Funding to support provisionally registered early childhood teachers

Once you have received the email notifying you of the outcome of your application, funding for successful applicants will be paid through the existing service agreement that your organisation has with the Department of Education (the department).

The payment can be tracked through the Funded Agency Channel.

It is important to note that the payment may be combined with other regular payments you receive from the department.

To ensure you and the PRT make the most of the grant funding, we encourage you to develop a plan together, outlining how the funding will be used to support the PRT’s progress towards full registration.

The Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) PRT Guide: Moving from provisional to full registration is a helpful resource that can assist you and the PRT to prepare an effective plan of action. Although intended for PRTs, the guide contains useful information for mentors of PRTs, workplace leadership and any teachers interested in learning more about moving to full registration.

It is recommended that you help the PRT find a suitable mentor as soon as possible. Once the PRT’s inquiry process is complete, they must present their evidence to a workplace recommendation panel including at least one person that has completed the Effective Mentoring Program delivered by VIT in partnership with the department. Consideration should be given to the formation of this panel at an early stage in the process and should be guided by the VIT's advice around workplace recommendation panels.

If funding has been provided but cannot be used to support the PRT it was meant to support, you must email EC.Mentoring@education.vic.gov.au ASAP to discuss your options.

Yes, in exceptional circumstances extensions can be granted.

If you would like to request an extension, please email EC.Mentoring@education.vic.gov.au

Congratulations on supporting that ECT to move to full registration. We hope the PRT grant made the process a bit easier for everyone involved.

To answer your question about what to do with unspent funding, there are a few options. Please email EC.Mentoring@education.vic.gov.au ASAP to discuss your situation.

To acquit the grant, the department will contact the person that submitted the grant application approximately 12 months after the funding is paid. They will be sent a link to a simple survey, which asks for information about:

• the registration status of the PRT(s) for whom you received funding
• how much of the funding has been expended
• what you spent your funding on
• barriers encountered.

They will have 30 days to complete the acquittal survey.

The PRT acquittal form only needs to be completed once for each financial year in which funding was received.

If some PRTs for whom funding was provided have not yet moved to full registration, the department will follow up again approximately 3-6 months later. These check-ins will help the department better understand the challenges affecting PRTs, and the ways in which they can best be supported during this important stage of their professional development.

Department of Education policy stipulates that the contact details of all grant recipients must be collected. This is to improve the monitoring and evaluation capacity of the teams that manage grant programs.

The department’s Privacy Policy supports the department's need to collect information and the right of the individual to privacy. It ensures that the department can collect personal information necessary for its services and functions, while recognising the right of individuals to have their information handled in ways that they would reasonably expect and in ways that protect their personal information.

A good first step is to read through the VIT PRT Guide: Moving from provisional to full registration and discuss the contents with your manager. As well as outlining the steps you will need to take as you move to full registration, it has useful templates and resources you might like to download. It can help you and your manager develop a plan as to how you can best use the PRT grant funding to support your development.

It will also be important to find a mentor to help you with the inquiry process and form part of your workplace recommendation panel once you are ready to complete the final step to move to full registration.

If there is an experienced ECT in your workplace that would be willing to mentor you but is unsure how to do so, please encourage them to complete the free Effective Mentoring Program (EMP), delivered in partnership by the Department of Education (the department) and VIT.

How to find an early childhood education mentor provides suggestions of ways to connect with a mentor. It also features the Mentor Map, which lists over 45 mentors who may be available to guide you through the VIT’s process to become fully registered. All of the mentors on the map have undertaken the Effective Mentoring Program training.

If mentors on the Mentor Map are unable to assist you, the early childhood provisionally registered teacher mentor program, managed by Gowrie Victoria, may be of assistance. Free mentor support is available for PRTs who have been unable to access a mentor, with priority access available for those who work in a regional or rural area. To request access to a mentor, email Gowrie Victoria at mentoring@gowrievictoria.org.au or visit the Gowrie Victoria website.

End-to-end career supports are available to assist ECTs in the first 5 years of their careers. Supports provided as part of this program include coaching and professional networking opportunities.

The Beginning Teacher Conferences are also designed to support and inspire early childhood teachers as they start their education careers. The free, one-day conference is offered both in person and online.

The Early Years Learning Networks (EY Networks) bring together early childhood teachers working in sessional and long day care services with a funded kindergarten program. Local Networks meet once per term to collaborate, exchange professional insights and share best-practice strategies. Each Network meeting is run by a professional facilitator alongside local Kindergarten Improvement Advisors. The department provides a backfill contribution to support one early childhood teacher per service to attend a Network meeting each term.

For more information about Early Years Learning Networks, contact your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch.

Further professional development and career information for early childhood professionals can be found on the Supports for early career early childhood teachers webpage.

Absolutely. The PRT grant funding can be used to employ a casual relief teacher to backfill your position while you are meeting with the PRT. It can also be used to provide paid time release and travel and/or accommodation expenses for both you and the PRT.

Please organise for your manager to negotiate with the PRT’s manager to determine how much funding will be required to cover these costs. Your service/approved provider will then need to coordinate the payment process, as this is not managed by the department.

Please let them know about the information provided on the How to find an early childhood education mentor webpage. This webpage features the Mentor map and details about the mentoring program run by Gowrie Victoria, along with suggestions for other ways that PRTs can connect with mentors.