Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children from a refugee or asylum seeker background, and children who have had contact with Child Protection services will have access to 16 to 25 hours of Pre-Prep each week from next year.
Any child who was supported by Early Start Kindergarten or Access to Early Learning in their Three-Year-Old Kindergarten year is also eligible for Pre-Prep from 2026.
While all children stand to benefit from more hours of Four-Year-Old Kindergarten, children in the priority cohort groups are likely to have the most to gain from expanded programs – which is why they are prioritised for access to Pre-Prep.
The new Delivering Pre-Prep to children from priority cohorts resource provides guidance to services on programming considerations for priority cohort children, including quality, privacy and inclusion. The resource includes questions for reflective discussion that you can use with your team, as well as an example scenario.
Services, no matter how many enrolments of children from a priority cohort are expected, should familiarise themselves with the priority cohort rollout and what to consider.
Further resources available
- Change Management Toolkit – information and tools to help services work with their team and families to plan and implement Pre-Prep and continue Three-Year-Old Kindergarten
- ‘Your Guide To’ information sheets – advice about planning for and the benefits of particular program models and tips on communicating with families
- Engaging with multilingual families guide – information about creating welcoming and inclusive environments, using different ways to communicate, and getting the right language supports
- Operational policies supporting the Best Start, Best Life reforms
Find out more
For further enquiries, or to provide feedback on these resources, contact the department’s Change Management team by email: bsbl.change.management@education.vic.gov.au
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