An Out Of School Hours Care service is officially coming to Gundagai, starting on Day 1 of term 4 2025. It will be run out of Gundagai Public School’s hall but the service is available to children from any school within Gundagai and surrounds.
Students pictured: Thea Lindley, Bronte Smart, Jayden Smart and CJ Pigram.
An out of school hours care (OOSH) program is officially starting up in Gundagai later in the year, bringing a much-needed service to many families in the community. Starting on Day 1 of Term 4 2025, the service will be available to the entire Gundagai community, with children from all schools in Gundagai and surrounds welcome, including Nangus and smaller surrounding villages. The before and after school care and vacation care program will be held at Gundagai Public School’s hall.
Jesse Wheaton, Gundagai Public School Principal says that there has been a huge demand for an OOSH service in Gundagai for many years now.
“It’s been several years since we’ve had an OOSH service in Gundagai, I think 2022 was the last time we had something, and we have had a lot demand that has come through my office over the years and it has always been a really tricky spot to get any traction, because of the costing, location and also commitment from families.
“We recently held some information sessions here at the school for families to come in and ask their questions so we could see what the families wanted, which I then took to the Department managed side of things and sat down with them and from there we were able to get a plan in place as to what it could look like in Gundagai and if we had a viable location for it to happen,” Jesse said.
Jesse said that the community support has been huge, and once the message was out within the community, the response from parents has been enormous.
“Because of this interest from the community, all of a sudden we became a really interested area for the operators to host this service,” Jesse said. From there it went to tender to see which delivery team could pick it up and Thrive OSHC will be partnering with Gundagai Public School to deliver this service in town.
“Through the use of our school hall here at Gundagai Public School, it means that there is a big enough space for Thrive to be able to run the service,” Jesse said.
Thrive OSHC have committed for 12 months to run this program, and Jesse says it is now up to the Gundagai community to respond to the service and really embrace it and get the service up and going.
“It is up to us now as a community in Gundagai to respond to this service to get it up and running because if we do then we can maintain it for years to come. So, it really is an opportunity for all families to grab it and run with it,” Jesse said.
While the service is going to operate out of Gundagai Public School facilities, it is open to children at any school in and around Gundagai.
“While it is going to be located here at Gundagai Public School, that is really only to do with the viability of having a place to operate out of, because we are a department school we have department facilities, and so that makes it easier for those operators to work out of, but it is not something that is just for the kids at our school. This service is for kids at any school, anywhere around Gundagai,” Jesse said.
The local school bus companies are also working with Thrive to ensure there will be bus runs for before and after school care, that will work with all the schools in the area in terms of timing.
“Because of the way that the bus routes are set up in Gundagai, there will be access from home to the service, but then also from the service to whichever school students attend and then also the flip side is in the afternoons, it will be the same thing,” Jesse said.
“We are only the first pick up for certain bus companies, so buses are picking up from other schools and areas and then they come via our school to get our kids. So, we have negotiated a duty roster in which Gundagai Public School staff will be able to collect those kids off the bus and bring them up to the OOSH service, so that parents are only having to do one pick up at the end of the day, rather than actually having to get them here,” Jesse said.
“I am really hoping that makes it a lot more accessible for a lot of families right across town,” said Jesse.
Another huge thing that Jesse found came through in the feedback from families was that they really needed both vacation care as well as before and after school care.
“It was good to see Thrive take that feedback on board, and they are going to offer vacation care as well which is cool,” Jesse said.
“Hopefully this service is something that is really latched on to. I couldn’t believe how much demand I have had just from my parents, that are with me here locally especially over the last couple of years with our newer enrolments. Families are just crying out for it,” Jesse said.
“This will also be great for those starting in Gundagai in 2026, we will be able to advertise the service for them, and then parents will know they can plan for it over the Christmas break,” Jesse said.
“It is an awesome win for the town, and since we’ve got this opportunity, I would love to make sure it is locked in long term,” Jesse said.
-Emily Flint
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