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Free Kindy kicks off in Queensland for 2024
Freya Lucas
Jan 24, 2024
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Free Kindy has commenced for Queensland families this week, with 64,000 young Queenslanders eligible to access free, high-quality kindergarten.
Under the Queensland model, Free Kindy is a part time program of 15 hours per week, 40 weeks a year, and is freely accessible in the year before school.Nellie is one of the many children who commenced Free Kindy this week, and her parents Sam and Steph say it “ticks all the boxes.”
“We enrolled her in kindy because the educational and social skills she'll learn are invaluable and will give her the best start for Prep,” Nellie's father Sam said.
“Free Kindy has come at the perfect time for us. It's one less thing for us to stress about and it gave us more freedom to choose a kindy that suited our daughter without being limited by costs.”
For Mum Steph, Free Kindy is an opportunity for Nellie to play and learn in her existing long day care setting, which has led to big savings for the family.
'We're thrilled that kindy will be free for 15 hours a week. The teachers pack so much play and learning into those 15 hours, it's wild that we don't have to pay for it,” she said.
Kindergarten is delivered in different ways at different services. For some services, 15 hours of free kindy might be delivered over 2 or 3 days, with additional wrap-around care paid for separately.
Like Nellie, if a child attends kindy in a long day care setting, the kindergarten program may be offered as part of their extended hours of care.*
“Nellie will attend for a bit more than 15 hours a week so there's a gap fee, but it's definitely a huge saving,” Steph explained.
Families can jump onto the free kindy finder online tool, and easily locate a free Queensland Government approved kindergarten program in their area.
To be eligible for free kindy, children need to be at least four years of age by June 30 in the year before they start Prep (the first year of school in Queensland.)
For more information and resources to share with families thinking about enrolling in kindergarten, visit the free kindy page.
*Additional care may be covered in part by the Australian Government Child Care Subsidy.
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