The Victorian Government is giving young children across the state a better start to their learning years, helping organisations plan and prepare future kindergarten projects that will meet demand for more kinder places.
Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt today launched the new Building Blocks Planning Grants program ─ providing support for the early education sector with funding for pre-construction costs associated with upcoming kindergarten infrastructure projects.
Eligible organisations can apply for a one-off grant of up to $150,000 to use towards planning and preparation work costs for projects that will create more places for both three and four-year-old kindergarten.
Grants can be used towards covering costs for planning scope development, design preparation, soil investigations or construction costing works for projects that expand kindergarten capacity or maintain service continuity.
The Building Blocks Planning Grants program is a streamlined overarching funding scheme for early childhood providers that helps support new and existing infrastructure and facilities for three and four-year-old kindergarten services.
In an Australian first, the Victorian Government is investing almost $5 billion this decade to provide three-year-old children with access to an additional year of funded kindergarten programs.
As part of this roll-out, the Government is co-investing $1.68 billion with the early childhood sector to build and expand kindergarten facilities across Victoria.
This investment includes the delivery of a number of new kindergartens on existing school sites, providing benefits through co-location of facilities and convenience for families.
Applications for the new Building Blocks Planning Grants program are open until Sunday, 10 October.
For more information about Building Blocks Grants, visit: schoolbuildings.vic.gov.au/Pages/Building-Blocks.
As stated by Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt
"We're delivering an unprecedented investment in kindergartens across Victoria to help our kids and their families access better quality facilities, giving them the best start in their education."
"This new program will help kinders plan projects more easily ─ removing the financial burden of the planning process that could prevent them from upgrading or expanding their kindergartens."
