Page 1560 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 4 May 2016
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The staff at Ngunnawal childcare centre can speak over 10 languages between them, which ensures that children are placed in an environment that makes them feel comfortable. Having multicultural staff also serves the purpose of ensuring that young children are exposed to other cultures and backgrounds, an extremely important part of the socialisation process, especially in an area that is so diverse.
It means that the centre can meet the needs of families from all backgrounds and can provide culturally appropriate care for children. The centre is also conveniently located next to Ngunnawal Primary School. This allows parents to pick up and drop off their children in one go and saves valuable time. It means that older children can take their younger brothers and sisters to school, that public transport is easier to use and that a real sense of community forms in that area. In a society and economy that is increasingly making achieving the work-life balance difficult, that kind of convenience is important and essential for working families.
Madam Assistant Speaker, Communities@Work does particularly important work in our community. I applaud their commitment to quality and affordable early child care in the Gungahlin and Belconnen regions. My particular thanks go to Nishi Puri for organising my visit and to the staff members of Communities@Work Ngunnawal Child Care and Education Centre for contributing to our community and our children’s future.
Celebrate Gungahlin festival
MR COE (Ginninderra) (6.31): I have spoken in this place previously about the Celebrate Gungahlin festival, and last month I, like numerous other people in the Assembly, had the pleasure of attending the second festival at the Gungahlin town park. The theme of the 2016 festival was “The little rocky hill—a place where cultures meet”.
The festival was a wonderful opportunity for the Gungahlin community to join together and showcase everything that Gungahlin has to offer. Celebrate Gungahlin was very well attended by local families and a wide range of community groups, as well as by a number of representatives from this place, as I have just mentioned. The event was again opened by the Chief Minister. Indeed, with so many members of the Assembly present, it was a good indication of the esteem in which we all hold the growing district.
The enthusiasm of the organisers, community groups and attendees was inspiring. Thirty-five stalls were hosted at the festival, a figure which is 56 per cent up on the number from previous years.
I offer my congratulations and thanks to all those on the Celebrate Gungahlin committee who worked so hard to ensure the success of this year’s event. The team from Communities@Work did a wonderful job, as well as the Gungahlin Community Council, Gungahlin College, JM Publishing, the Marketplace Gungahlin and My Gungahlin. They all deserve thanks. The organisers are undertaking a survey to ensure
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