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Supporting CALD families to engage in kindergarten

Resources for services and providers to communicate with cultural and linguistically diverse (CALD) families about kindergarten and its benefits.

On this page

Use these resources any time of the year to support CALD families in your community to access and participate in kindergarten programs. The resources also include information about initiatives such as Free Kinder and the benefits of two years of kindergarten.

Translated information for families

CALD families may experience barriers accessing early childhood education, including language barriers.

The kinder translations webpage has information in 30 languages about kindergarten in Victoria, including what it is and what children experience in kindergarten programs. Families can choose from written, audio or visual materials.

Please share the link vic.gov.au/kinder/translations with your staff and families.

Translated resources for services

You can order printed translated resources from the Victorian Kindergarten Resources Portal for your service, free of charge. Resources are available in 30 languages, and include brochures and posters. You can also download materials from the portal to post online or share via email.

Social media tiles are available from the portal or below:

In-language videos

Share these videos with CALD families in your community to learn more about the benefits of kinder and to help them enrol.

Benefits of kindergarten

Enrolling in kinder

Interpreter services

Free telephone, video and on-site interpreters are available for funded early childhood services. The Department of Education has a contract with Language Loop to provide interpreting services. All interpreters are qualified and accredited.

In the 2024 calendar year the following support services are also eligible to access LanguageLoop:

  • Local councils that receive funding from the Department of Education to deliver a Central Registration and Enrolment Scheme (CRES) and/or a program to support kindergarten and pre-prep access and participation (Including the CALD Outreach Initiative)
  • Access to Early Learning (AEL) providers
  • Safe Haven providers.

Further information can be found on the Use an interpreter in early childhood education services webpage(opens in a new window).

Translation services

In 2024 all funded kindergarten services are eligible to access translation services via LanguageLoop. Further information can be found on the Use an interpreter in early childhood education services webpage.

Early Start Kindergarten

Early Start Kindergarten (ESK) continues to be available for eligible children, providing 15 hours of kindergarten each week for two years before school.

If a child is eligible for ESK, they should be enrolled in ESK, even where Free Kinder or 15 hours per week of funded three-year-old kindergarten is offered.

Enrolling children through ESK ensures they have priority of access, and services can receive additional funding and support:

  • The number of ESK enrolments factor into School Readiness Funding (SRF) for your service.
  • Sessional kindergartens and long day care services will receive a full year’s funding allocation (for hours enrolled) when ESK applications are approved – this is regardless of when a child starts or leaves the service. This supports your planning around the child’s access and inclusion into the kindergarten program.
  • Long day care services will receive at least $500 in extra funding for supporting an ESK enrolment.

To be eligible for ESK, children must be 3 by 30 April in the year they start kindergarten, and either:

  • be from a refugee or asylum seeker background
  • identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
  • be from a family that has had contact with child protection.

Services are encouraged to discuss eligibility for ESK with families and referrers directly, in addition to information provided through enrolment processes.

Share these audio files to help families understand the benefits of kindergarten and explain Early Start Kindergarten.

CALD Outreach Initiative

The Department of Education has funded 22 local councils to employ CALD outreach workers.

CALD outreach workers address barriers to kindergarten access and participation for children and families from CALD backgrounds. They also support families transition to school, as well as ongoing engagement and participation in education.

The initiative includes direct support to families and services in the following local government areas:

Banyule City Council
Brimbank City Council
Casey City Council
Darebin City Council
Greater Bendigo City Council
Greater Dandenong City Council
Greater Geelong City Council
Hobsons Bay City Council
Hume City Council
Maribyrnong City Council
Maroondah City Council
Melbourne City Council
Melton City Council
Merri-bek City Council
Mildura Rural City Council
Monash City Council
Moonee Valley City Council
Moorabool Shire Council
Wyndham City Council
Whittlesea City Council
Yarra City Council
Yarra Ranges Shire Council

* * Greater Shepparton City Council and Cardinia Shire Council will also have a CALD outreach worker in place until early 2024 with funding received through previous grants.

For more information on the CALD Outreach Initiative please contact your participating local council directly or the department at early.years.cald.programs@education.vic.gov.au.

Access to Early Learning (AEL)

Vulnerable CALD children may be able to access AEL, a targeted early intervention program. AEL enables three-year-old children from families with complex needs to fully participate in quality, universal early education and care.

AEL provides an experienced and degree-qualified facilitator to work with families, educators and services to ensure vulnerable children participate in early learning at kindergarten and at home. It is available in 25 local government areas across Victoria.

Further information about AEL, including eligibility and site locations, can be found on the Access to Early Learning webpage.

Foundation House - Early Years Program

The Early Years Program, delivered by Foundation House, supports early childhood services to work with families from refugee backgrounds. Through this program Foundation House provides resources, professional learning and consultancy, as well as place-based collaborative projects, to promote the full inclusion of families from refugee backgrounds in early childhood services.

Foundation House has also developed a series of ‘Kindergarten to School’ videos in seven community languages- Dari, Pashto, Hazaragi, Arabic, Dinka, Hakha Chin and Karen. The videos were co-designed through extensive consultation with communities.

Further information about this program, including the videos, can be found on the Foundation House website(opens in a new window).

Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) - Family Learning Support Program

The Family Learning Support Program, delivered by the Brotherhood of St Laurence provides bilingual outreach support to children and families from vulnerable CALD backgrounds living in public housing in the City of Melbourne, Moonee Valley City Council, City of Yarra and City of Maribyrnong to connect with early childhood services and to support transition to school.

Further information about this program can be found on the Brotherhood of St Laurence website.

Fka Children’s Services (fkaCS) - Cultural Inclusion Support

Through this program, fkaCS provides advice, referral and support to kindergarten services, to identify and address barriers to the inclusion of multilingual children.

Further information about this program can be found on the fkaCS website.

Early childhood

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