Scoresby contains 1 Long Day Care centre (45 places), 1 preschool/kindergarten facility (33 places) and 2 OSHC facilities (75 places), while overall provision relative to the local child population appears limited compared to national benchmarks, and is below the Greater Melbourne average on a resident basis — though likely far tighter supply once significant daily workforce inflows to the area are considered. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 266 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 3.8 - placing the area among the bottom 20% nationally for supply per child on a resident basis, though closer to ~4.9 once estimated daytime workforce inflow is factored in. Looking at long day care specifically against the under-5 population, the ratio is 6.5 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 45 places across 1 facility serving a total of 176 children while preschool supply is similarly constrained with 1 facility providing 33 places (3.5 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Greater Melbourne average of 2.6). To meet the Greater Melbourne average 106 new places would be required (LDC+PSK to service the under 5 age group). Meanwhile, with projected population growth of 17.0% between now and 2041, and 2.6% in the under 5 age group in particular. Socioeconomic performance in the area in the way of income and employment figures, including female workforce participation, are broadly in line with national averages.
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 10.9 per 100 residents with 674 enrolments across primary and secondary institutions. This middle-of-the-road rate of school supply suggests most local students are residents within the immediate area. Additionally, the level of school places per child care place (LDC+PSK) is moderate. Rather unsurprisingly, out of school hours child care - serving school age children - was found to be much more abundant than other service types in the area. Proximity analysis saw distances of local residents to their nearest child care centre being relatively in line with national benchmarks.
11 school catchments intersect Scoresby (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 3,849 children aged under 5 reside, served by 4,528 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 0.9 children per place, with limited variance in this ratio. Meanwhile, the discrepancy in this ratio between Scoresby and the intersecting school catchments highlights the need for a catchment based approach for specific site assessments.