Early Childhood Update - October 2025

Dear colleagues

In this month’s edition, we begin our countdown to World Teachers’ Day on Friday 31 October 2025 by celebrating the skill and expertise of Victoria’s early childhood teachers. It’s been a challenging few months but the professionalism across our workforce has shone through, and we encourage services to use this kit to help celebrate their staff.

This edition also introduces the Kindergarten Teaching Excellence Approach, which gives early childhood professionals access to free high-quality, on-demand, tailored professional development to help teachers and educators build their skills and confidence.

We’re also delighted to share that we will be launching the updated Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework in Term 1, 2026.

The framework underpins the work teachers and educators do by supporting reflective practice and critical inquiry. Its focus on working collaboratively and putting children at the centre of learning will continue and be enhanced, ensuring both teachers’ skills and children’s learning outcomes are effectively supported.

In this edition, we’re also thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2025 Victoria Early Years Awards. Now in its 20^th year, the awards highlight the incredible work being done across the sector to support children to begin their lifelong learning. This year, 26 finalists have been selected. All finalists are in the running to receive an award at the ceremony on Thursday 6 November, and we congratulate each of them on this outstanding achievement.

We hope that the resources contained in these updates continue to provide you with the support you need to give Victorian children the benefit of high-quality intentional interactions, to set them up for lifelong learning.

The department also thanks professionals right across the sector for their commitment to creating lasting and meaningful safety changes to protect Victorian children and families.

Following the Rapid Child Safety Review recommendations, Victorian Parliament recently passed urgent legislation that strengthens the Working with Children Check (WWCC) scheme. You can read about the changes in the Changes to the Working with Children Check scheme article. They affect all WWCC card holders who work or volunteer with children.

Thank you to all the services that have registered their workforce as part of the new Victorian Early Childhood Workforce Register and for following the guidance on personal device restrictions.

These measures are a critical part of creating systemic change to the way we work in the early childhood education and care system and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of Victorian children. Providers and services have been very responsive to these changes and have introduced them within timeframes expected.

Thanks to everyone who has been contributing to the critical work and wishing you all the best for the month ahead.

Bronwen FitzGerald
Deputy Secretary
Early Childhood Education

As part of the Victorian Government's ongoing commitment and action to ensure child safety, there have been some law changes to the Working with Children Check (WWCC) scheme.

These updates affect all WWCC clearance card holders who work or volunteer with children if there are adverse regulatory or disciplinary findings against them, as well as individuals with criminal charges and convictions.

Early childhood services have a legal duty to ensure that their workers and volunteers have a valid WWCC or are a registered teacher with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT). It is therefore critical that services continue to keep themselves informed about any changes to the WWCC scheme to ensure they remain compliant with the law.

About the updates

The following changes have been made to the WWCC scheme:

• Suspension powers — the Worker Screening Unit, which administers the WWCC scheme, will now immediately suspend a person’s WWCC clearance if the person is placed on interim exclusion from working with children. Suspended individuals cannot work or volunteer with children until their re-assessment is finalised and a decision is made.
• When a person is suspended, the Worker Screening Unit will notify the individual who holds the clearance and the organisation or employer on record that the holder works or volunteers with. The Worker Screening Unit will also notify the relevant regulatory bodies and agencies as required.
• Interstate bans — anyone excluded from working with children interstate will face an automatic exclusion in Victoria.
• Cancelled WWCC — clearances will be cancelled if applicants provide false or misleading information to obtain it, or if the individual is prohibited from applying for a clearance.
• More time to lay charges — the time limit for charging someone who uses false information to get a WWCC clearance has increased from 12 months to 5 years and 6 months.

Early childhood services’ obligations

Under the Worker Screening Act 2020, it is a criminal offence for a person to engage in child-related work without a valid clearance. It is also an offence for an employer to knowingly employ someone who doesn’t have a valid WWCC clearance. This applies to both workers and volunteers.

Under the Education and Care Services National Regulations and the Victorian Children’s Services Regulations 2020, a person cannot start work or volunteer in an early childhood service while their WWCC application is being processed. They must hold a current WWCC clearance.

All early childhood services must ensure that, before they employ or engage an educator, other staff member or volunteer, the person holds a current WWCC clearance. You must regularly check the WWCC status of all staff and volunteers, and act on any reports or findings from the Worker Screening Unit. You can check their status using the bulk checker on the Service Victoria website, or through the Service Victoria app.

Find out more

For information on scanning and verifying WWCC clearances, visit the Service Victoria website.

For more information on the scheme, visit Organisations and the Working with Children Check or call 1300 652 879 or 132 842 between 9 am and 4 pm, Monday to Friday (except public holidays).

To contact the Worker Screening Unit, send an online enquiry (response within 5 days).

We’re delighted to announce the finalists for the 2025 Victorian Early Years Awards.

This year, 26 finalists have been selected. All finalists are in the running to receive an award at the ceremony on Thursday 6 November 2025. We congratulate each of them on this outstanding achievement.

Celebrating 20 years this year, the awards recognise early years professionals for their tireless efforts to improve the lives of Victorian children.

About the 2025 finalists

The achievements of this year’s finalists reflect the huge amount of work happening across the sector to support children’s lifelong education journey.

This ranges from a network connecting educators, allied health professionals, community representatives and families to support collaboration, professional learning and relationship-building, through to a food program making hands-on learning and family wellbeing part of everyday practice.

This year’s finalists in the early childhood teacher category are:

• Megan Hancock, Southern Rise Children’s Centre
• Larissa Hayes, Monash Vale Early Learning Centre
• Hannah Stephen, The Honeypot Early Learning Centre.

The educator of the year finalists are:

• Sandra Houlahan, Shine Bright Elmore Kindergarten
• Jinali Amaya Sooriyaarachchi, Charming Cherubs Early Learning Centre
• Akiko Yamazaki-Edwards, Dobson Kindergarten.

To learn more about the finalists and their achievements across the 9 award categories, visit the Victorian Early Years Awards web page.

Expert panels selected the finalists after a thorough shortlisting and judging process.

All winners will receive grants of $15,000 towards professional development, or to further grow their program or initiative. A separate Minister’s Award winner will be selected by the Minister for Children, Hon Minister Lizzie Blandthorn MP, from finalists across all categories as a special commendation.

Find out more

For more information, refer to Victorian Early Years Awards.

Children’s Week is a national celebration that recognises the talents, skills, achievements and rights of children.

It will run from Saturday 18 October to Sunday 26 October 2025 and thousands of Victorian children and families are expected to take part.

This year’s theme is ‘Everyone should know about Children’s Rights’. The theme is a simplified version of Article 42 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Celebrate together

During Children’s Week, local councils, not-for-profit organisations, schools and early childhood services will host in-person and online events and activities.

The department is supporting more than 240 free events and activities for children aged up to 12 years, giving families the chance to enjoy fun, engaging and educational experiences.

Spread the word

To promote Children’s Week in your community, a range of free promotional materials are available, including:

• social media tiles
• posters
• signature blocks.

Find out more

For more information about Children’s Week and free events in your area, refer to the Children’s Week web page.

For further enquiries, contact the Children’s Week team by email: childrens.week@education.vic.gov.au

The Kindergarten Teaching Excellence Approach (Teaching Excellence) marks a significant shift in how government-funded professional learning and practice development for teaching teams is designed and delivered.

Early childhood professionals now have access to on-demand and tailored professional development.

Teaching Excellence includes a range of resources and supports to help teachers and educators build their skills and confidence, and support teaching quality in kindergartens.

This initiative is part of a landmark investment in Victoria’s early childhood professionals. It’s designed to help them better understand children’s strengths, how they develop, and how to use best-practice teaching strategies to support their learning.

Early Childhood Hub

The new Early Childhood Hub is a one-stop online platform to access Teaching Excellence resources and supports.

The Hub includes:

• on-demand courses based on the latest research and adult learning methodologies
• quality-assured resources developed by subject matter experts
• a personalised experience based on your role, experience, and interests.

As you register and create your profile, the Hub will recommend appropriate courses and supports. You won't need to complete all courses; supports are tailored to your goals and professional growth.

Programs are tailored to skill levels through a new set of Professional Practice Support Categories: Build, Embed and Innovate. This ensures supports are available for everyone – from new graduates to experienced teachers and sector leaders – and that learning remains engaging and challenging.

You can also explore the latest research on high-quality teaching practice.

We will continue to expand our professional learning programs, shaped by the evolving needs of the sector. In the future, this will be complemented by in-service coaching and mentoring, providing targeted, on-the-ground support.

Victoria’s Kindergarten Learning Progressions

In conjunction with Teaching Excellence, we are launching Victoria’s Kindergarten Learning Progressions, which help educators tailor teaching strategies to better support learning and development.

These progressions:

• indicate a child’s capabilities across key learning domains
• support tailored teaching strategies based on developmental learning models
• support smooth transitions between Three- and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten, and between early childhood and school settings.

To access the Learning Progressions, visit Victorian Kindergarten Learning Progressions or go to the Early Childhood Hub.

Find out more

We are sending an information pack to all Victorian kindergarten services. This includes details about:

• the Kindergarten Teaching Excellence Approach
• the Early Childhood Hub
• other key workforce initiatives.

If you haven’t received your pack by the end of October, please email: earlychildhoodhub@education.vic.gov.au

Parents and carers of children enrolled in a funded kindergarten program are invited to take part in this year’s Kindergarten Parent Opinion Survey (KPOS).

The survey, running from today, Monday 13 October to Friday 7 November 2025, is a great chance for families to give feedback on their child’s kindergarten program. This feedback will help services to continue to provide quality early years education that is responsive to their community.

We encourage all funded kindergarten services to share the survey with parents and carers of children enrolled in their funded Three-Year-Old, Four-Year-Old or Pre-Prep Kindergarten programs – and we’ll send you resources to help.

Key things about the survey

The survey takes a few minutes. It asks parents and carers about their service’s educational program and quality, as well as their child’s learning and development.

The survey is offered in 10 languages other than English, so more people can take part. To help promote the survey, we will send service providers resources including posters, fact sheets, an email template and a link to the survey.

Results will be available in 2026 for providers and services where 5 or more families have completed the survey.

The Social Research Centre is running the survey on behalf of the department.

Resounding results from last year’s survey

Last year more than 17,745 parents and carers of children enrolled in funded Three or Four-Year-Old Kindergarten programs took part in the survey, and the results were exceptionally positive.

Responses from parents and carers at a state-wide level revealed:

• 90% thought the overall quality of education offered was good
• 92% think attending kindergarten is important for their child’s education
• 94% said that the service is welcoming and inclusive of all children.

These results are a testament to the wonderful work of our kindergarten services, teachers and educators.

For more information on last year’s survey results, head to 2024 Kindergarten Parent Opinion Survey.

Find out more

For more information, refer to the Kindergarten Parent Opinion Survey.

Applications for Building Blocks Improvement grants are open to help kindergartens refurbish or renovate early childhood facilities.

There are 2 categories of grants available under the Building Blocks Improvement stream:

1. Early learning facility upgrade: funding up to $750,000 for renovating or refurbishing facilities to improve learning environments for kindergarten children.
2. Minor infrastructure: grants up to $150,000 for small renovations and refurbishments to early learning facilities.

The grants are available for not-for-profit organisations offering a free Three- and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten program.

Transforming indoor areas

In 2024, North Melbourne Children's Centre was awarded $500,000 through the Building Blocks Improvement grants program for an upgrade.

This helped upgrade the kitchen, children’s bathrooms, and reconfigure the staff work areas to improve safety and increase collaboration.

How to apply

For details on how to apply for the grants, visit Building Blocks Grants – Improvement. Applications are open until 11.59 pm, Monday 27 October 2025. Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Find out more

For more information, visit early childhood grants and subscribe to the Victorian School Building Authority mailing list to get the latest updates about the grants.

We’ve launched a new Kindergarten Inclusion Support (KIS) digital application form.

From Monday 6 October 2025, kindergarten services must submit KIS applications through the submission website.

The digital form has been developed in conjunction with Australian Healthcare Associates (AHA) and in response to feedback to streamline the KIS application process.

There is no change to the process for KIS applications submitted before Monday 6 October 2025. Applications from Monday 6 October 2025 onwards, including for 2026 KIS support, must be submitted using the digital form. Services that cannot use the digital form can contact AHA for alternative options.

Guidance and support

For advice and support with the new digital process, contact your local KIS provider who can help with completing the application process.

The AHA KIS application support team can help with the submission of the application on the portal they host. To contact them, phone: 1300 564 149. Please note, only kindergarten staff and KIS providers can contact this number.

Inclusion programs satisfaction survey

We’re also launching a survey this month targeting services who have accessed one or more of these programs this year:

• Kindergarten Inclusion Support
• Kindergarten Inclusion Support Specialised Equipment
• Preschool Field Officer
• Flexible Support Packages.

The purpose of this survey is to receive feedback on your experience with service provision and how these programs have supported inclusion.

Services that have accessed these supports will receive an email invitation and we strongly encourage you to take part. Your feedback will help inform service improvements. Participation is voluntary and anonymous.

For more information, contact your Early Childhood Improvement Branch.

Find out more

For more information on inclusion supports in early childhood education, visit:

• Kindergarten Inclusion Support Program
• Preschool Field Officer Program
• Kindergarten Inclusion Support Specialised Equipment Program
• Flexible Support Packages.

For more information, visit Children with additional needs in early childhood.

We offer a range of professional development programs for early childhood educators and teachers.

Beginning Teacher Conference 2025

Are you an early career teacher or educator looking to build confidence, connect with peers and grow your professional toolkit? Registrations are now open for the third and final Beginning Teacher Conference (BTC) for 2025.

The BTC series offers:

• access to the latest research on relevant topics through thought-provoking presentations and discussions with peers
• valuable evidence-based insights from early childhood leaders, and best-practice examples applicable to teaching practice
• the opportunity to build professional networks.

This BTC will focus on Aboriginal Perspectives and Multiculturalism in Early Education.

Participation is open to:

• early childhood teachers in their first year of practice
• 2025 early childhood teaching graduates and students with anticipated graduation in the next 12 months, working in a funded kindergarten program
• Diploma-qualified educators currently undertaking End-to-End Career Support coaching.

The program will be delivered in person and online to ensure it can be accessed across the state.

Event details

Face-to-face session

• Date: Tuesday 28 October 2025
• Time: 9 am to 3 pm
• Location: The Academy Presentation Hall, Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership, 41 St Andrews Place, East Melbourne
• Cost: fully funded at no additional cost to participant

Online session

• Date: Friday 7 November 2025
• Time: 9 am to 3 pm
• Platform: online
• Cost: fully funded at no additional cost to participant

For more information, visit: Supports for early career early childhood professionals.

End-to-End Career Supports Alumni Conference 2025

This annual event brings together past End-to-End Career Supports Program participants to reconnect, reflect and re-energise. It’s an opportunity to celebrate your growth and build your professional network.

The conference will provide:

• insights from accomplished early childhood leaders
• evidence-based research that participants can apply to their teaching practice.

Participation is open to early childhood teachers or educators who have completed either End-to-End coaching or participated in a Community of Practice or a BTC.

Event details

• Date: Friday 21 November 2025
• Time: 10 am to 3.30 pm
• Location: in person at the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership, 41 St Andrews Place, East Melbourne
• Cost: fully funded at no additional cost to participant.

To attend, check your inbox for an invitation from conference providers Semann and Slattery, or contact them by email: info@semannslattery.com

Find out more

For more information about these and other professional development programs, refer to Supports for early career early childhood professionals.

World Teachers’ Day on Friday 31 October 2025 is a chance to recognise the commitment and skill of early childhood teachers who shape the lives of children every day.

To mark the occasion, we spoke to Emma Fulton (pictured above), early childhood teacher at Connie Benn Early Learning Centre, and a 2024 Victorian Early Years Awards finalist, about her teaching journey and what makes her work so rewarding.

Emma first discovered her love for working with children as a swimming instructor in her late teens.

In 2001 she began working in an early childhood service in Adelaide, the same one she attended as a child. This sparked her interest in further studies in early childhood education.

‘I became incredibly inspired to learn more and understand the theoretical side of working with young children. I began to understand how vital the early years are,’ Emma said.

Emma moved to Melbourne and completed a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education in 2018.

Supporting every learner

Emma focuses on creating inclusive learning spaces where every child feels valued and safe.

‘Kindness, self-compassion and self-belief are truly at the core of what happens in my learning spaces, with a goal to grow emotional literacy through trust and connection,’ she said.

Emma draws on the 3 pillars of trauma-informed care — safety, connection and managing emotions — to guide her teaching.

‘There is no one-size-fits-all approach in any kindergarten cohort. I have a deep commitment to inclusive education. I value multiple teaching strategies to meet the needs of all my learners,’ she said.

Meaningful connections

For Emma, the most rewarding part of being a teacher is building strong relationships with children and families.

She finds joy in watching children build friendships, talk, laugh and learn together every day.

One moment that stands out for her is when a child in her kindergarten program had a difficult time settling in. He found it hard to say goodbye to his family and he spoke little English. He began connecting with other children through a game based on the comedic character Mr Bean.

‘He would drive the car like Mr Bean and make all the Mr Bean sounds. The joy and connection this created was so incredible to watch,’ Emma said.

‘It showed the importance of building connection through play and familiar, relatable characters.’

Developing young minds

For Emma, being an early childhood teacher means supporting children’s social and emotional development while nurturing their curiosity and creativity.

‘It means growing young hearts and minds to build a lifelong love of learning and develop the whole child through prioritising joy, imagination, and humour,’ she said.

World Teachers’ Day highlights the dedication of Emma and all early childhood teachers to guide young learners and make a lasting impact.

Find out more

For information about World Teachers’ Day and resources to help you mark the occasion at your service, refer to: World Teachers' Day 2025.

The Early Years Assessment and Learning Tool (EYALT) is an online resource co-designed with early childhood teachers to help understand each child’s unique strengths, interests and abilities. It’s a valuable tool for all early childhood professionals, both new and experienced.

More than 1,000 kindergarten services across Victoria are using EYALT as part of their planning and assessment practice, including Isabel Henderson Kindergarten in Melbourne’s inner north.

Staff at the 110-year-old kindergarten have been experimenting with the tool since they took part in the rollout at the beginning of 2023 and have used it in different ways.

Director Anna Tib said they were eager to try an innovative way of assessment.

‘The EYALT is great at ensuring we are assessing children across all developmental areas.’

Finding an area of focus

Educational leader Lisa Layton said the team found the data from the Group Report to be invaluable. They use the results to group children for focused group work and peer-to-peer learning opportunities.

‘The results from Learning Reports and progress markers in the Profile Reports have been the source of reflective conversations amongst educators and have generated rich conversations around children’s development and learning objectives,’ she said.

Sparking conversations

Lisa believes the biggest benefit for her team has been the deep pedagogical conversations and reflections the EYALT has sparked.

‘The information gained from the tool has supported staff with different levels of knowledge and training to come together and assess programs and strategies critically,’ she said.

‘This leads to rich, well-balanced learning opportunities for children and builds confidence in teaching practices for educators.’

Taking the time to learn

Lisa said it took time to learn how to use the tool efficiently but found the more they used it, the more proficient they became.

‘We worked out the most valuable way to use the tool for our kindergarten; for example, we do not assess all children in all learning areas because this would be too time-consuming and unnecessary.’

Anna said her advice to other services was to enlist a small group to work together and experiment with the different areas and commit to using EYALT for the 2 assessment cycles.

‘This will allow the team to get a feel for how it works and how the results can be used practically to assist programming,’ she said.

‘It takes time, but results can be used to gain time in other areas, for example setting group and individual objectives, planning for meetings with families, pre-school field officers or allied health professionals, summative reports and Transition Learning and Development Statements.’

Find out more

For more information, visit the Early Years Assessment and Learning Tool web page.