	{"id":105172,"date":"2025-06-12T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?p=105172"},"modified":"2025-06-11T21:07:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T11:07:04","slug":"marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"Marong early learning centre takes shape"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>CONSTRUCTION of Marong&#8217;s new $5.5 million early learning centre is well and truly underway.<\/p>\n<p>The project will deliver an integrated facility with three kindergarten rooms, two allied health rooms, a staff room, outdoor play area, kitchen facilities and bathroom amenities.<\/p>\n<p>Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards had a site visit alongside City of Greater Bendigo&#8217;s Russell McLean and mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf, and Lee Walsh from Franklin and Walsh Builders last week.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re working hard to address the need for three and four-year kinder places across our community, and it&#8217;s great to see this project progressing in one of Bendigo&#8217;s key growth areas,&#8221; Ms Edwards said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;With the population set to rise in Marong over the coming years, investing in this important infrastructure now is crucial to the future of the area,&#8221; Ms Edwards had previously said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This kinder will help to support the successful roll-out of our landmark Best Start, Best Life reforms, and will create a new and expanded kindergarten for Marong.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The project will allow the centre to offer 178 kinder places to local three and four-year-olds and is forecast to be operational at the start of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The $5.5 million project was announced in 2023 through a Building Blocks Capacity grant, which contributes to kindergarten infrastructure and supports the roll-out of three-year-old kindergarten and the Best Start, Best Life reforms across Victoria over the next decade.<\/p>\n<p>Since its launch in 2020, Building Blocks has provided more than $235 million to plan, build and improve early childhood services throughout the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CONSTRUCTION of Marong&#8217;s new $5.5 million early learning centre is well and truly underway. The project will deliver an integrated facility with three kindergarten rooms, two allied health rooms, a staff room, outdoor play area, kitchen facilities and bathroom amenities. Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards had a site visit alongside City of Greater Bendigo&#8217;s [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":105176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-105172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Marong early learning centre takes shape - Bendigo Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Construction of Marong&#039;s new $5.5M early learning centre is underway, offering 178 kinder places for 3 &amp; 4-year-olds from 2026. Discover the integrated facility designed for growing families.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marong early learning centre takes shape - Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Construction of Marong&#039;s new $5.5M early learning centre is underway, offering 178 kinder places for 3 &amp; 4-year-olds from 2026. Discover the integrated facility designed for growing families.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-11T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/06\/Untitled-design183-1024x538.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adam Carswell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adam Carswell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Adam Carswell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c\"},\"headline\":\"Marong early learning centre takes shape\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-11T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":258,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/Untitled-design183.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\\\/\",\"name\":\"Marong early learning centre takes shape - Bendigo Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/Untitled-design183.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-11T18:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Construction of Marong's new $5.5M early learning centre is underway, offering 178 kinder places for 3 & 4-year-olds from 2026. Discover the integrated facility designed for growing families.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/Untitled-design183.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/Untitled-design183.png\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Pre-school progress: Russell McLean from City of Greater Bendigo, Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf and Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards MP with Lee Walsh from Franklin &amp; Walsh Builders at the site last week. Photo: SUPPLIED\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Marong early learning centre takes shape\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bendigo Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bendigo Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":491,\"caption\":\"Bendigo Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c\",\"name\":\"Adam Carswell\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/author\\\/adamcarswell\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Marong early learning centre takes shape - Bendigo Times","description":"Construction of Marong's new $5.5M early learning centre is underway, offering 178 kinder places for 3 & 4-year-olds from 2026. Discover the integrated facility designed for growing families.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Marong early learning centre takes shape - Bendigo Times","og_description":"Construction of Marong's new $5.5M early learning centre is underway, offering 178 kinder places for 3 & 4-year-olds from 2026. Discover the integrated facility designed for growing families.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/","og_site_name":"Bendigo Times","article_published_time":"2025-06-11T18:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":538,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/06\/Untitled-design183-1024x538.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Adam Carswell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Adam Carswell","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/"},"author":{"name":"Adam Carswell","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/person\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c"},"headline":"Marong early learning centre takes shape","datePublished":"2025-06-11T18:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/"},"wordCount":258,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/06\/Untitled-design183.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/","name":"Marong early learning centre takes shape - Bendigo Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/06\/Untitled-design183.png","datePublished":"2025-06-11T18:00:00+00:00","description":"Construction of Marong's new $5.5M early learning centre is underway, offering 178 kinder places for 3 & 4-year-olds from 2026. Discover the integrated facility designed for growing families.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/06\/Untitled-design183.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/06\/Untitled-design183.png","width":2400,"height":1260,"caption":"Pre-school progress: Russell McLean from City of Greater Bendigo, Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf and Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards MP with Lee Walsh from Franklin &amp; Walsh Builders at the site last week. Photo: SUPPLIED"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/marong-early-learning-centre-takes-shape\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Marong early learning centre takes shape"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/","name":"Bendigo Times","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization","name":"Bendigo Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/02\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/02\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":491,"caption":"Bendigo Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/person\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c","name":"Adam Carswell","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/author\/adamcarswell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105172"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=105172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}