Upgrading and improving Victorian Kinders



Our Government is helping kindergartens upgrade and improve their facilities, and get access to the latest technology.

The next round of Building Blocks Improvement Stream grants are now available!
Eligible organisations can apply for grants up to:

$300,000 toward an early learning facility upgrade project, providing services with funding to help them renovate and refurbish their centres;

$50,000 for a minor improvement project for smaller scale works that will improve the quality of kindergarten services for their children and families; and

$1,500 for IT devices such as laptops, tablets and televisions to support the delivery of kindergarten programs or administrative use.
For further information, please visit: http://www.schoolbuildings.vic.gov.au/BuildingBlocks
Victorian Early Years Awards nominations open
Nominations are now open for the 2021 Victorian Early Years Awards which celebrate the exceptional contributions that individuals and organisations are making to improve the lives of Victorian children and their families.
In 2021, the awards will celebrate the achievements and commitment of early childhood professionals across seven award categories, including improving access and participation, supporting parents and promoting childrens health and wellbeing, as well as the prestigious Early Childhood Teacher of the Year.
Award winners in each category will receive up to $15,000 to further develop and share the lessons of their exceptional work in kindergartens, schools, local councils, maternal child and health services and other early years organisations across the state.
For more information or to submit a nomination, visit: www.education.vic.gov.au/veya
New laws to make schools safer



Our Government is giving Victorian schools the power to ban aggressive and violent parents from entering school grounds, to protect students and staff.
The new laws will also allow schools to ban parents that engage in threatening or abusive communication through social media and other channels.
Schools will be able to impose requirements on the way parents, carers or other adult members of the school community interact with the school or school community including stopping them from entering school grounds or other locations where school events are occurring, if reasonably necessary.
The changes build on existing legislation and will provide greater procedural fairness to parents, carers and other adult members of the school community.
Zero Emission Bus Network by 2025
Our Government is taking action to make Victorias public transport fleet cleaner and more sustainable than ever, with all new bus purchases for the state network to be zero emissions from 2025.
Achieving no emissions across the networks 4,000-strong contracted bus fleet is critical to Victoria meeting its legislated commitment of zero net emissions by 2050, and expressions of interest have today opened for a three-year trial to explore zero emissions bus technologies the first step in the move to a clean bus fleet.
The move to these cleaner buses will not only slash their emissions, but reduce air pollution, noise and cost significantly less to operate.
As part of the Zero Emissions Bus Project, the EOI process will lead to industry partnerships to test various technologies across the states bus networks answering critical questions like depot charging needs and capacity, infrastructure and energy network requirements, environmental outcomes, customer expectations, and commercial arrangements.
Australian-first academy for our best teachers
Teachers from across our state will benefit from a brand-new multi-site academy of teaching and leadership excellence, as Victoria leads the way in raising the bar on teacher quality.
The authority will deliver a new Australian-first program of advanced professional learning for high-performing teachers in government, Catholic and independent schools. The Academy will begin operations and the delivery of new programs from January 2022.
The Academys flagship offering will be the Teaching Excellence Program, a one-year intensive program for up to 500 teachers per year across all sectors, which will cover areas including across all sectors and core curriculum areas including English, Mathematics, Science and the Arts. Other programs will focus on developing a pipeline of emerging leaders and aspiring principals.