School Readiness Funding is a permanent and ongoing part of the Victorian kindergarten funding model. School Readiness Funding supports 3-year-old and 4-year-old children in all early childhood education and care services delivering state-funded kindergarten programs in Victoria.
Designed to give Victorian children an equal chance to thrive by providing all kindergartens with extra resourcing to improve educational outcomes for children.
The amount of School Readiness Funding (SRF) each service receives is based on the level of need of the children enrolled at their service. This is informed by parental occupation and education data, also known as Student Family Occupation and Education (SFOE data), as this is considered an accurate predictor of educational disadvantage.
Programs and supports listed on the SRF menu directly support children’s learning and development in at least one of the three School Readiness Funding priority areas:
- Communication (language development)
- Wellbeing (social and emotional)
- Access and inclusion
In 2021 and 2022, Glen Education partnered with The Resilience Project to implement The Resilience Project Early Years Program which focused on building the capacity of educators across the organisation to support children’s wellbeing through teaching Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness and Emotional Literacy.
In 2023, Glen Education utilised SRF to provide all services with access to an Occupational Therapist to further build on earlier work with The Resilience Project. This focused on professional development and capacity building to support children’s social emotional development
Further information on School Readiness Funding can be found at School Readiness Funding: supporting kindergartens