Kindergarten allocation and offer process

Young girl holding plastic balls at kindergarten

The annual allocation process starts in August for 3 and 4-year-old-kindergarten

 

    Kindergarten offers

    Families are encouraged to visit and speak directly with services before a registration form is submitted.

    You can select up to 4 kindergartens. You should only select kindergartens where you are prepared to accept a place.

    Kindergarten places are first allocated to children who meet the Victorian Department of Education funding Guide and Darebin Priority of Access. Remaining allocations are then made through a randomised electronic software program. 

    Places are filled depending on the vacancies provided to the registration team from individual kindergartens.

    Round one offers are made to families based on their first selected kindergarten, early August for 4-year-old kindergarten and mid August for 3-year-old kindergarten  

     

    Due to capacity of funded kindergarten places offered, there is no guarantee that you will be offered your 1st selected kindergarten.

    Acceptance of Offers

    • Families have two working days (48 hours) to accept or decline an offer.
    • Attempts will be made to contact families who do not respond to an offer. The registration team will contact families via, phone, SMS and email. Families have an additional 24 hours to respond following this contact.
    • If there has been no response after 24 hours, the offer will be withdrawn.
    • The families will be notified in writing that the offer has been withdrawn and their child's registration has been archived.
    • The record will be reinstated once the family has made contact with the registration team.

    Changes to Registrations

    • Families can update their registration through the online portal. If you are unable to access the portal, contact the registration team.
    • Requests for changes to kindergarten selected services will only be accepted up to 31 July.
    • No changes to selected services can be made during the allocation period - from 1 August through to the end of September.

    Timeline of allocation process 

    Activity  Date What happens

    Registrations open for three and four-year-old kindergarten 

    		 1 March Registrations open for services that are with the Darebin Registration System
    Cut-off date for registrations in round one offers  30 June Registrations for round one allocation close.
     Registrations received after 30 June  1 July Registrations will be processed after 30 June and will still be accepted and will be considered after Round one offers are completed in early September 
     Four-year-old kindergarten round one  Early August Families to accept or decline the offer within 48 hours (2 working days)
    Three-year-old kindergarten round one  Mid August Families to accept or decline the offer within 48 hours (2 working days)
     Four-year-old kindergarten subsequent rounds  Early September Families to accept or decline the offer within 48 hours (2 working days)
     Four-year-old kindergarten subsequent round   Mid September  Families to accept or decline the offer within 48 hours (2 working days)

    Priority of access

    Kindergarten places are prioritised for children through the Department of Education and Training Priority of Access criteria.

    These include:

    • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
    • Children at risk of abuse or neglect, including children in out-of-home care
    • Asylum seeker and refugee children
    • Children eligible for the kindergarten fee subsidy
    • Children with additional needs: those who need extra assistance in order to fully participate in the kindergarten program, require a combination of services which are individually planned, or have an identified specific disability or developmental delay. This includes children who are approved for a second funded year of kindergarten.

    For more information, please see kindergarten priority of access criteria.

    Darebin gives subsequent priority to the following:

    • Families who are Darebin residents or whose child attends unregistered verified care in Darebin
    • Had a child or sibling who participated in the same kindergarten in the past 2 years
    • First preference kindergarten is closest to the child's address
    • Internal long day care children (who request the kindergarten program within their current long day care service)

    More information

    If you would like more information on the allocation procedure, please contact the registration team:

    Phone 03 8470 8825
    Email registration.kindergartenchildcare@darebin.vic.gov.au

    Hours: 9.00am—5pm Monday to Friday

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