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State-of-the-art hub for Upper Yarra families

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Cire Services is excited to announce a new multi-million dollar state-of-the-art Early Learning Hub to be built at Yarra Junction, hugely benefitting families in the Upper Yarra.

Gus Seremetis, Diletta Lanciana, Jim Child and Tahlia (3 year old kinder) at Friday’s (16/12) Sod Turning event

With funding from the Department of Education’s Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) and a substantial financial investment by Cire, the Hub will open in early 2024 and comprise a 118-place long day care service with an integrated funded kindergarten program for both 3-year-old and 4-year-olds. It will also have Cire’s Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) program on-site, as well as meeting rooms and consulting spaces for external agencies.

Located at 43 Little Yarra Road, adjacent to Cire Community School, construction is scheduled to commence in February 2023. Cire Early Learning’s existing centre, currently co-located at the school, will be redeveloped into a quality learning environment for Years 5 and 6 students thanks to another Victorian Government grant awarded by the Department of Education’s Block Grant Authority.

Cire CEO Gus Seremetis said the projects will create a state-of-the-art precinct at Yarra Junction for children from birth and pre-school through to Year 12.

“Cire is very excited about what these projects mean for the Upper Yarra, providing easily accessible and quality education and resources, state-of-the-art facilities and support,” she said.

“Cire’s substantial co-contribution of several million dollars is testimony to our commitment and confidence for the future of the Upper Yarra, and the region, and in providing the best possible learning and education opportunities and support for children and their families.”

Diletta Lanciana, Executive Manager Cire Early Learning, said the new hub would be a fantastic community resource offering a one-stop early years’ service for the Upper Yarra area.

It will have a far-reaching benefit, particularly given Cire’s Yarra Junction-based OSCH provides for nine local primary schools and offers a unique bus service, collecting children from school each afternoon.

Yarra Ranges Mayor, Councillor Jim Child, commended Cire for its vision and ongoing commitment to the region.

Cr Child, who officiated at a sod-turning ceremony for the Early Years Hub on 16 December, said Cire’s achievements have been remarkable since its humble beginnings as the Yarra Junction Neighbourhood House in 1976.

“Cire has gone from strength to strength since those early years to become one of the largest not-for-profit organisations in the Yarra Ranges and a valued partner and friend of the Yarra Ranges Council.”

“We commend Cire for its initiative and forward-thinking in helping meet the needs of our communities who are often geographically disadvantaged because they are at the farther extreme of our municipality.”

Be sure to follow our social pages to be kept up to date on the progress of this exciting project.

Click here for further information on Cire Early Learning programs.

Back to Grass Roots Community Support

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Exciting times ahead for the Upper Yarra region with the re-introduction of grass roots community engagement at Cire Services. In the coming months, Cire Services will be focussing on a new community house structure that aims to bring people together to connect, learn and contribute in their local areas. We will be providing locals with the opportunity to identify and address their own needs, to do something for themselves in order to develop and grow their own personal skill set and wellbeing. We welcome people from all walks of life and provide an approach that opens up opportunities for individuals to broaden and enrich their own experiences, in turn enriching their community.

Cire Community House will operate from the Yarra Junction office using a unique community development approach in order to engage, connect and develop community members. We aim to provide a safe learning and social environment where community members feel they belong, can meet new people and learn something enriching and new along the way. We will be a hub of fun activities that not only provide locals with an outlet to channel their passions, but a space where valuable life skills can also be learnt.

In order to develop a strong community offering, we want to provide exactly what the community wants and needs. So to kick off Cire’s new Community House we are seeking input from our local communities in the Upper Yarra to assist in developing ideas that will strengthen our community and lead to diverse and innovative outcomes.

Some of the activities and services recently developed in response to your needs are; community lunch, community events, health and wellbeing, numeracy and literacy, digital literacy, leisure and life style activities. Have you got any more ideas of what you’d like to see us deliver?

We invite you to join our first community lunch on Wednesday 3rd May; 12.30 to 2.30 pm at Upper Yarra Family Centre, 2444 Warburton Highway Yarra Junction. Bring with you your appetite and ideas to share. Please call 5967 1776 to book your seat click here Hoping to see you there

 

 

 

SWEY Partnership – Community consultation on education

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How can we make it easy as possible for people in the Yarra Valley to get the skills they need to fill local jobs? SWEY wants to know!

SWEY (Seville, Woori Yallock, Mt Evelyn and Yarra Junction) is a partnership between Cire Services and Seville and Woori Community Houses.  With support from the Adult, Community and Further Education (ACFE) Board, we are gathering evidence about the state of employment education in our local area and how we can support more people to get the skills they need to work locally.  This means connecting with businesses to learn what their needs are and connecting with community members to determine how to make training as easy to access as possible.

SWEY is a two-part consultation.  Firstly, we want to gain information from community members (“learners”) about what barriers they face when considering a training program and how we can make it easier for people to get the skills they need close to home.  Secondly, we want to connect with businesses (“employers”) in the Warburton Highway corridor and beyond to determine what skills they most value and what types of training we can offer that will best serve their needs.

“The Yarra Valley region is a vibrant community with diverse business interests and a lot to offer, but we suffer from a lack of public transportation and we are far from major training centres in the city,” explains Erica German, the SWEY Project Manager, “Cire already offers the most accessible training in the region and by partnering with Seville and Woori Community Houses we are making sure that it is as easy as possible for local people to gain the skills that they need to get meaningful employment in the area.”

If you live, train, or work in the region, we want to hear from you!   What training programs would you like to see offered locally?  What can we do to make it easier for people to attend?  What supports can we put in place to make sure people succeed in their training programs?  Get in touch on our website, www.swey.org.au   where you can gain more information or fill in our short survey.  You can also find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sweypartnership

Check out the programs offered by our other SWEY partners on their websites:

Sevillecommhouse.org.au
Wooricommhouse.org.au