Cooma Lambie Street Preschool has been watching its waitlist grow over the past four years due to an influx of families to the Snowy Mountains for the largest renewable energy project in Australia. 

The community is set to benefit from the official opening earlier this month of an expanded and modernised preschool service after the NSW Government awarded the not-for-profit service $586,000 to help build three new learning spaces.  

The Cooma Lambie Street expansion includes a new learning room, administration office and a staff meeting and training room, with an additional 20 licensed places a day so that 40 more children can attend preschool each week. 

Cooma Lambie Street Preschool Teaching Director Cathy Lambie said the service will finally be able to keep pace with the population boom.

“We’ll be able to provide more children across the region access to top quality and affordable early childhood education,” she said.

“The upgrade means we can now care for a total of 99 children aged three to five over five days and can significantly lower our waiting list.

“It is important as many children as possible can access early learning, as it is crucial to their brain development, learning how to regulate emotions, fine motor skills and life skills they need before they are five for a smoother transition to school.”

The scale of Snowy 2.0

Snowy 2.0 is the largest renewable energy project in Australia that will provide on-demand energy and large-scale storage for many generations to come, underpinning the nation’s transition to a low-carbon emissions future. 

It will generate around 4,000 direct jobs in the Snowy Mountains region throughout the life of the project, and thousands more in supply chain and services roles. Cooma is a supply hub for Snowy 2.0 and it is predicted around 500 workers will call the town home.

Lou-Anne Lind, a Department of Education Executive Director who attended the opening, said the delivery of a new and improved Cooma Lambie Street Preschool would help meet the needs of the Snowy Mountains community. 

“It is great to see that more children can now learn and play in this preschool, which staff and families have been waiting patiently for,” she said.

“We are proud this expansion will meet local demand and cater to the region's growing population by increasing enrolment capacity.”

The NSW Department of Education is committed to improving access to quality early childhood education and care for children across the state. 

“It is so important that all children have access to high quality early childhood education and care across the state no matter their postcode, background or family income,” Ms Lind, an Early Childhood Outcomes Executive Director, said.

“Access to structured, play-based early learning sets children up for success and prepares them for transition into the first years of school.”

The Cooma Lambie Street Preschool expansion was funded through the department’s Start Strong Capital Works Program.