resource,” she said.
Currently there is airconditioning at either end of the preschool – in the maternal and child health centre at one end and a playgroup at the other.
Ms Morris said it would cost $9800 to install evaporative air conditioning in both rooms.
In the letter to the council, the committee said fundraising money had been allocated for muchneeded educational resources at the preschool instead of contributing to air conditioning.
The committee said its other goal was to see council policy changed so air conditioning was put throughout all new preschools, not just half the building, at building stage.
Former Casey councillor Ben Clissold moved that a report comes back to council on the matter including an assessment of temperatures recorded in the preschool.
“We need to keep this in perspective but officers should take any steps immediately which as a result of the investigation appear justified,” he said.
Casey building services manager Ron Walker said the answer to the issue was not as simple as putting in an air conditioning unit.
He said the building was specifically designed so it was warm in winter and cooler in summer and the original temperature study had shown no cause for alarm.
But Mr Walker said council would continue to monitor the issue and would evaluate the results of the new tests following the report.