Dear early childhood education and care services
We are pleased to bring you an action-packed edition of Early Childhood Update just before the autumn term break – and for a comparatively short term, it certainly has been very busy and productive.
As we reflect on this year’s Cultural Diversity Week, I hope that you’ve had many chances to delve into and celebrate all the different perspectives, backgrounds and journeys that make up your communities. In this edition, we are highlighting some of the ways services can support culturally and linguistically diverse families, including an expanded translations and interpretation service.
With enrolments for 2025 underway, I am delighted that services are using the resources we are offering to help communicate about kindergarten with families and the local community. This edition highlights many of the new translated materials and services on offer. The feedback we’re hearing is that these resources are appreciated by families and services.
The interest from families and communities in kindergarten shows that people are positively responding to this investment in children and recognising the importance of these stages in ‘learning for life’.
In my new role as Deputy Secretary, Early Childhood Education, I look forward to working in partnership with you and your colleagues to deliver nation-leading early learning programs. The quality of the learning, support and collaboration in Victorian kindergarten programs shows how capable the sector is, and that we will work with creativity and partnership to deliver the ambitious goals of the Best Start, Best Life reforms.
Whether you’re celebrating Easter, Passover, Holi, Nowruz or Eid, I wish you a happy and restorative term break.
Bronwen FitzGerald
Deputy Secretary
Early Childhood Education
Updated