“It is hard to pass over your children, to trust that someone else will take care of them the way you would,” one mother in the campus community wrote in a thank-you note to staff at Western’s YMCA Child Care.
“I trust the care my daughters are getting. I know they’re enriched by their surroundings and loved by their teachers. I can’t thank this group enough.”
The university’s childcare centre, located on Western Road near Althouse College and operated by the YMCA of Western Ontario, is celebrating a decade of serving families in the campus community.
To accommodate growing childcare needs of Western faculty members, the university opening doors and 200 spaces to a brand new facility in September 2004.
Though not much has changed within the centre over the past decade, the YMCA’s relationship with Western, as well as the relationships its staff continues to nurture with families, has flourished, said Jennifer Gilbert, director of University Child Care.
“The growth has been in the university community. They’ve learned that this facility is here and it’s become very comfortable,” she said. “We have lots of new families just starting now and in the next couple of weeks, and we’re looking forward to them.”
While the centre has almost always run at capacity, Gilbert said a slight drop in enrolment has been seen this year because of full-day kindergarten’s availability across Ontario. Five of seven available preschool rooms at the centre are running this fall.
But the demand for care continues to grow, Gilbert said, as families share their experiences with their friends and colleagues.
The YMCA’s play-based curriculum, introduced at the campus centre recently, is an example of the service and care the program offers to families in the campus community.
“We joined forces with YMCA Canada, who implemented what’s called YMCA Playing to Learn, running out of Toronto for the last 10-12 years. We adopted that model three years ago within our program,” Gilbert said.
“The fact it’s play-based is great. When you look at any curriculum for children at this age – and we serve children from 0-5 years of age – that’s their best vehicle to learn social, emotional, cognitive, physical skills. That’s the best way for them to learn – by play. And I do think that sets us apart,” she continued.
What’s more, as of late, roughly 75 per cent of the families served by the centre are international families.
“We have a very high population of international students as well,” continued Lesley Hutton, the program’s assistant director. “We have staff who speak Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, which helps us a lot.”
Praise continues to flow in for the centre – whether it is the facility, its staff or its programming, Hutton added, noting new families that come in for tours are always impressed.
Other faces that pass through the centre’s doors include 40 Early Childhood Education students throughout the year that complete placements as part of their education through Fanshawe College and other colleges as well as students from various programs at Western who complete research papers collecting data from the childcare program.
“There’s never the same thing twice,” Gilbert said of her job and why she enjoys it.
“All of the families you get to meet, and the impact you have on their lives is great. They may only be with us for one year, or two or three, but they become so comfortable with us and the staff here, that it’s that relationship that you build – that is probably the best part.”