Thousands of new kindergarten places will be available for local families as the Victorian Government builds and upgrades early childhood centres at 12 low-fee Catholic schools.
Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn has announced the first-ever Building Blocks Partnership (BBP) with Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Early Years Education (MACSEYE).
“Kinder is an incredibly important part of a child’s education and our partnership will deliver more than 2,100 extra kindergarten places for children and families in our growing suburbs,” Ms Blandthorn said.
The partnership will deliver 12 early childhood centres at Catholic primary schools creating more than 2,100 kindergarten places for local families in the state’s growing outer suburbs.
The centres will each provide up to 178 kindergarten places for three- and four-year-old kindergarten programs, offer out-of-hours school care, and include space for family consulting services.
The Victorian Government is investing $81 million in the partnership, with MACSEYE contributing $7.5 million. Nine of the centres will open in 2026, with the other three opening in later years.
St Lawrence of Brindisi Catholic Primary School and two new schools set to open in Mount Atkinson and Thornhill Park will host three of the new early childhood centres opening in 2026. The others will be located at:
- Our Lady of the Way Catholic Primary School (Wallan East)
- Holy Cross Catholic Primary School (Mickleham)
- Oscar Romero Catholic Primary School (Craigieburn West)
- Glowrey Catholic Primary School (Wollert)
- Carlo Acutis Catholic Primary School (Wollert West)
- St Teresa of Kolkata Catholic Primary School (Tarneit North).
Locations for the three other early childhood centres will be announced at a later date.
“As educators, we know that children who experience a quality preschool program are more likely to arrive at school with the social, cognitive and emotional skills they need to help them to continue learning,” Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Executive Director, Dr Edward Simons, said.
“We are proud to partner with the Victorian Government to provide that opportunity to thousands more children in the Melbourne Archdiocese.”
With the addition of this BBP, the Victorian Government has now entered 15 Building Blocks partnerships – delivering 99 new and expanded kindergartens and more than 13,300 extra kinder places across the state.
The Victorian Government is investing billions to build and expand hundreds of kindergartens across the state, supporting the delivery of 15 hours of three-year-old kindergarten by 2029 and 30 hours of pre-prep by 2036.
