Council working to support Pre-prep rollout

Published on 19 July 2023

Gannawarra Shire Council continues to work with the State Government to ensure the municipality is ready for the rollout of the Pre-prep program in 2025.

The State Government announced in January 2023 that Gannawarra Shire would be one of the first municipalities to implement the program, which will enable every four-year-old child in Victoria to access up to 30-hours per week play-based learning for 40 weeks of the year.

“This new play-based Pre-prep program, to be delivered by early childhood teachers and educators, will improve children’s learning and development outcomes, particularly for vulnerable and disadvantaged children,” Council Chief Executive Officer, Geoff Rollinson said.

As part of the program’s rollout, the State Government announced on 17 July that a new kindergarten will be built at Kerang South Primary School in readiness for Term 1 2025.

“Council welcomes this investment by the State Government, which will ensure increased capacity for children eligible in the Kerang area for the Pre-prep and three-year-old kindergarten programs will be able to attend sessions from Term 1 2025,” Mr Rollinson said.

“The Victorian School Building Authority identified the need for an additional facility for Kerang to support the Pre-prep rollout. This is due to there being no more room to expand at the Kerang-based Gannawarra Shire Children’s Centre to accommodate a pre-Prep program, with the centre’s Long Day Care program expected to be impacted without the addition of this new facility.”

Council continues to work with the State Government regarding the pre-Prep rollout in other communities, including at Cohuna.

“Council continues to advocate to the State Government regarding supporting the creation of an Early Learning Centre at Cohuna which will accommodate the Pre-Prep program and Long Day Care services, as recommended in the Exploring Care and Education in Cohuna Final Report,” Mr Rollinson said.

“The next six months will be important regarding the development of this centre, with Council committed to working with the State Government, the community and education providers to make this project a reality, which will benefit current and future families who call Cohuna and district home.”