Rutherglen Kindergarten

What Free Kinder means at our service

Rutherglen Kindergarten has opted into the Victorian Government Best Start, Best Life initiative providing Free Kinder programs for four-year-old and three-year-old children in funded services.

Free Kinder supports families to access a funded kindergarten program by:

• providing a free 15-hour program to 4-year-old children enrolled at a sessional service
• providing a free 5 to 15-hour program to 3-year old children enrolled at a sessional service (subject to the length of funded program offered)
• Kindergarten programs for four-year-old and eligible three-year-old children in Victorian Government funded services will be free as part of the Best Start, Best Life reform.
• This investment will save families up to $2,500 for each child enrolled in a participating funded kindergarten program.
• DE also provides funding to assist eligible three-year-old Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and children known to Child Protection, to access kindergarten programs

The approved provider must notify all families of the priority of access (PoA) policy that applies when they enrol their child.

In instances where more eligible children apply for a place at a kindergarten service than there are places available, services must prioritise children based on the Department of Education and Training (DET) criteria

The criteria must be used by the approved provider when prioritising enrolments. 

Services must first apply the DET’s PoA criteria, and following this may apply locally developed criteria. Please refer to our policies under Quality Area 6 listed below.

All information relating to PoA criteria should be respectfully collected from families upon enrolment, recorded in the child’s confidential enrolment records and entered into the Kindergarten Information Management (KIM) system.

Early Start Kindergarten provides up to 15 hours of free or low cost kindergarten per week to eligible three-year-old children where programs are offered by a qualified teacher.. Applications for Early Start Kindergarten funding are made by the service on your behalf and the grant is paid directly to the service.

To be eligible, your child must be 3 by 30 April in the year they start kindergarten, and:

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

Accessing high quality early childhood education for 2 years has a substantial and positive impact on a child’s cognitive, emotional, and social skills (Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation, 2018). Through play-based learning at kindergarten, your child will gain new or improved skills in a number of different areas, including:

• learning how to become an effective learner
• developing and extending their communication and language skills
• building self-confidence and social skills
• building understanding of identity and culture
• learning to be creative through arts, dance and music
• developing skills in literacy and numeracy.

• Koorie Kids Shine
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families can learn about the benefits of kindergarten, including how services create culturally safe places for Koorie children and families, and how to enrol in free or low-cost kindergarten for three-and four-year-old children through Koorie Kids Shine.

All parents/guardians planning to enrol their child at childcare or kindergarten in Victoria must provide the service with:

• a current Immunisation History Statement from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR); AND
• the statement must show that the child is up to date with all vaccinations that are due for their age, or that they are able to receive.

The Immunisation History Statement from the AIR lists the vaccines the child has received and, if applicable, which vaccines are due in the future and when. Medical exemption may also be listed, where applicable.

An Immunisation History Statement from the AIR is the only type of immunisation record accepted by early childhood and care services for the purposes of confirming enrolment and must be provided within the two months prior to the child starting at the service.

Once enrolled, you will need to provide your child’s service with a new Immunisation History Statement whenever your child receives or was due to receive immunisation/s.

The ‘No Jab No Play’ law applies to all early childhood education and care services in Victoria that provide:

• long day care
• kindergarten
• occasional care
• family day care.

What you need to doI

On enrolment in an early childhood education and care service, and when your child receives a vaccine/s while attending, provide the service with your child’s most recent Immunisation History Statement from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) as evidence of your child’s immunisation.

• You can print a copy of your child’s Immunisation History Statement from your myGov account
• the Express Plus Medicare mobile app
• Call the AIR on phone 1800 653 809
• visit a Medicare or Centrelink office.

Translated resources are available online at

https://www.vic.gov.au/kinder/translations

• Victorian Government Kinder:  Best Start Best Life
  https://www.vic.gov.au/kinder
• Immunisation: No jab No play https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/campaigns/no-jab-no-play
• Child & Family Health Nurse:
  https://www.indigoshire.vic.gov.au/Community/Community-support/Children-and-families/Maternal-and-Child-Health
• Indigo Shire:
  https://www.indigoshire.vic.gov.au/Community/Community-support/Children-and-families