By Dongyun Kwon
Although Yarra Ranges Shire was missed in the new plan of opening up new kinders, the State Government has tried to increase the capacity of kinder places across the shire.
On 10 October, the State Government announced 11 more kinders set to open at government schools in 2026 and 2027, delivering 1700 more kinder places, which doesn’t include any part of Yarra Ranges Shire.
The Victorian School Building Authority assesses school sites in areas with significant kinder demand to make sure they are built where they’re most needed and schools’ future needs are also considered.
Building kinders at schools provides many benefits for Victorian families, including making kinder programs easier to access, drop-off time simpler and more convenient, and the transition from kinder to school smoother for children.
A Victorian School Building Authority spokesperson said although Yarra Ranges was missed from the recently released plan, the Victorian Government has invested more than $13 million which has delivered new, refurbished and expanded kinders across Yarra Ranges Shire since 2015.
“This includes Mount Dandenong Preschool, the new Cire Early Years Learning Hub which is an integrated childcare centre in Yarra Junction. In addition to this, Woori Yallock has been confirmed as a future site for a childcare centre,” they said.
“The 11 new kinders announced on 10 October, opening at government schools in 2026 and 2027, are among many new kinder facilities being delivered across the state, with more to come as part of the Best Start, Best Life reforms.
“Hundreds of kinders will be built at schools across Victoria during the next decade, with a kinder being delivered on-site or next door to every new government primary school built since 2021 – making life simpler for families.”
Cire Services opened a new Early Learning and Kindergarten in Yarra Junction in August this year thanks to the $2 million Building Blocks Grants program from the Victorian Government.
The centre has provided an additional 34 spaces across long daycare and integrated kindergarten.
Cire Services marketing, communications and partnerships senior manager AJ Adgemis said Cire Services is grateful to be able to generate additional capacity for local kids.
“Without the grant from the State Government, we wouldn’t have been able to build the centre,” he said.
“So, it’s great to provide that additional opportunity for the community up there and we thank the State Government for allowing and seeing our vision.
“It’s competitive [to take a kinder place] across all centres in the sector at the moment, but we’ve generated additional capacity, which is really fantastic for us.”
Cire Services has worked on building the capacity of kinder places not just through building a new centre but also through increasing the workforce with a new certificate.
Mr Adgemis said Cire Services has finalised the Certificate II Early Childhood Education and Care, which provides a hands-on learning experience to the sector.
“It is difficult to attract and retain early educators to the centre. There are a number of reasons for that, and it’s not too dissimilar to what the whole sector is experiencing with demand for early educators,” he said.
“Through our registered training organisation, we’ve just finalised the Certificate II Early Childhood Education and Care. It utilises virtual reality headsets to give a more interactive learning experience with robot babies which are programmed to mimic real-life situations.
“Students can gain that great understanding of what a career in early learning would look like for them, and once again, that was thanks to a grant through the government.”
By 2032, the Victorian Government will establish 50 state-owned early learning and childcare centres.
Early Learning Victoria will lead the delivery and day-to-day operations of Victoria’s childcare centres.
To apply for enrolment, visit vic.gov.au/early-learning-victoria
