THE growing number of students at St Brigid’s Rosewood will receive extra support with $208,000 funding awarded under the Federal Government’s Community Child Care Fund for the school’s Outside School Hours Care service.

“The Albanese Government is ensuring children in Blair can access the transformational benefits of early childhood education and care,” said Federal Member for Blair Shayne Neumann.

“The Federal program is all about helping these vital services to stay open in regional and remote areas.

“More than one million families across Australia are benefiting from our Cheaper Child Care reforms, including 8,900 families in Blair.”

Minister for Early Childhood Education Dr Anne Aly said the service was one of about 430 early childhood education and care services, in disadvantaged, regional and remote communities across Australia, that had been offered a share in $80 million of funding.

More than 380 services have received offers of sustainability support to help them remain open, with 90 services receiving capital support to undertake important modification work or expand to create more early childhood education and care places.

“This funding will help early childhood education services in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities across Australia remain open,” Dr Aly said.

“Access to early childhood education and care is vital to ensuring families can make the choice that are best for them, particularly when it comes to balancing the early learning needs of children along with being able to work more hours and boost household income.”

Families accessing these services will also benefit from the Government’s Cheaper Child Care reforms, which have made early childhood education more affordable for more than 1 million families across Australia.