Mayor of Boroondara, Councillor Garry Thompson: I acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people as the Traditional Owners and original custodians of this land and pay my respects to their Elders, past and present, and the Elders from other communities who may be here today.
I'm excited to officially open the new West Hawthorn Preschool. We have modernised the facility and created purpose-built spaces to meet the needs of children in our community and future generations to come.
While we wish we could have been able to commemorate this milestone with families and staff members in person, it is great to have you with us as we virtually reopen our doors to our community.

Councillor Wes Gault: I am thrilled this exciting new facility is now available for current and new families joining us in 2022.
 West Hawthorn preschool has been a much-loved and valuable services for children in Boroondara for over 70 years.
We know how important early childhood education is for children's development, social skills and preparing them for a smooth transition into their school years.
Careful consideration was given to the design of the project, which allows our educators to deliver high quality programs and help children become confident young learners.
The former single room preschool has been replaced with a state-of-the-art, two-room facility, alongside a modern outdoor play area. This expansion means we can accommodate an additional three-year-old kindergarten group at the facility and deliver services to over 80 families.

John Kennedy MP: Good morning. Thank you for inviting myself, the Member for Hawthorn, and the Minister for Early Childhood, Ingrid Stitt, to be part of this very special day in West Hawthorn.
I'd like to begin by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people as the Traditional Custodians of this land, and pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Before I hand over to the Minister, I'd just like to say how pleased I am that the Andrews Labour Government was able to support this important upgrade for West Hawthorn Preschool.
Its investments like this that make a huge difference to the lives of our little ones, and I'm so proud to be part of a government that delivers for Hawthorn families. 
And now, it's over to you, Minister.

Ingrid Stitt, Minister for Early Childhood: Good morning everyone, and thank you very much John.
I'd also like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people as the Traditional Custodians of this land, and pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Thank you for inviting me to be part of the West Hawthorn Preschool upgrade opening. I'm really honoured to be included in this special day for the Hawthorn community.
I want to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the early childhood sector over the past 20 months. I know it hasn't been easy and I want to take this opportunity to thank the team at West Hawthorn Preschool. Thank you for your determination and passion for providing early childhood education and care to your community.
We're here today to celebrate an important upgrade - an upgrade that will support this community and their children to thrive.
The new children's room will allow more three-year-olds to attend kinder, and allow you to increase your three-year-old kindergarten program to 15 hours a week.
There's also a new meeting room for parents, and upgraded toilets and storeroom - changes that will make a big difference to West Hawthorn Preschool.
The Andrews Labour Government invested $500,000 toward this upgrade because we believe that all young children should have access to modern and fit-for-purpose facilities that they need to have the best start in life.
Now more than ever, it's important that we're meeting and exceeding the educational needs of our children, which is why we are investing almost $5 million this decade to provide three-year-olds with an additional year of funded kindergarten.
Thank you to everyone who's contributed to this project. You should feel incredibly proud knowing the difference you've made for current and future generations coming to West Hawthorn Preschool.
I look forward to visiting and to see the new facilities in person when I can. Thank you so much

Jess Patterson, President of West Hawthorn Preschool: I begin today by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet and pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
I would also like to acknowledge Ms Ingrid Stitt MLC Minister for Early Childhood, the Member for Hawthorn Mr John Kennedy, Mr Mayor, Councillor Gault, other councillors and distinguished guests.
My eldest son, Mack, began at West Hawthorn in 2019; my daughter, Stevie, is currently a joey and very excited to be a red roo for 2022; and I have a one-year-old, Paige, who is a joey and kangaroo of the future.
My presidency began in late 2019 by receiving an email from the Member for Hawthorne advising us that we'd been successful in our grant application to extend our service. It was quite a start.
The role of president was sold to me as relatively straightforward, but my tenure has been anything but. I have now overseen $1 million build, the expansion of our service and navigated the legislation associated with a global pandemic all whilst on maternity leave.
Prior to receiving the funding, the new three-year-old legislation posed some big decisions for us as without a second room, we were faced with the very difficult decision of cancelling our three-year-old Joey's program, which is a beloved rite of passage for the local kids. But thankfully, here we are.
The build was arduous at times, but has resulted in a facility where our threes and fours can run concurrently, and more families on our ever long wait list can experience the West Hawthorn magic.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Director, Karen, and Sarah, our office angel, who along with the parent-led committee spent hours and hours of their time going through the minor details to make sure we ensured the best possible outcome for the children.
At West Hawthorn, our children's voices are important. They were consulted in the build process and their requests included but weren't limited to a disco, a swimming pool and a giant slide. Unfortunately we weren't able to fulfil them all, but they don't seem too worried.
Situated in the beautiful Smart Street Reserve, nature plays a special part here and an accidental benefit of re-jigging the layout of the building has been extra space gained in our bush corner area. 
Bush corner is arguably our best asset - it's every kid's dream and provided own a pretty large tub of Napisan, parents love it too.
It's an area to climb trees, dig creeks, take risks. There's gumboots big and small, shovels, buckets and so many memories to be made.
Here is a photo of my son and his friend making the very most of bush corner in their last weeks of four-year-old kinder - did I mention the mud?
Hopefully, failing us being able to be on site together, I've helped to paint a little picture of West Hawthorn for you all.
After two years of so much missed kinder and school, we value our education facilities and our incredible educators like never before, and our community is so grateful for our little oasis in the mushroom park.
So, thank you, from the families of today and the families of the future, whose children will have the very best start to their education right here at West Hawthorn.

Mayor of Boroondara, Councillor Garry Thompson: I would like to sincerely thank everyone who's been involved with this project. The redevelopment has been enabled by a partnership with the State Government, and we thank them for their significant contribution of $500,000 to support the upgrade.
We also acknowledge the hard work of our builder, Alchemy, and our architect Chris Thorne. 
We'd especially like to thank West Hawthorn Preschool’s President, Jess Patterson, the committee of volunteer parents, and the staff who've worked closely with us to bring this new facility to life.
Now that the doors are officially open, I look forward to welcoming families to the new West Hawthorn Preschool.