School Readiness Funding: future directions

Find out how the department will review and improve the program over the next 2 years.

Young children playing with blocks with a teacher.

The Victorian Government is committed to meeting the needs of educators, children and families across the state.

To maximise the impact of School Readiness Funding (SRF), it is important to maintain its original purpose — to support children experiencing educational disadvantage.

Since the introduction of School Readiness Funding in 2019, the department has conducted a range of evaluation activities of the initiative. This has provided valuable information and feedback from kindergarten services about how they engage with and use School Readiness Funding, and areas that could be improved to ensure the funding achieves its objectives.

In response to this feedback, the Victorian Government is committing to reviewing and improving several key areas of School Readiness Funding. You can read more about these changes and the future directions for School Readiness Funding in this statement from the Minister of Early Childhood and Pre-Prep, Ingrid Stitt.

In response to the evaluation findings, the Victorian Government has announced that over the next 2 years, SRF will be refined in 4 key areas:

  • reviewing the SRF priority areas definitions
  • extending the SRF planning cycle to a 2-year cycle
  • improving the SRF menu
  • continuing to streamline planning and administration.

The changes to SRF will further improve outcomes for children experiencing educational disadvantage in the priority areas of communication, social and emotional wellbeing, access and inclusion.

Find out more

For more information about the SRF reform directions, refer to School Readiness Funding: supporting kindergartens.

For further enquiries, contact the department by email: school.readiness.funding@education.vic.gov.au

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