Kindergarten is an important step for young children and is strongly recommended for all children. It is the two years of early education for children before they start primary school.
Research shows that kindergarten improves children’s health and wellbeing, helps them to develop strong social skills and encourages a love of learning. Children who attend a kindergarten program are more independent and confident and are more likely to make a smooth transition to primary school.
A high-quality kindergarten program will offer your child a range of learning experiences and activities that are both stimulating and fun. Your child’s learning and curiosity will be encouraged through experiences and activities, such as exploring the natural world, being exposed to new ideas and solving problems.
The kindergarten that is closest to your residence is usually the best option. This ensures that the child builds a good community connection and will likely know children when transitioning into primary school. However, regardless of proximity, kindergarten is a personal choice based on what each kindergarten offers within their indoor/outdoor program. It is recommended that you visit kindergartens of interest to compare and assist you in deciding which would be more suitable for your child.
Kindergarten programs are delivered by a qualified Early Childhood Teacher. They are designed to improve your child’s development in:
- social skills, like how to play with other children in a calm, sharing and rewarding way
- self-awareness and respect for others
- emotional skills, e.g., understanding their feelings
- language, literacy and numeracy skills, such as reading stories and counting objects
- participating in learning and group activities, such as talking, drawing and making things together with other children their own age
- making new friends; and
- being exposed to new ideas and concepts.
Kindergarten also gives families:
- opportunities to meet other families and make community connections
- access to support for children with special needs; and
- access to other community services.
CPSG runs mixed-age groups across all our services. This brings together children aged three to six years old offering a unique opportunity for learning and development and can enhance the social and emotional skills of both age groups.
Early childhood education is not about everyone learning the same thing at the same time – it is about creating opportunities for children to learn through active exploration and manipulation of the environment, through communication, through interactions and through developmentally appropriate experiences (appropriate to their own development – not someone elses!)…Merryn Coughlin, Early Childhood Teacher
Mixed-age groups provide benefits to both the older and younger children in the service.
- Older children often take on a mentoring role and benefit from helping younger children in co-operative learning situations, while younger children have the opportunity of enhanced learning experiences where they are ready for it.
- Older children are able to practice and reinforce their own skills as they teach them to younger children e.g. teaching routines, helping them with tasks, communicating kindergarten rules, etc.
- Older children provide a model of appropriate behaviour for the younger children – this can mean less behaviour problems in the classroom because younger children integrate quickly into established class routines as modelled by the older children.
- Younger children are able to seek help from a wider range of people rather than relying on the teacher to help them all the time. This builds their sense of wellbeing and their development of connections within the kindergarten community.
Because early childhood education is focused on individual development, there is not one specific benchmark for all children to achieve by a certain time. Having a mixed-age group reinforces this and ensures that teachers are always focusing on children’s individual needs and development.
Your child will have the benefit of a consistent Early Childhood Teacher over their two years of early childhood education. This means that not only will the teacher have a deeper understanding of your child’s development, resulting in a greater ability to facilitate their education; but your child will have jumped some of the major hurdles of early education by the time they get to school – learning the service routines and expectations and most importantly, establishing a positive relationship with their teacher. Often when there is a different teacher for each year level, children must again adjust to different teaching styles, service routines and expectations.
In instances where more eligible children apply for a place at a service than there are places available, CPSG must prioritise children based on the criteria outlined in the Department of Education’s Kindergarten Funding Guide and work with other local kindergarten services and the regional Department office to ensure all eligible children have access to a kindergarten place.
Yes.
No. Most children will only be eligible for two years of funded kindergarten, so your child will transition from a three-year-old program to a four-year-old program.
This is why it is so important to choose the right time to start for your child (see Is my child ready for kindergarten above).
A second year of funded four-year-old kindergarten may be considered when:
- your child is observed as having delays in at least two outcomes areas of learning and development (detailed in the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework) available at education.vic.gov.au; and
- there is evidence to suggest that the child will achieve better outcomes if he/she attends a third year of kindergarten to strengthen learning and development of skills in these areas and better facilitate transition to school the following year.
For further information, see:
Children can go to kindergarten when they’re six years old if they have a disability, developmental delay or it’s a special situation.
If your child will turn six before or while they’re in their first or second year of funded kindergarten, you must get an exemption from starting school.
For further information, see Going to kindergarten if your child is 6 years old.
If your child has additional needs, they may be eligible for funding for extra support at kindergarten. This may include additional training for staff, equipment specific to your child’s needs or an additional assistant being allocated to the group.
We encourage families to be open with us so we can support children to the best of our abilities. We are happy to work with external agencies your child may be working with to ensure a collaborative and consistent approach to their learning.
We encourage you to contact us at your earliest convenience to discuss your child’s specific needs.
Please contact the CPSG office on (03) 5579 5920 or email [email protected] to provide your new contact information.