Familes welcome Free Kinder initiatives in Victoria as new learning year begins

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep Ingrid Stitt visited Will Will Rook Preschool in Glenroy to welcome children and families starting their kinder journey earlier this week.
The preschool runs a bush kindergarten program and offers a combined kindergarten program for three- and four-year-olds, with all enrolments free. It’s one of more than 2,750 early childhood services across the state offering the Victorian Government’s kindergarten reform of Free Kinder for Victoria’s three- and four-year-olds in 2023.
Of Victoria’s kindergarten providers, 97 per cent have opted-in to Free Kinder, including sessional kinder and long day care centres. The initiative will see children enrolled in Three-Year-Old Kindergarten receive between 5 and 15 hours of funded learning each week this year, and those in Four-Year-Old Kindergarten receive 15 hours per week.
At Will Will Rook Preschool, a $1.58 million Building Blocks Capacity Grant has seen an additional classroom constructed to support three-year-old kinder programs, featuring modern indoor and outdoor learning environments.
Free Kinder will save families up to $2,500 per child each year. Over the next decade, this support will increase further, with Four-Year-Old Kindergarten transitioning to Pre-Prep by scaling up to 30 hours of play-based learning each week.
Children enrolled in funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten will also receive a free Kinder Kit featuring fun and educational toys, books and resources, helping them to grow and thrive through creativity and play.
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