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Y Kinders commits to small communities with Best Start, Best Life backed expansion
Freya Lucas
Sep 18, 2024
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Y Kinders has been successful in negotiating with the Victorian Department of Education to provide “a unique solution” to the delivery of its landmark Best Start, Best Life reforms.
Announced by the Victorian Government in June 2022, Best Start, Best Life will see the expansion of kindergarten from the current 15 hours of funded play-based learning to a total of 30 hours for 4-year-old children, as well as including funded kindergarten for three year old children in a staged rollout, which will begin in 2025 across six regional local government areas, including the Rural City of Ararat, where Y Kinders manages six kindergarten sites.“There’s no doubt how important these reforms are to supporting all children across Victoria,” Y Kinders’ Executive Manager of Children’s Services, Vicki Dobson said.
“However, rolling out government reforms in the early education space is not always easy. Sometimes these big decisions do not fit easily at a local level and require significant effort by the teams on the ground to bring everything together.”
Willaura, situated approximately 25 minutes from Ararat, is indicative of these challenges.
Willaura and District Kindergarten is small – with sometimes less than five children in attendance – but plays an important role in the function and development of the town.
“Y Kinders operates in many small, rural townships across Victoria,” Ms Dobson said.
“We understand how critical these services are – not just to ensure the children have access to a quality education, but to help keep these towns alive. These programs are a vital part of the community. Many parents talk about attending the same kindergarten themselves and wanting their children to have that same experience.”
After committing to delivering the 30-hour Pre-Prep program in the first year of the reform, Y Kinders turned its attention to making it work in Willaura.
“Part of the kindergarten experience is socialisation – learning how to interact with others your age,” Ms Dobson continued. “This can be really challenging as a teacher to provide when you have such a small class size.”
These issues are compounded by the current workforce pressures being experienced Australia wide, leaving Y Kinders “looking at a situation where one kindergarten might not be able to provide its children with the same opportunities as others.”
This, Ms Dobson said, “just didn’t sit right with our organisational pillars of ‘Community Wellbeing’ and ‘A Just World’.
With this lens in mind, Y Kinders stepped in to advocate on behalf of the community and negotiated with the Department of Education to develop an alternative solution.
They engaged the community through a series of surveys over a 12-month period and met with local parents during kindergarten open days, where parents expressed their willingness to try different approaches if it meant they kept their kindergarten open.
Following this extensive consultation, Y Kinders approached the Department to request a trial for an exemption from the 16 hours minimum for a funded program, and also for approval for eligible children to attend a second service for the additional 15 hours.
Under this arrangement, children at Willaura will still experience kindergarten in their hometown and receive support to transition to the local primary school, while also attending a larger program to have access to their full 30 hours of Pre-Prep.
“The local Early Childhood Improvement Branch – which oversees the delivery of kindergarten and is responsible for supporting the rollout of Pre-Prep on behalf of the Department of Education, was really supportive of our approach,” Ms Dobson added.
“They were able to raise this on our behalf with the Central Office of the Department of Education helping to drive our advocacy for a place-based approach for the children of Willaura.”
Getting such a positive end result left the Y Kinders team, and the community, feeling supported, and as though “the Department of Education really listened to what was needed for this community.”
The trial will last for the 2025 calendar year, with a review to be conducted before the end of the school year.
Y Kinders is one of the largest Early Years Managers in the state, with 92 kindergartens in its portfolio, and has been managing and supporting early years services for over 20 years.
More information about Y Kinders may be found here.
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