Kindergarten Choices

The Victorian Government has developed the Kinder Tick to help families feel confident that the program within sessional or integrated services are:

• Led by a qualified teacher
• Based on play-based learning
• Funded and approved by the Victorian Government
• Comply with the National Quality Framework.

Use the following link to find Kindergartens in Baw Baw Shire that have the Kinder Tick.

The Central Registration Scheme manages applications for sessional Kindergarten Services within Baw Baw Shire only. 

Sessional Kindergartens offer programs that operate on certain days and at specific times.  Sessional Kindergartens only operate during school terms, ie holiday breaks throughout the year.    

The following kindergartens are included in our Central Registration and Enrolment Scheme:

• Erica Preschool
• Drouin Kindergarten
• Drouin Primary Kindergarten
• Drouin West Kindergarten
• Longwarry Kindergarten
• Mary Beck Kindergarten
• Oak Street Kindergarten
• Trafalgar Primary Early Learning Centre
• Thorpdale and District Kindergarten
• Grace Berglund Kindergarten
• Warragul Community Preschool
• St Andrew’s Uniting Kindergarten
• Warragul Primary School Early Learning Centre
• Willow Grove Kindergarten
• Yarragon Early Learning Centre.

Please provide 6 different session times when submitting your application.

Within Baw Baw Shire there are a few sessional kindergartens that are not part of the Central Registration Scheme. 

Please contact them directly for information about how to apply for kindergarten.

Chairo Christian School

Please contact Chairo Christian School Kindergarten for session times on 5625 2013.

St Pauls Early Learning Centre – Warragul

Please contact St Pauls Early Learning Centre for session times on 5623 5833.

St Pauls Early Learning Centre – Drouin

Please contact St Pauls Early Learning Centre for session times on 5623 5833.

Long Day Care Centres provide kinder programs combined with extra hours of care.

Operating hours can be from 6.00am – 7.00pm depending on the centre.

The extended hours can include meals, and additional educational and recreational activities for your child. 

Free Kinder provides a few offset for children enrolled in funded kindergarten program at participating services, however there might be daily fees associated with child care services.

We encourage families to contact the service direct to discuss your circumstances.

Please enquire directly with the centre to see if they offer a funded program.

Goodstart Early Learning Centre - Drouin

Please contact Goodstart Early Learning Centre for session times on 5625 4844.

Goodstart Early Learning Centre - Warragul (Burke Street)

Please contact Goodstart Early Learning Centre for session times on 5622 2787.

Goodstart Early Learning Centre - Warragul (Sutton Street)

Please contact Goodstart Early Learning Centre for session times on 5622 0900.

Longwarry Twinkle Kids Early Learning Centre

Please contact Longwarry Twinkle Kids Early Learning Centre for session times on 9996 9555.

Little Saints Early Learning Centre - Drouin (Main South Road)

Please contact Little Saints Early Learning Centre for session times on 5616 2086.

Little Saints Early Learning Centre - Drouin (Princes Way)

Please contact Little Saints Early Learning Centre for session times on 5622 0301.

Little Saints Early Learning Centre - Warragul

Please contact Little Saints Early Learning Centre for session times on 5614 5700.

Nido Early School - Trafalgar

Please contact Nido Early School for session times on 5633 1233.

Sparrow Early Learning - Drouin (Princess Way)

Please contact Sparrow Early Learning for session times on 5625 4777.

Sparrow Early Learning - Drouin (Grant Street)

Please contact Sparrow Early Learning for session times on 5619 0300.

Sparrow Early Learning Waterford Rise - Warragul

Please contact Sparrow Early Learning for session times on 5611 0334.

Thrive Early Learning Centre – Warragul

Please contact Thrive Early Learning Centre for session times on 03 7049 6677.

WISE Kids - Warragul

Please contact WISE Kids for session times on 5644 1200.

Woodlands Early Learning Centre - Warragul

Please contact Woodland Warragul for session times 5644 1119.

Journey Early Learning - Yarragon

Please contact Journey Early Learning Yarragon for session times on 03 8746 6964.

Integrated Kindergarten

Integrated kindergarten services operate government funded 3-year-old and 4- year-old kindergarten programs within a child care service.

Free Kinder provides a fee offset for children enrolled in funded kindergarten programs at participating services, however there might be daily fees associated with child care services so please contact them for directly for fee information.

Child care services may operate during school holidays and kindergarten programs are delivered by a bachelor qualified Educator.

For further information about child care services, please contact the individual providers.

Sessional Kindergarten

Sessional kindergartens are government funded 3-year-old and 4-year-old kindergarten programs that operate within the Victorian school terms (closed during school holidays).

Kindergarten programs are delivered by a bachelor qualified Educator. Attending sessional kindergarten is free for all 3-year-old and 4-year-old children enrolled in a funded kindergarten program at services participating in free Kinder.

To apply for a funded sessional kindergarten in Baw Baw Shire that participate in CRES please click here.

Rotational Groups

Children will be placed into small core groups.

Your child will always attend kindergarten with the children in their core group, but more than one core group will attend together to create a larger group.

Rotational groups provide children with an opportunity each week to get to know and play with the children in the other rotational groups.

Composite Groups

A composite group has children that are completing both 3 year and 4-year-old Kindergarten in the same group.

Children in multi-age groups develop strong social skills and benefit from learning from younger or older peers.

Single-Aged Groups

Children are in kindergarten groups with children the same age and they will attend with the same group each session.

The Victorian Government has committed to providing three-year-old children access to a funded kindergarten program.

This means that an extra year of playbased learning led by an Educator will be added to Victorian children’s education. The funded three-year-old Kindergarten program will become available in stages across the State with Baw Baw Shire beginning this roll out in 2022.

Funded three-year-old Kindergarten will be available in both sessional kindergarten services and long day care centres. Initially these sessions will only be funded for five hours and not for the full 15 hours of the program. The funding is allocated and controlled by the State Government.

The roll out of hours and session timing is at the discretion of the Early Years Managers who run our Kindergarten programs in Baw Baw Shire.

By 2029, all Baw Baw Shire kindergartens aim to be delivering the entire 15 hours of funded kindergarten program.

Early Start Kindergarten allows eligible 3-year-old children to access a kinder program for up to 15 hours per week for free or low cost.

Early Start Kindergarten is available for children who are:

• Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander; or
• Known to Child Protection (or been referred by them to Child FIRST/Orange Door); or
• From a Refugee or Asylum Seeker background.

The Victorian Government is committed to transitioning four-year-old kindergarten to ‘Pre-Prep’.

By 2036, children across Victoria will have access of up to 30 hours of Pre-Prep play-based learning per week. Funded Pre-Prep kindergarten programs will be available in both sessional kindergarten services and long day care centres.

State Government rollout of funded Prep-Prep hours for Baw Baw Shire.

Children who are shown to benefit most from kinder will be prioritised.

For children:

• Who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders; or
• From a refugee or asylum seeker background ;or
• Who have had contact with Child Protection.

For children:

• Who have (or have a parent or guardian who has) a Commonwealth Concession Card; or
• From a multiple birth (triplets or more).

A play-based learning approach incorporates everyday fun activities that provide opportunities for children to pretend, create, share, problem-solve and discover.

Children get the opportunity to let their imagination run wild and therefore learn more about themselves and their interests.

A play-based approach supports children physical, social, emotional and intellectual learning.