Labor has announced a plan to rescue Globe Wilkins Preschool from closure in an effort to break the impasse over the future of the beloved preschool. 

A Labor Government would end the uncertainty and build 4 modular classrooms for the preschool and offer a long-term lease of land at Wilkins Public School, Marrickville. 

Instead of delivering the classrooms that Wilkins Public School needs to meet growing demand and take the pressure off the need for classrooms currently used by Globe Wilkins, the State Government has kicked the problem down the road by putting the redevelopment of land at the school out to open tender. 

The Preschool has been co-located at Wilkins Public School for twenty years and is being forced to leave its current buildings due to an end of its lease by the Department of Education in 2019. 

Labor has committed that the new classrooms for the preschool will be in place before the commencement of the new service year in 2020, meaning that families can be assured of the ongoing future of the preschool with as minimal disruption to services and care arrangements as possible.

Quotes attributable to Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Penny Sharpe

“This has been left to drag on for too long. It beggars belief that the Minister for Education has failed to act until the eleventh hour, and even then has only entered into a game of chicken with council. 

“Parents want the certainty they need to make decisions about their kids’ future. Labor’s plan will give them that. 

Quotes attributable to Shadow Minister for Education, Jihad Dib

“Labor is committed to co-locating preschools in every new school that we build and to protecting those co-located services wherever they exist.

“The evidence is clear that co-locating these services benefits kids, benefits families and benefits the community as a whole. 

“No-one who visits Globe Preschool can doubt the value of its partnership with Wilkins Public School. While others play political games, Labor will deliver the local services our community needs to thrive.”   

Quotes attributable to Jo Haylen MP, Member for Summer Hill 

“This is a huge win for Save Globe Wilkins, who have fought tooth and nail to protect the preschool.

“They’ve fought not just for their own kids, but for the generations of kids that will follow them.

“Globe Preschool will have a future under a Labor Government because we know the value of supporting local kids and local families. 

Quotes attributable to Clr Darcy Byrne, Mayor Inner West Council

 “The Education Minister has tried to shift responsibility for building new classrooms to the Inner West Council. 

“I am pleased to see that a State Labor Government would fight to keep Globe open and would continue the long-standing arrangement between NSW and the Inner West Council to deliver quality education.