The Parent's Stories

Story 1 - What having the Childcare Centre on Campus Means to Me

I am a single parent in the difficult position of raising very active 3 1/2 year olds (twins) without family support.

I am a low skilled worker. I face the real possibility of long term welfare dependency unless I acquire skills, therefore I enrolled at Sydney Institute when my twins were 2 1/2 years old (last year 2000).

Before enrolling I had to find out about the childcare costs and placements allocated for subsidised childcare; secondly I needed to plot the centres location in relation to public transport.

I was apparent to me that my future would be determined by the childcare centres cost and location.

Why is location a high priority? This is because little 2 year olds do not walk on command nor do they travel well. Having the charge of two unpredictable, sometimes temperamental and irrational little beings is a full-time labour intensive occupation.

Every outing requires a high degree of organisational competence and patience. Just walking out the door requires the pre-packing of heavy backpacks full of food, fluids and clothes changes.

Little people do not walk in unison nor do they obey commands very well. They dance and jetison about in all directions oblivious to peak hour traffic.

They expect to be carried and hugged on demand and if you do not they sprawl spread-eagle on the pavement showing their panties and kicking up their legs.

They cry profusely and stubbornly at the slightest provocation and point blank refuse to co-operate - instead prefering to sit on the pavemment.

They do not appreciate being pulled from sleep at 7.00 am on a cold morning to a rough dressing and toilet before being jammed into packed peak hour buses.

They complain!!

On a typical Sydney Institute day classes begin at 8.30am. On a typical morning, I would arrive miraculously on campus only 20 to 30 minutes late. (Now I marvel at how well organised I was.)

Had the childcare centre not been on the campus, I could never have made the morning class, therefore not have completed my course and so remained another sad statistic of the "feminisation of poverty" story.

Everyday is filled with frustration, anxiety and continual rushing to meet the constant demands of bus and class timetables.

Walking from George Street to Sydney Institute twice a day, five times a week heavily laden with bags and two protesting children to plead with to "hurry" through a jostling pedestrian throng drove me to spells of infuriating anger! (and levels of extremely high stress).

There were moments when the hassles weren't worth the piece of paper the diploma was written on. I could have walked away.

If the childcare centre had not been on the campus, I would have "thrown in" the course.

I have completed my course of study at Sydney Institute and am now off to University. I realise through experience, how essential it was to have the childcare centre on campus.

Now that it is all over, I am relieved to be moving on and having the uncertainty of the childcare arrangements behind me.

The uncertainty and fear of the centres closure was the cause of much anxiety for me and other students throughout the year.

I hope the Sydney Institute, Ultimo managment has come to see that childcare issues are important and that the removal of the centre from campus will erect huge barriers for and already over burdened parent "user" group within the campus.

Story 2 - What having the Childcare Centre on Campus Means to Me

The excellent care provided for my daughter by KU Children's Services, Ultimo TAFE is absolutely necessary if I am to further my study. I am a 22 years old single mother. I was unemployed after leaving school early before I fell pregnant. I am now trying to "do something" for the first time in my life. My TAFE Course is two years. I was not aware until I had enrolled that the childcare centre would not be available for the second half of my study.

As both of my parents are terminally ill and I receive no help from the child's father, her life and my own are both very disrupted. My father was recently diagnosed with bowel cancer having suffered from chrones disease and chronic colitis for 10-12 years.

While my daughter's father and my ex-best friend became better acquainted, I moved to a domestic violence refuge. Where we lived for eight months. My mother was diagnosed with stage four cancer. (She was still recovering from major back surgery). The cancer spread from her lungs to her heart and soon brain tumours developed. I provide both my parents with care and help at St Vincents hospital and in the Paddington area.

Deciding to study in my position was a difficult decision. On campus childcare makes it possible. If her childcare closed, it would be much too difficult to re-establish her elsewhere both physically and emotionally. I travel entirely by public transport. To collect my daughter from another childcare centre and then travel by bus to St Vincents hospital in an emergency is completely impractical. Also, the separation anxiety my daughter suffers (related to her father) is not expected to improve with the imminent death of two grandparents (and considerable difficulties surrounding my own grief).

In conclusion, if KU Children's Services TAFE Ultimo closes so will my books and my daughter will loose her comfortable surroundings in a relaxed environment which she so desperately needs. There is no just reason to close the centre especially considering the quality service they provide enabling myself and other "disadvantaged" people (women) to study.

Story 3 - What having the Childcare Centre on Campus Means to Me

I came to Sydney Institute so that I could further my career, get a better job and provide a better future for my children. This aim revolved around access to childcare. My children come first. If I did not have access to quality childcare and if my children were not happy, I could not do the course. My children were 12 months and 7 months when they entered childcare and I was very concerned about how they would adjust. The on-campus childcare centre meant that I could check on my children during my breaks and make sure they were settled. I was also breastfeeding my son, so having the childcare centre on-campus was essential to me.

I don't think people realise that when you leave a child in childcare for the first time, you are entrusting your most precious possession in the care of strangers. Even though these people are qualified and the environment appears caring, they are still complete strangers. The on-campus childcare centre encourages an "open door" policy and this allowed me to monitor my children and get to know the carers, who I soon came to realise were dedicated and caring.

Last year my children were in childcare, three days a week: 9am - 6pm, 9am - 4.30pm, 9am - 3pm. These were long days for very small children. Because I was on-campus and visited them during my breaks, they realised that I was around and I had not abandoned them.

On the day that I finished at 6.00pm, I arranged for the childcare centre to feed my children their dinner because I knew the would fall asleep before they had dinner if I fed them at home. Once I got home, I would bath them and put them to bed between 7.30pm - 8.00pm. I knew I was stretching my children to the limit on that day because they were very tired.

If I had to go to a community centre even 10 minutes up the road, this would have been the breaking point and I would seriously have to consider my options.

I couldn't study part-time because I do not have anyone to look after my children at 5.00pm. I wouldn't put my children into care at this time because I want my children fed, bathed and put to bed at home. There is nothing worse than waking a small child at night and dragging them out into the cold night air. Studying on-line is also not an option. I need to be with other students. I am not just a mother, I am a person too and I have a need to interact with other people other than mothers and young children. Also, studying at home is not an option because little people want your constant attention. If you are reading a book or doing your homework, next minute you have children climbing all over you demanding your attention. If I have a problem with a subject I can ask a teacher to help me. Help online, can never replace face-to-face teaching and discussing problems with other students. There are some concepts that are very hard to explain online. It is difficult to teach practical classes online.

I stated at the beginning that my children come first and I was studying at Sydney Institute to get a better job and a better future for my children. While my children are young, this is the ideal time for me to update my skills. After completing my course, I can go out into the workplace and tell my prospective employer that while I was looking after my young children, I studied and completed my diploma. If I didn't update my skills, it is most probable that I would have to accept a position that didn't challenge me, was low paying and my career would stagnant.

The status of women in our society is directly linked to access to quality, affordable and flexible childcare. You can severely hinder women enrolling into educational institutions by making it too difficult for women to access childcare, for example inconvenient location, lack of public transport, poor quality childcare etc. Women will not enroll in courses and the demand will fall because it is purposely being discouraged.

Story 4 - What having the Childcare Centre on Campus Means to Me

I am a mother who has been on a low income, working part time, and receiving supporting parents benefit for some years. I have returned to study to gain qualifications and apply for well paid full time work. The availability of on-site childcare was a major incentive to apply for my present course. I have withdrawn my child from his local centre in preference to the KU Kindergarten on the Ultimo TAFE campus. This was not a light decision. I believe his care there is of a better standard, and more affordable, particularly as I am not working. I have no anxiety regarding changes to study timetables which are subject to change, and this is accommodated, plus payment of 1/2 days means I am not keeping him in care just to get my "moneys worth".

Another valid reason why I chose to place him on-campus is that I found it almost physically impossible to get him to day care and then myself to class on time. I have a disability, which makes taking my child in one direction and myself in another, doubly difficult, and makes for a very long day for us both, adding another 3/4 of an hour travelling time to the beginning and end of each day.

With excellent care on-campus, I can go about my day knowing I have access to him and can be contacted in class in case of emergency (in fact this has happened already this year). If he was placed outside I would be uncontactable throughout the whole day.

As a mature age student, attempting to carve a better life for myself and my children, returning to study would not have been such an attractive or viable option without affordable, accessible and flexible childcare that KU Kindergarten offers on-campus.

I find it difficult to believe that in 2001, the Sydney Institute is even contemplating closing down such a highly rated, in demand, childcare centre. Students of TAFE should not have the added anxiety of not knowing what is happening to their childcare, and it is of grave concern that it may be lost from this campus.