Treehouse Childcare Centre expand to provide after school care

Jayde Wright, Treehouse director, said there was a huge demand from Donnybrook locals for an after school care program.

The proposed program will provide a service from 3pm to 6pm on school days at Donnybrook District High School.

Principal Jamie Milne has agreed to provide Treehouse with two classrooms at the senior campus.

“It’s a time of exciting change for the centre,” Wright said.

“The need of the community is so huge that we can’t accommodate it at the moment. I think the community is getting frustrated that we didn’t have enough room.”

Katya Tripp, a local mother keen to drive the after school care project, approached chairperson Bobbie Millar with the idea in June.

Treehouse can accommodate up to 25 children and is permitted to care for youths up to the age of 12.

Wright said they planned to expand the daycare centre within the next two years to accommodate more families.

“It’ll give parents that flexibility to work if they want to,” Wright said.

“We don’t want people to go to Bunbury, we want them to stay in Donnybrook.”

Treehouse assistant director and early childhood teacher Caroline Foster said there were no other facilities of its kind in Donnybrook.

“Our goal is to make it a homely, warm place to relax and not feel that they’re having another three hours of school,” Foster said.