Parents hit by closure

By Paul Pickering
PARENTS at a Narre Warren child-care centre have been informed that their children will be relocated within four weeks.
The Ambley Park ABC Learning Centre is closing down due to insufficient patronage.
While parents have been told that their children will be guaranteed places at other ABC centres in the area, they are concerned about moving their kids to bigger facilities.
One mother, who preferred to remain anonymous, lamented the demise of the more intimate Ambley Park creche.
“It’s just a real shame,” she said.
“The big ones are too institutionalising.
“They don’t have that personality about them.”
Scott Emerson, a spokeman for ABC Learning Centres, said the trend towards larger child-care facilities was inevitable.
“It allows us to centralise paperwork so that we can free up staff to care for the kids.” Adding to the concerns of parents, however, is the $5 per day fee increase that the move will entail.
Mr Emerson said the fee hike is a product of nationwide increases in salaries for child-care workers.
In a response to the increased financial burden on Ambley Park parents, ABC Learning Centres has pledged a four-week financial contribution to cover the discrepancy in fees.
“We appreciate that it’s inconvenient for parents, but if they’d stayed the fees would have gone up as well,” Mr Emerson said.
All staff at the Ambley Park centre will also be relocated, allowing them to maintain established relationships with the children.