Kindergartens in Darebin

Kindergarten is a program for children aged 3 and 4- years old, and is delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher. 

Kindergarten open evenings

Kindergarten open evenings are occurring in March 2026. It involves kindergarten programs in Darebin opening their doors for families to visit and ask questions about the service. You can view their rooms and outdoor spaces 

• Services south of Bell St will be open from 6.00pm to 8.00pm on Tuesday 24 March.

• Services north of Bell St will be open from 6.00pm to 8.00pm on Thursday 26 March.

See below for the participating services. 

Tuesday 24 March for services south of Bell St

Open 6pm to 8pm (last tour at 7.30pm)

Thursday 26 March for services north of Bell St

Open 6pm to 8pm (last tour at 7.30pm)

Please note:  

• Last tours will be held at 7.30pm.
• Children are welcome at the tours, but care is not provided.
• You can contact services to arrange a daytime tour if you are unable to make it to the open evenings. This includes other services across Darebin. 

About kindergarten 

Kindergarten is an important step for young children. We strongly recommended all children go to kindergarten.

Research has shown that:

• Early education helps set children up for a bright future.
• Children learn skills at kindergarten that they'll take with them throughout their life.
• Kindergarten improves children’s health and wellbeing.
• Kindergarten helps children to develop strong social skills and a love of learning.

Children who go to kindergarten are more independent and confident and are more likely to make a smooth transition to primary school.

Learn all about sending your child to kindergarten.

Updates

Is your child eligible for pre-prep in 2026?

Pre-prep starts next year across Victoria for:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
• children from a refugee or asylum seeker background
• children who have had contact with Child Protection
• any child accessing Early Start Kindergarten or Access to Early Learning in 2025.

Early childhood education and care services in Darebin will be offering pre-prep to eligible children from next year.

If your child is eligible, they will be entitled to more hours of play based learning in the year before school. 

When can children start kindergarten?

Families with children born between January and April can choose which year to start 3-year-old kindergarten. These children can start in the same year they turn three, or in the year they turn four years of age. 

Talk to your maternal and child health nurse or a qualified early years educator to help you decide. Kindergarten open days also provide a great opportunity to talk things through with an experienced professional.

You can use our kindergarten age calculator to check when your child will be eligible to start 3-year-old kindergarten and 4-year-old kindergarten.

How to choose a kindergarten

Most kindergartens welcome enquiries and will organise a time for families to visit to check out indoor and outdoor spaces, meet staff and children attending it.

Find a funded and approved kinder program – Look for the Kinder Tick

3 and 4-year-old kindergarten programs can operate in:

• children’s services
• long day care services
• community kindergartens
• independent schools
• some government schools.

They are operated and managed by a range of providers:

• parent committees of management
• commercial operators
• early years management organisations.

Darebin City Council does not manage or operate any of the early childhood education and care services – kindergartens and child care – in Darebin.

Darebin does operate the Kindergarten Central Registration System, for some of the services in Darebin, the software used is Hub Hello, this system allows families to register for more than one service using one registration form.

Take a look at the kindergarten services participating in the Darebin Registration System(PDF, 176KB)

Types of kindergarten 

Integrated kindergarten

Integrated kindergarten is a government funded kindergarten program operating within a child care service (long day care), which also allows for childcare before and after the kindergarten program.

• Children can attend all day.
• They operate during school holidays (when the kindergarten program is closed).
• There are daily fees (set by individual services) and most services operate 49 weeks of the 52 week year.
• Some ECEC services will not allow you to continue with the childcare if you choose to register for kindergarten at another service. Families can only attend one kindergarten program.

The daily fee is set by each individual service, if families are eligible, they can receive the Child Care Subsidy through Services Australia, which assists with the daily fee. The funded kindergarten payment is given to the service by the State Government and the service deducts this from the families' fees. 

Sessional kindergarten

Sessional kindergarten is a government funded kindergarten program operating within a standalone kindergarten.

• Children can attend during the Victorian school term.
• They are closed for school holidays.
• There is no fee.

To register your child in a service that is not on the Darebin registration system, please contact those services directly.

View all early childhood education and care services in Darebin(PDF, 240KB)

Complaints about a service

Early childhood education and care services in the City of Darebin are managed by a diverse range of providers, including parent committees of management, commercial operators and early years management services.

If you are concerned about your child's education, care, or licensed children's service, you should raise your concerns with the service first.

1. All early childhood services must have a written policy and procedure that states who you need to speak to about your complaint, how they will respond, and which complaints must be notified to the department.
2. The name and the telephone number of the person who deals with complaints must also be displayed at the entrance to the service. For family day care, these details will be located in the service's principal office. If your complaint cannot be resolved by the service, you should then raise it with the department.

Give feedback or make a complaint to the Department of Education

Safeguarding children

We are committed to a child-safe organisation and have zero tolerance to abuse of children and young people. Read more about safeguarding children.

If the complaint is related specifically to a child with a disability, contact the Association for Children with Disability.

Association for Children with Disability
Email: mail@acd.org.au
Phone: 03 9880 7000