Early Childhood Update - September 2023

Dear colleagues

Today, Wednesday 6 September 2023, is National Early Childhood Educators’ Day(opens in a new window), a wonderful opportunity for us in Victoria to celebrate the work of our state’s early childhood educators. The day is a reminder to everyone in our community of the vital role educators play in helping young children thrive. And for that skilled work and your professionalism, we say thank you.

It’s timely that today we also unveil the finalists for the 2023 Victorian Early Years Awards (VEYA)(opens in a new window), which includes the new category of ‘Educator of the year’.

It’s been great to see Early Childhood Educators’ Day celebrations grow over the years, as the sector and community more broadly continue to recognise the enormous importance of their work. This is an opportunity not only to acknowledge the myriad positive contributions educators make to the lives of young children and their families, but also shine a light on the long-term benefits of early learning.

If you haven’t already, please find communications materials(opens in a new window) to celebrate Early Childhood Educators’ Day for use on your own channels.

Best Start, Best Life implementation

As Victorian families look to enrol in kindergarten programs and receive offers of places for 2024, there’s an opportunity to reflect on Free Kinder and the Best Start, Best Life reforms.

There is some very positive news for us to be sharing – there is currently more public kinder funding than ever to support service delivery and affordability, the workforce, and infrastructure.

Below are some facts that may help with conversations you might be having with your teams and communities:

Free Kinder and other funding

• Free Kinder is benefiting up to 140,000 children and their families in 2023 and has been taken up by 97% of services.
• Free Kinder means more funding for almost all participating services. The Free Kinder rate of $2,500 in 2023 gives a sessional service about 30 to 40% more in funding compared to average parent fees in 2022.
• Free Kinder is, of course, on top of all existing funding streams, including substantial per capita funding, loadings and supplements, as well as School Readiness Funding, other supports for access and inclusion, and additional funding for local government and community-based early years managers.

Kindergarten capacity and existing services

• There are enough kindergarten places to meet the current demand across the state, with hundreds more new services and expansions coming over future years, supported by $2.7 billion in new Best Start, Best Life infrastructure investment.
• Since 2019, there has been big growth in kinder services – 400 new services have opened, and we have funded another 50 services to expand.
• Existing kindergarten services across the state will still be needed, alongside many new services. This includes the many services owned by local government.
• Single room services can deliver both Three-Year-Old Kinder and Pre-Prep and will continue to be an important part of the kinder system. The department will work with these services on program options to meet community needs.
• More services will open across the state to meet future demand for Pre-Prep, so that over time existing services can generally enrol fewer children for more funded hours.

Infrastructure and workforce support

• There is unprecedented state funding for infrastructure and workforce.
• In terms of attracting and retaining and retain teachers and educators, the Victorian Government is leading the nation by investing almost $370m. Since 2019, the number of kinder teachers and educators delivering funded kinder programs has increased by more than 50%, and more than 3,500 early childhood teaching scholarships have been awarded.
• The increased infrastructure funding includes:
  • infrastructure grants increased by 60% to 166% – for example, 2-room kinder funding has increased from $1.5 million to $4 million
  • modular kinders(opens in a new window) are now fully funded
  • since 2019, more than $70 million has been allocated to upgrade existing kinder infrastructure, with grants increasing by around 50%
  • local government is receiving $5.2 million to plan for new infrastructure.

We will continue to use Early Childhood Update as a way to keep you up to date with funding and grant opportunities.

Lastly, I’d like to recognise South Australia has released its final report(opens in a new window) from the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care. The report contains 43 recommendations and details an ambitious vision for the future of early childhood education and care in South Australia. The report’s recommendations – which include the introduction of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten for all children, and a focus on equity, quality and the workforce – reinforce the work we already have well underway.

I look forward to our continued work with other states and territories as they look ahead to their own reforms supporting children and families.

Kim Little
Deputy Secretary
Early Childhood Education

The Respectful Relationships initiative is offering free professional learning for early childhood educators (bachelor, diploma, or certificate III-qualified) in Victorian Government-funded kindergarten programs.

The online learning program will run in October and November 2023. It aims to strengthen the capacity of early childhood educators to:

• promote respectful relationships, positive attitudes and behaviours within their teaching approach, to enable children to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence
• understand the role of gender equality in the prevention of family violence, and learn practical strategies for promoting gender equality in their teaching practice
• recognise and respond to family violence and build support networks.

About the professional learning program

We developed the professional learning program in collaboration with world-leading experts from Monash University. The program aligns with the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework and the National Quality Standard.

The professional learning program is an item on the School Readiness Funding Menu(opens in a new window). Services can use the menu to arrange for backfill or additional support or apply to the department directly for backfill reimbursement.

Dates: Thursday 26 October and Friday 24 November 2023
Format: online (one full-day workshop, one 2-hour, self-paced learning module)
Cost: free.

Find out more

For more information, refer to Early childhood education training – health and wellbeing(opens in a new window).

Funded kindergarten services with a current National Quality Standard rating are eligible to apply for a one-off $6,000 grant to help them establish or enhance a bush kinder program in 2024.

Research shows regular learning through outdoor play helps young children develop across a whole range of areas, including physical and cognitive development and wellbeing, and their ability to assess risk.

Bush Kinder programs provide our children with amazing opportunities to get outdoors, climb trees and get their hands dirty.

The Victorian Government is investing $3.6 million over 4 years to help more kindergartens to set up these programs, so more children can enjoy the opportunity to have fun, play and learn in our beautiful outdoor settings.

The grants round open now will be the first of 4 annual grant rounds. Each year, up to 150 kindergartens will receive grants to help set up a bush kinder at their service.

Check out this Koorie Kids Shine video about bush kinders(opens in a new window) to see how an outdoor learning environment is great for all children.

Applications close Friday 29 September 2023.

Find out more

For more information about Bush Kinder, refer to Bush Kinder(opens in a new window) or the Bush Kinder Grants Program(opens in a new window).

For further enquiries, contact the Bush Kinder Grants Program team by email: bush.kinder.grants@education.vic.gov.au(opens in a new window)

The department is currently updating the process to apply for provisionally registered teacher (PRT) grants program, and as a result the second PRT grant round will not be conducted from July to September 2023.

The next grant round will open in March 2024.

To reduce the impact of this one-off change, the eligibility criteria will be temporarily modified. We will accept applications in March 2024 from approved providers that still employ an early childhood teacher they supported to move to full registration between April 2023 and March 2024.

We will provide further information on the application process in early 2024, through the program webpage(opens in a new window).

The department is proud of the success and ongoing development of the PRT grants program, which has provided funding to support over 2,500 early career early childhood teachers to reach full registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching.

This temporary change to the program schedule will help the department ensure the sustainability of the program and support its growth as the workforce expands to meet the needs of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and the Best Start, Best Life reforms.

Find out more

For more information about the PRT Grants Program, visit the program webpage(opens in a new window) or contact the department by email: EC.Mentoring@education.vic.gov.au(opens in a new window)

Every funded kindergarten across Victoria will have now received a $5,000 grant to help purchase new educational toys and equipment for Three- and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten programs. Providers did not need to apply for this funding.

The toys and equipment grants(opens in a new window) – provided through the Victorian Budget 2023/24 – mean each kindergarten will be able to buy new, inclusive and age-appropriate materials, such as construction blocks, musical instruments, puzzles, gardening tools and sensory toys. These will encourage children of all abilities to use their imagination and creativity, helping them to get the best start in life.

Further information on how the $5,000 grants can be used is available in the Guidelines for Educational Toys and Equipment at Kindergarten funding(opens in a new window).

Find out more

For more information, you can contact your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch(opens in a new window).