BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

OCTOBER 5, 2023

OSHC is a pretty common acronym amongst families (it stands for Outside School Hours Care, btw), but have you heard of OKHC or OPHC? 

Well, don’t worry if not, because these aren’t established acronyms in the childcare world, but they are definitely worth thinking about if you’re a working parent with a preschooler.  

This is because Outside Kindy/Preschool Hours Care makes it possible to enrol your child in a standalone kindy or preschool (with those pesky school-length hours) and still work your regular nine-to-five.  

Extended care isn’t offered at every standalone kindy/preschool in Australia, and lots of us depend on long day care services to provide a great kindy/preschool program with wrap-around care. 

However, Ashgrove Memorial Kindergarten in Brisbane is one place that does offer After Care, and to see how it works in practice, we’ve spoken with Ashgrove’s Centre Director, Lisa Cranny.  

Lisa tells us that Ashgrove Memorial Kindy has been offering After Care for 13 years.  

Her not-for-profit community kindergarten cares for children between the ages of 3.5 and five in the year before they start school, and they started their Before and After Care program back in 2010 after receiving feedback from working parents.  

Ashgrove Kindy has incredibly strong family ties, and when parents explained that they needed longer childcare hours to fit with the nine-to-five, the team listened!  

Lisa says, "We introduced Before and After School Care to support our working parents, and although we soon stopped Before Care, because very few children were using it and it wasn’t sustainable, After Care has increased in demand as the years have gone by.” 

She explains that, “After Care was offered for a small group of children at first, but has evolved with greater numbers and we’ve had to recruit more educators to cater for the bigger need.” 

Day-to-day, the After Care program is run by qualified staff. 

The After Care Coordinator is a much-loved and diploma qualified educator by the name of Margot Ellis, and she’s supported by one or two other educators, depending on the group size each day. 

After Care runs from 2.15pm, straight after the kindy’s day program ends, and parents can pick up their preschooler any time before 5.30pm – which is perfect for those finishing work at 5.  

Like Outside School Hours Care, it’s a bit more relaxed than the day program, and during After Care, the children get to play in Ashgrove’s outdoor playground, before going inside for afternoon tea and fun activities.  

Lisa says, on average, half the children during the day session stay for After Care on each day of the week, and it’s a big hit with preschoolers and their parents.  

For the children, After Care presents a great opportunity to socialise with other kids who might not have been in their kindy group that day.  

The afternoon tea of fruit, cheese and crackers is always a hit, and Lisa says activities like cooking, craft, music and movement are really popular amongst the littlies at After Care.      

And, obviously, After Care is brilliant for working parents!  

There’s flexibility around sessions, with Ashgrove taking permanent and casual After Care bookings, and there’s also flexibility around pick-up, because parents can collect their preschooler any time before 5.30pm.   

The cost of Ashgrove Kindy’s education and care is also really attractive.  

Parents pay one fee for their child’s kindy day program, and another fee for their After Care, and neither fee is expensive. 

The Queensland government subsidises the kindergarten day program (with every preschooler getting 15 hours of Free Kindy from 1 January next year), and although the state funding doesn’t extend to Ashgrove’s After Care program, the fees are pretty affordable. 

In dollar terms, a day at kindy in 2023 for eligible-aged children is $46.80 (before subsidies).  

At Ashgrove, parents then pay a little extra for Association membership, excursions and a maintenance levy, and their After Care rates are based on how long their child is there before pick-up. 

After Care is calculated at $13 per hour and $6.50 per half hour (with a minimum charge of $13), and there’s no extra cost for that yummy afternoon tea, served at 3.45pm!  

Ashgrove is able to strike a workable balance between its operating costs and family affordability, but Lisa acknowledges that this isn’t possible for many standalone kindergartens and preschools. 

She says, “Often, one-unit kindergartens can’t financially make After Care work due to smaller numbers,” however, it’s definitely worth investigating your local options, as some kindies/preschools are able to offer wrap-around care, like Ashgrove Memorial Kindy does.  

If you can’t find a standalone kindy/preschool that fits with your work hours, then it’s good to know that there are lots of amazing long day cares offering a kindergarten program with extended hours on either side. 

A quick KindiCare search will open up your options, and we can recommend the Childcare Match feature in the KindiCare App, because it offers centre suggestions based on your personal childcare priorities.  

And back at Ashgrove Memorial Kindy, there is a chance that Before Care will be reintroduced. 

Lisa tells us that if there are enough families needing Before Kindy Care, the original offering could come back, because this kindy has always strived to meet the needs of its community. 

Ashgrove Kindy’s Excellent rating from ACECQA and near-perfect KindiCare Rating say a lot about its amazing programs and people, and this kindy holds a dear place in the hearts of all its families, whether they’re nine-to-fivers, small business owners or stay-at-home parents.