Every Victorian child attending a funded kindergarten program in Werribee will get the most out of their learning and development with the final stage of the $160 million Australian-first School Readiness Funding rolling out.

Member for Werribee Tim Pallas has announced 32 early childhood services offering funded kinder in 2021 in the Werribee District will share in $893,364.46 of early childhood School Readiness Funding.

The total funding allocated to each service is dependent on the number of children enrolled who face educational disadvantage.

This is the first time the funding will be made available to all funded kindergartens in Victoria, with the program now a permanent feature of Victoria’s early childhood education system.

About 1,700 kindergartens in 47 local government areas will automatically receive this funding for the first time in 2021. Services delivering funded kindergarten programs for three-year-old children in 2021 will also receive this funding.

Services that are receiving School Readiness Funding for the first time are located across Victoria, from the Alpine Shire, Greater Geelong, Port Phillip to Yarra Ranges in 2021.

Australian research shows that one in five Victorian children start school developmentally vulnerable and once behind, they tend to stay behind. This needs-based funding aims to reduce the impact of educational disadvantage on children’s learning and development and improve outcomes in communication, wellbeing, and access and participation.

School readiness funding will allow Victorian kindergarten providers to tap into the expertise of speech and occupational therapists, language and literacy professionals and child psychologists, who can then boost the capability of both parents and teachers.

Victoria’s success as the Education State starts in the early years – so that’s why the Victorian Government has also invested $5 billion over a decade to deliver 15 hours of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten to all children.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt

“We are providing funding to kinders across the state to ensure they have the supports they need so every Victorian child gets the most out of early childhood education.”

“We’re helping them early, so they can get the most out of kinder and start at school on track and on par with their peers.”

Quote attributable to Member for Werribee Tim Pallas

“This needs-based funding will improve outcomes in communication, social and emotional wellbeing, access and participation for children in Werribee.”