When The Village Childcare founder, Preity Dhaliwal, identified a critical shortage of childcare options in their local area, they stepped up to provide much needed support for local parents – and created valuable jobs in the process.
Established in Albany in 2022, The Village Childcare operates Outside of School Hours Care (OSHC) services at two locations, as well as a Long Daycare Centre (LDC) located in Stirling Terrace where they provide childcare services for up to 68 children at a time.
“We are more than a childcare service; we are an extension of the community. We provide a crucial community service that enables parents to attend work, study or get some much-needed respite. We are so proud of the education and care that we provide”, says Preity Dhaliwal, Founder and Director at The Village Childcare.
The team at The Village Childcare know all too well that it takes a village to raise a child.
“We work closely with other organisations, and we operate in tandem with support services so that we can do our part as a ‘village’, in delivering a continuation of excellence in the childcare which every child and family deserves”, adds Preity.
Staffing The Village Childcare
Since the opening of the Long Daycare Centre, the company has employed a chef, two administrators and thirty one educators, but they haven’t done it alone. This year, The Village Childcare partnered up with BUSY At Work, an Australian Apprenticeship Services Support provider, to onboard 13 trainees.
“Part of our company mission was to address the shortage of childcare places, but we also wanted to address the Childcare Educator skills shortage. One of the ways we give back to the community and the sector is to ensure that we are creating traineeships. We believe this is crucial for ensuring that we and other childcare service providers always have an adequate supply of trained people from which to hire”, Preity explains.
Shirley Thurston, Apprenticeship Field Officer at BUSY At Work, supported The Village Childcare to source potential trainees and navigate the traineeship process. She assisted with the sign-up logistics and continues to visit trainees on-site throughout their traineeship to ensure that things are running smoothly.
“It’s so rewarding to see how the trainees have embraced their roles and are growing professionally. Working with The Village Childcare has been a great experience, and I’m proud of how they’ve taken on the challenge of addressing both the childcare and skills shortage,” says Shirley.
Preity commented, “Shirley visits our trainees at our service, outside of our service, through us and around us (without our involvement sometimes). I cannot stress enough how helpful we find that approach to be, where the challenges are shared between us and BUSY At Work.”
BUSY At Work is deeply committed to providing the best support through all stages of the traineeship process, from onboarding through to completion.
“Thanks to Shirley – and the rest of the team at BUSY At Work – The Village Childcare trainees have an accessible, approachable and encouraging network of support. If they have any queries, we know that Shirley will attend to them and ensure they receive the support they need,” adds Preity.
The team at The Village Childcare were so impressed with the service they received from BUSY At Work that they plan to add another twelve to fifteen educators in the coming six months.
“Shirley went above and beyond, and she really understood us and worked with us despite the opening of the LDC being a very busy period. Our experience in engaging with BUSY At Work has been nothing less than fantastic thanks to Shirley’s professional and partnership approach”, states Preity.
When asked if they’d recommend BUSY At Work to other businesses looking to onboard trainees, the answer was clear:
“Absolutely. Without BUSY At Work, having trainees would have been a much more challenging task. Before, we hesitated to recruit trainees, but BUSY At Work takes a massive workload off us. We all work brilliantly together and the outcomes just wouldn’t be the same without this partnership”, concludes Preity.
