Every kindergarten family will have access to free kindy at Goodstart in 2024
The Queensland Government is introducing free kindy from 1 January 2024. Such great news! Our kindergarten program falls under the Queensland Government's free kindy initiative. Goodtsart families with a child in kindy can access 15 free kindy hours from 1 January 2024.
Free kindy and the Child Care Subsidy
15 hours of free kindy is available for all kindergarten-aged children attending Goodstart from 1 January 2024. It's not only for those receiving the Child Care Subsidy (CCS). You'll get free kindy even if you don't get CCS. Between now and December, the Queensland Government will share more information about how free kindy will work. But we can confirm it's available for all children enrolled in a Queensland Goodstart kindergarten from 1 January 2024 (even if you don't get CCS).
The benefits of kindergarten for your child and family
If your child's already in pre-kindy at a Queensland Goodstart, there are big advantages to keeping them there for kindergarten.
You'll access the Queensland government-accredited kindergarten curriculum delivered by our bachelor-qualified teachers.
You'll get 15 hours of free kindy from 1 January 2024.
You've got the security of knowing their kindergarten community already.
Our kindergarten program runs during long daycare hours, not between 9am and 3pm. Your child gets all-day access to the learning and development they need the year before they start school.
You'll get hours of extra early learning each week. Excellent value for money beyond the 9am to 3pm that sessional kindergartens provide.
Unlike community kindy, our kindergarten programs run during the school holidays. You won't need to take 12 weeks of leave.
Your child doesn't have to make a new set of friends.
You'll know the children and the other families already.
You'll reduce uncertainty and instability leading up to the huge challenge of starting school.
Your household routines stay the same, which helps build confidence and reassurance for your child.
Free meals, snacks, sunscreen, shirts and hats.
Your child gets ready for prep in a safe and familiar environment.
Community kindergarten vs. long daycare kindergarten
Families often take their children from long daycare and move them to a community (or sessional) kindergarten the year before prep. Currently, the Queensland Government gives parents up to 15 hours a week free to attend community kindergartens. These kindergartens are often open during school hours, for example, 9am to 3pm, 5 days a fortnight. These kindies close over the school holidays, making the hours inaccessible to many families. It's difficult for most parents (especially working ones) to balance these times. But here's the thing: your child doesn't have to go to a community kindy the year before they start school.
Besides the savings for you (irrelevant from 1 January next year!), there's no benefit to your child attending a sessional kindy. Children can do their kindergarten year at long daycare and childcare-based centres. Kindergarten programs need the Kindy Tick from the Queensland Government to be an approved curriculum that prepares children for school. All Goodstart kindergartens have the Kindy Tick. If your child's happy, they can stay where they and you'll still get 15 hours a week of free kindy in 2024. It's a huge relief for you, too, no doubt.
More information on free kindy and the CCS
Between now and December 2023, we'll get more information about what free kindy looks like. If you want to find out more, you can:
call our Family Services Team
book a centre tour and chat with your centre director and kindy teacher
use our CCS estimator to calculate your extra savings.
Finally, you can confirm your 2024 kindy enrolments now with confidence. You can even take a sneaky look at booking a family holiday with the money you'll save...