From 2025, Four-Year-Old Kinder will start to transition to Pre-Prep, with kinder programs across Victoria increasing from 15 to 30 hours each week. In 2026, up to 25 hours of Pre-Prep will be available statewide for Victorian children who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
Find out more here: Four-Year-Old Kinder is becoming Pre-Prep(opens in a new window).
To be eligible, your child must turn 3 or 4 years old by 30 April in the year they go to kinder.
Koorie Kids Shine promotes participation in kinder for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
Why hours are increasing for 4-year-olds
Increasing the hours of play-based learning in the year before school gives children even greater access to the many benefits of early childhood education.
More hours of learning through play each week can increase children’s early literacy and numeracy, and self-regulation skills.
Teachers and educators will be able to provide deeper and more deliberate play experiences, which will give children opportunities to embed their learning.
Benefits of kinder
At kinder, children use play to learn the skills they need that will help them do well in future years at school and take with them throughout their life. Research has shown that early education helps set children up for a bright future.
Kinder helps kids:
- build their sense of identity
- explore how they fit into the world around them
- learn how to communicate with others
- strengthen their physical, social and emotional wellbeing
- feel confident in learning and trying new things.
Teachers and educators help children become curious, creative and confident learners.
Respecting cultural identity
Kinder programs work hard to create culturally safe places for Koorie children and families and include Aboriginal perspectives in the learning curriculum and environment. In kinder your child will learn to build their own sense of identity and how their own culture relates to the diversity in the world around them.
"I sent my children to kinder because I wanted them to be ready for school. Kinder made them smart, proud, strong and resilient. Now they're sending their children too." – Aunty Esme, a proud Bangerang, Taungurung and Wiradjuri woman.
You are encouraged to talk with your child’s teacher about your own cultures and beliefs, and how these can be incorporated into the activities at kinder.
What happens at kinder?
Kinder is a program where your child will be able to learn through experiences and activities such as dance, movement and art, as well as building the skills they need for reading, writing and maths when they start school.
At kinder, your child will learn:
- through play, art, music and dance
- to express themselves in a safe, inclusive and caring environment
- skills and confidence to prepare them for school.
Enrol your child in kinder
To enrol your child, visit the find a kinder program site(opens in a new window), speak to your local council or contact your closest Koorie Education Coordinator(opens in a new window).
Stories of Koorie kids at kinder
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