Apollo Bay Preschool News
June 2020
We are excited to be one of the first Preschools in Victoria to offer a funded 15 hour Kindergarten Program for 3 year olds next year.
For many years we have run an Activity Group for 3 hours a week with a paid educator. We are very pleased the State Government funding will support us to offer this program with 2 qualified educators for 15 hours a week. This means for families their children will be offered 2 years of funded Preschool in our service at affordable fees (those with a concession card will receive this service at virtually no cost).
The Government requirement for this funding was to survey families and find the model that best meets the needs of our community. We sought to engage families who were interested in their children attending next year and requested they fill in a quick survey.
Overall 27 families responded representing 28 children in total, all families live in Apollo Bay area and have children of appropriate age to attend. i.e. turning 3 on or before 30-4-21. Several parents were able to attend our Zoom information session on Friday May 22, which looked at the various models and their benefits.
The majority chose Model A which, in our survey, proposes 3 and 4 year olds attend kinder in mixed or multi-age groups. (Links to more information about multi-age preschool groups can be found on our website - www.apollobaypreschool.com.au in the USEFUL LINKS tab including more detail on our survey results).
Features of this Model
Time: 3yo Program - 15hrs; 4yo Program - 15hrs (Every day would run from 8:45am - 1:45pm).
Flexibility: Three attendance options.
Group A: Mon/Tues/Wed Group B: Wed/Thurs/Fri
Group C: Mon/Tues/Thurs
Numbers: Able to accommodate 33 children in total across 3 and 4 y.o. programs. (A maximum of 11 children per group means that all three groups would have to be at 11 to achieve this.)
Staffing: maximum use of our Early Childhood Educator's availability.
On Mon June 1st our Committee passed a motion to adopt this model in 2021, with a view to review it throughout the year to ensure we are meeting the educational, social and emotional needs of our children.
We also have some information on our website www.apollobaypreschool.com.au.
We will open our Expressions of Interest in Term 3 2020 Mon July 13 and all families who filled in our survey will be invited to fill in relevant forms.
Any queries please contact the Preschool
PH (03) 5237 6494 Mon - Wed mornings
or email us