​3-5 Year Old Funded Preschool Program
Free to all families in 2021

​

• Preschool in 2021 for 3year olds & 4-5 year olds in their year prior to starting school will run on a rotational sessional basis

Days:   Mon, Tues, Wed, Thur and Fri

Hours: 8.45am to 1.45pm.
 

• Group A will attend Mon Tues Wed

• Group B will attend Wed Thur Fri

• Group C will attend Mon Tues Thur

• Group D  will attend Tues Thur Fri

• Group E will attend Mon Wed Fri

​

Eligibility - 4YO Program (Year before school Kinder)

Children are eligible to attend four year old kindergarten if they will turn four years old by the 30th April in the year of attendance. Parents of children born in the months January through April, have the choice of which year to enrol their child. 

Eligibility - 3YO Program

Children need to turn 3  years of age prior to commencing the Funded 3yo Kinder Program. They also must have turned 3 by 30th April in the year of attendance.

​

Our programs are built around the Victorian Frameworks and the Quality Framework provided by the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authourity ACECQA
 

Recent State Government policy changes means there will is financial  support available to families in our area from 2021 that allows us to offer a funded 3 year old program as well as our current program for 4-5 year olds. We  surveyed families in 2020 to try and provide a program which is the best fit for our community. We  designed a survey asking families to choose between two different program models and three options for days they would like their child/ren to attend preschool.

At this stage we feel we have identified the best model to offer in 2021 is the Mixed Aged Groupings. Local families responses were vital in shaping that decision. This survey was not an official expression of interest or an actual enrolment, our expressions of interest for 2021 have since closed and offers of went out on Oct 5th 2020.

Due to an unprecedented demand for places in our 2021 Preschool for both 3 and 4 year old funded programs enrolments are now closed as of 14th December 2020. For further enrolments at this point in time and will be taking Expressions of Interest moving forward  2021.Families will be placed on a wait list and we will be allocating any places that become available based on Dept of Education Priority of Access Criteria as outlined in our Enrolment Policy. This Wait List will not impact on families who have already confirmed their enrolment for 2021.

We are very excited to be amongst the first services in the state to offer a funded 3yo program - meaning an extra year of learning play and making friends at Kinder. (See education.vic.gov.au/3yokinder for more info on this.)

For more info on mixed aged models see USEFUL LINKS - MIXED AGE PRESCHOOL. State Govt. funding has made funding available for FREE 3 and 4 yr old (year before school) kinder program in 2021.

The program is designed to maximise your child's development intellectually, emotionally and socially following the National Early Years Framework and the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework. The frameworks are used for program planning in combination with the interests and individual needs of the children.

​

The VEYLD Framework identifies five Outcomes which are:

​

1. IDENTITY

2. COMMUNITY

3. WELLBEING

4. LEARNING

5. COMMUNICATION

​

Using the framework we aim to ensure:

​

• Children have a strong sense of identity

• Children are connected with and contribute to their world

• Children have a strong sense of wellbeing

• Children are confident and involved learners

• Children are effective communicators

​

For more information click here

​

For our 2021 Handbook for Preschool click this link

​

​