Dear colleagues
Welcome to 2026!
I hope you all enjoyed a restful break over the festive season and are feeling energised for the year ahead.
The start of the year has been tough for many communities and early childhood services in areas affected by bushfires.
I would like to remind those affected that there are supports available. The VicEmergency website and Hotline (1800 226 226) provide information on relief and recovery. Early childhood teachers and educators at funded kindergarten services can also access free and confidential counselling. We include more information on supports in this edition.
The start of a new year of learning is an exciting milestone for early childhood services and families. It marks a fresh beginning and a chance to build and renew strong relationships, support children’s development and create positive learning experiences throughout the year.
This year, Pre-Prep is launching across the state for children prioritised for early access. It has been fantastic to hear how the introduction of Pre-Prep last year in initial roll out areas has given teachers and educators more time to focus on the Kindergarten Teaching Excellence approach. With this additional time, teachers have noticed that children can stay fully engrossed in their learning moments without feeling rushed.
We’ll continue to offer the support you need to deliver Pre-Prep. In this edition, we share valuable insights from services which took part in the initial rollout in 2025. They explain how they implemented more funded kindergarten hours for children in their service.
The Three-Year-Old Kindergarten rollout will continue this year, working towards 15 hours per week across the state. This will build on last year’s achievement of more than 90.3 per cent of funded kindergarten services delivering 10 to 15 hours of play-based learning each week.
Also this year, 24 new kindergartens will open at government schools and 35 new or expanded kindergartens will open on sector sites. These services will offer more than 4,200 new licensed places for Victorian children.
Across the state, 14 new Early Learning Victoria centres have opened, taking the total to 18. These new centres will provide more than 1,400 licensed places for local children and families.
Child safety will continue to be a top priority. Important changes to the National Law have started from January 2026. Further details on these changes are available on the department’s website. We will continue to provide support and resources as you deliver these changes. We have also published a new webpage for families to support parents and carers to learn more.
On Thursday 1 January the Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA) started operations as Victoria’s new independent early childhood regulator. VECRA was created in response to the Victorian Government’s Rapid Child Safety Review. VECRA will work with the early childhood sector to improve quality and strengthen child-safety practices. You can read more on this change here.
To support you and your teams this year, we are offering various professional development opportunities. You can find more details about some of them in this edition.
Be sure to look at the new Early Childhood Quality Hub. It has free self-paced modules to support with inducting new staff, disability inclusion, intentional and team teaching, and Learning Progressions. While you’re there, remember to register, as more courses will be added throughout the year.
Wishing you and your teams all the best for the year ahead.
Bronwen FitzGerald
Deputy Secretary
Early Childhood Education
Updated