Clifton Springs contains 1 Long Day Care centre (93 places), 2 preschool/kindergarten facilities (67 places) and 1 OSHC facility (44 places). Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 382 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 2.6 - placing the area below the national average for supply per child. Looking at long day care specifically against the under-5 population, the ratio is 4.5 children per place (lower quintile supply). Further breakdowns by age, to help in identifying the most in-need services, show an undersupply of LDC places across the infant and toddler cohort (<3yo) with just 93 places across 1 facility serving a total of 248 children while preschool supply is similarly constrained with 2 facilities providing 67 places (2.5 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Regional Vic. average of 2.0). With projected population growth of 33.6% between now and 2041, and 37.7% in the under 5 age group in particular, 43 new places will be needed to maintain today's ratios. As well as this projected growth, other factors worth noting are lower than average income performance.
In assessing child care markets local school supply is a particularly important factor, given school-run convenience, and enrolment vs child care place analysis can provide useful insight into capacity both for parents seeking child care options and child care operators assessing opportunities in an area. The catchment sees a level of school enrolment relative to population of 6.3 per 100 residents with 475 enrolments across primary and secondary institutions. A lower-than-typical rate which suggests pressure might be taken off local services somewhat by school hubs in nearby areas. As expected, the level of school places per child care place (LDC+PSK) is also lower than average. Out of school hours child care provision is similarly constrained, with 44 places for the 5-12 cohort. Proximity analysis saw distances of local residents to their nearest child care centre being relatively in line with national benchmarks while high fees are observed relative to national benchmarks. Another finding worth noting is the low level of commercial activity in the area and assessment of local working populations which suggest many of the local population commute elsewhere for work with nearby services potentially taking some pressure off local child care centres.
4 school catchments intersect Clifton Springs (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 2,895 children aged under 5 reside, served by 3,958 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 0.7 children per place, with moderate variance in this ratio. Meanwhile, the discrepancy in this ratio between Clifton Springs and the intersecting school catchments highlights the need for a catchment based approach for specific site assessments.