STRATHBOGIE Shire is next in line to open enrolments in a state-wide program to improve the education of four-year-olds.
Victoria’s Pre-Prep is an extended kinder program that gives children extra time at age four to learn before they start school and is being rolled out in stages through regional areas before the rest of the rest of the state.
Strathbogie Shire enrolments open on Friday, 16 May via council’s Central Registration and Enrolment Scheme.
Pre-Prep provides more hours of quality play-based learning to children in their four-year-old kinder program and is led by qualified teachers.
Eligible children in the shire can access between 16 and 20 hours of kindergarten each week – up from 15 hours – from the start of 2026.
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Studies show that more time at kindergarten can make a significant difference to a child’s cognitive, social, and emotional outcomes, including how they manage their feelings and relate to others.
Free Kinder is available for Pre-Prep programs at both sessional kinders and long day care centres.
Families with children enrolled in a kindergarten program at a long day care service receive a fee offset.
Pre-Prep is also commencing this month in the local government areas of Benalla, Mansfield, and Wangaratta.
The staged roll-out prioritises regional areas before expanding across the state.
This phased approach allows time to grow the workforce and build the infrastructure required to support the local kindergarten services teaching the next generation.
From 2026, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children from a refugee or asylum-seeker background, and those who have had contact with Child Protection will also have access to up to 25 hours of Pre-Prep each week, no matter where they live.
A Pre-Prep information booth will be open at Burton’s IGA on Binney Street, Euroa on Friday, 16 May.
More information can be found at vic.gov.au/pre-prep
