General News
17 February, 2023
New pre-prep rollout for Wimmera kindies
Wimmera student Cove celebrates his first day of Prep.
By Faye Smith
Wimmera kindergartens will be among the first to introduce a new state government plan to provide 30 free hours each week for four-year olds.
However, there is concern that premises will be inadequate and that the staff numbers required might not be available.
Four-year-olds now receive 15 hours a week of pre-school.
Changes are also planned for three-year-olds attending kindergartens.
Hindmarsh, Northern Grampians and Yarriambiack shires and Ararat Rural City will be among the first five municipalities statewide to benefit from the roll-out schedule when it begins in 2025.
Horsham Rural City and Buloke Shire will be included in the program from 2026 and West Wimmera Shire from 2027. Statewide implementation is set to follow from 2028.
The pre-prep program will be delivered through sessional kindergartens and long day-care centres. Participating kindergarten programs will receive funding directly from the state government.
Emerge Early Years Services, Uniting and local governments are among providers for programs for four-year olds across the region.
Yarriambiack Mayor Kylie Zanker said the state government had indicated its willingness to work with providers to ensure the program would be delivered.
"The positives outweigh the negatives," Cr Zanker said.
"It will be a struggle but it's been shown that literacy and learning issues do exist in many rural areas and there's already some initiatives in place to ensure the success of this program."
She said training staff was an issue but already the state government was placing emphasis on upskilling workers and training new ones.
Yarriambiack Shire has pre-school facilities at Warracknabeal, Hopetoun, Minyip, Beulah, Rupanyup and Murtoa, with two providers.
Emerge Early Years Services executive officer Pauline Butler said working out the practical details of the announcement would take some time. The organisation has about 500 children across 11 services.
"It's a real unknown," Ms Butler said. "There's still a massive skill shortage, as there is in many industries, and we'll need a lot more staff.
Early Childhood and Pre-Prep Minister Ingrid Stitt said the program was part of a nation-leading Best Start, Best Life Early childhood education plan.
"Regional Victorian children and kids experiencing disadvantage will be the first to benefit from the extended hours of teacher-led, play-based learning," Ms Stitt said.
She said many in these districts experienced disadvantage, and the areas chosen for the program roll out had children with a refugee background, children known to Child Protection Services and Aboriginal children.
Ms Stitt said the "once-in-a generation" reforms to kindergarten would provide quality early education and the best possible start to life.
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Wimmera kindergartens will be among the first to introduce a new state government plan to provide 30 free hours each week for four-year olds.
However, there is concern that premises will be inadequate and that the staff numbers required might not be available.
Four-year-olds now receive 15 hours a week of pre-school.
Changes are also planned for three-year-olds attending kindergartens.
Hindmarsh, Northern Grampians and Yarriambiack shires and Ararat Rural City will be among the first five municipalities statewide to benefit from the roll-out schedule when it begins in 2025.
Horsham Rural City and Buloke Shire will be included in the program from 2026 and West Wimmera Shire from 2027.
Statewide implementation is set to follow from 2028.
The pre-prep program will be delivered through sessional kindergartens and long day-care centres.
Participating kindergarten programs will receive funding directly from the state government.
Emerge Early Years Services, Uniting and local governments are among providers for programs for four-year olds across the region.
Yarriambiack Mayor Kylie Zanker said the state government had indicated its willingness to work with providers to ensure the program would be delivered.
"The positives outweigh the negatives," Cr Zanker said.
"It will be a struggle but it's been shown that literacy and learning issues do exist in many rural areas and there's already some initiatives in place to ensure the success of this program."
She said training staff was an issue but already the state government was placing emphasis on upskilling workers and training new ones.
At Warracknabeal there was perhaps the possibility of use of another premises.
Yarriambiack Shire has pre-school facilities at Warracknabeal, Hopetoun, Minyip, Beulah, Rupanyup and Murtoa, with two providers.
Emerge Early Years Services executive officer Pauline Butler said working out the practical details of the announcement would take some time.
"It's a real unknown," Ms Butler said.
"There's still a massive skill shortage, as there is in many industries, and we'll need a lot more staff.
"We're trying to upskill as many as possible."
It would take time to to get sufficient numbers qualified, she said.
The organisation has about 500 children across 11 services.
Early Childhood and Pre-Prep Minister Ingrid Stitt said the program was part of a nation-leading Best Start, Best Life early childhood education plan.
"Regional Victorian children and kids experiencing disadvantage will be the first to benefit from the extended hours of teacher-led, play-based learning," Ms Stitt said.
She said many in these districts experienced disadvantage.
Ms Stitt said the areas chosen for the program roll out had children with a refugee background, children known to Child Protection Services and Aboriginal children.
"The staged roll-out of pre-prep follows the successful launch of free kinder, which is now saving every family in Victoria up to $2500 in fees per child each year, giving more than 28,000 Victorians – the majority of whom are women – the flexibility to return to work if they choose," Ms Stitt said.
Ms Stitt said the once-in-a generation reforms to kindergarten would provide quality early education and the best possible start to life.
The reforms' statewide roll-out will follow from 2028.
Ballarat City, Greater Bendigo City and Greater Geelong City will be among the last to receive the new program.