Victorians are being encouraged to give their kids the best start in life with kindergarten enrolments now open for 2024.
Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep, Ingrid Stitt, launched the 2024 kindergarten enrolment campaign by encouraging parents to talk to their local kindergarten service about enrolment processes and timelines.
“In Victoria, Free Kinder is available for three and four-year-olds at participating services, including sessional kindergartens and long day-care centres,” Ms Stitt said.
“With Free Kinder, children enrolled in Three-Year-Old Kindergarten receive between 5 and 15 hours of funded learning each week, and those in Four-Year-Old Kindergarten receive 15 hours per week,” she said.
“Research shows that play-based learning is a powerful way to support a child’s development, with two years of quality kindergarten having greater impact on children who start at three years of age rather than four.
“The benefits are even greater for children experiencing vulnerability or who need extra support.”
To ensure a kindergarten meets their needs, Ms Stitt encouraged families to organise a time to visit so they could see the service, its staff and the children in attendance.
She said families should also look for a Kinder Tick, so they could be confident that their child was attending a funded kindergarten program.
Further information on kindergarten services can be accessed at this PS News link.
