The Andrews Labor Government is building and upgrading kindergartens across Victoria including in Port Fairy – creating thousands of new kinder places and hundreds of jobs as Victoria rolls out funded universal Three-Year-Old Kindergarten.
Member for Western Victoria Gayle Tierney today announced Port Fairy Community Services Centre will receive over $478,000 to boost kindergarten places.
The project will convert an existing meeting room into a licensed children’s room that will be used to provide 3-year-old kindergarten and allow flexibility to provide integrated kindergarten/long day care. It is anticipated that 33 places for funded 3-year-old kindergarten will be created.
It is one of 127 successful grant recipients to share in $46.9 million through the Building Blocks capacity building and improvement grant streams, which provide new kindergarten places and improve learning environments.
Seven new early learning facilities, five new integrated children’s centres, three modular buildings and 20 building expansions are among the projects funded. These projects will create an almost 2,200 funded kindergarten places across 32 local government areas.
The Victorian Budget 2020/21 will invest a further $38.5 million into the Building Blocks grants program, which offers early childhood providers funding towards building, expanding, improving and creating more inclusive early learning facilities.
Applications are also now open for the next round of Building Blocks including major works grants of up to $500,000 – minor works of up to $50,000 – and including grants of up to $200,000 to make kinders more accessible for all children of all abilities.
Applications are open until 28 February 2021 via www.schoolbuildings.vic.gov.au
In an Australian-first, the Labor Government is investing $5 billion this decade to deliver two years of funded kindergarten for all Victorian children, with the roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten underway this year.
Quotes attributable to Gayle Tierney
“This investment will mean Port Fairy children can access high quality kinder close to home.”
“Investing in the early years is vital to encouraging a strong educational future and fostering a lifelong love of learning.”
“The evidence is clear that two years are better than one when it comes to early learning, which is why we are investing millions across Victoria to ensure every child has a place.”