The centre was opened by Keith Sewell from the Kruger Trust on Saturday and despite some hiccups on Monday morning, including staff being locked out for a brief period, local children got their first taste of the centre on Monday.

In attendance at the opening were representatives of the Kruger Trust, federal Member for Hume Alby Schultz, Marie Deverill from Community Childcare and a representative from the Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations as well as staff and friends of the centre.

The pre-school now provides a multi-purpose, “one-stop-shop” for parents and caters for children in the 0-3-years-old and 3-6-years-old age groups.

Funding for the development was provided by the Geoffrey Kruger Trust, Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations and the Bendigo Bank.

Director of Bunyip Pre-School, Annette Alexander said she was extremely pleased with the results and said it was crucial for the town to have the facilities on offer at Bunyip.

“I believe it’s one of the best centres in the state, not just the area,” Mrs Alexander said.

“It was a lot of hard work but it’s a great achievement… it was overwhelming (to see it finished), all the girls have put in to make it like this,” she said of the pre-school’s 15 staff who were not paid overtime for their extra work on the new building.

Mrs Alexander said the feedback from the opening and from parents had been overwhelmingly positive.

The pre-school now features a staffroom, a full kitchen, two classrooms for the 0-2 and 2-3 year age groups, nappy change facilities, a cot room as well as bottle preparation area and laundry, all of which were required to ensure the pre-school were able to gain an operating licence.

With the addition of a proper kitchen, next year the pre-school will take on a cook five days a week to prepare meals for children.

Mrs Alexander said the extensions had already made an impact on the quality of service provided, especially in regard to the new classrooms which allowed the individual age groups to be catered for separately.

“We would really like to thank anyone involved in any way for us to be able to open on time,” Mrs Alexander said.

“Stephen Shey (builder) bent over backwards to accommodate us and he and his team worked on things that weren’t required of them.

“The enthusiasm and response from those who attended the opening day was a really great reward,” she said.