Our Boorai at Dala Yooro had a great time with Kelly at Kinder Gym this week! Photo: Jake Lynch/GEGAC
There’s some great news for local families in our community with the announcement that Dala Yooro Kindergarten at GEGAC will add another day of kindergarten for 4-year-olds in 2026.
The new schedule for 4-year-olds starting Term 1, 2026 will be:
- Monday, 9am to 3pm
- Tuesday, 9am to 3pm
- Wednesday, 9am to 3pm
- Thursday, 9am to 3pm
This expands 4-year-old kindy to 24 hours per week, up from 15 hours per week currently.
3-year-old kindy will remain at 15 hours per week.
New Timetable Decided by Feedback from Families
Belinda Lobley, Senior Manager of Early Years Services at GEGAC, said this week that the new schedule was decided on in consultation with local families.
“When we got word that we’d be able to increase from 15 hours to 24 hours next year, our first thought was, ‘let’s ask our families what schedule works best for them,” Belinda said. “We never want to make big decisions like this without our community being involved.”
So the Early Years Team sent out a survey with some options for how the 24 hours per week could be offered through the week.
“We were conscious that parents often had to coordinate drop-off and pick-up of siblings at primary schools, and get to work or other obligations. If we were to set times that weren’t convenient for our families, that was going to impact attendance, and we didn’t want that.”
Belinda said the community feedback told them that the 9am – 3pm, Monday to Thursday option was the almost unanimous choice.
“I must admit that was a surprise to some of us, but if that’s what our parents want, that’s what we’ll do,” she said. “It will require some structural changes in terms of staffing, but we have a great team who is very committed to this community, and we’ll make it work.”
Kindy Just One Piece of a Bigger Support Network
Lisa Carter, GEGAC’s Executive Director of Children, Youth and Families, said that Dala Yooro played a hugely important role in helping local families thrive, beyond just the obvious educational benefits for children.
“When our little ones are at Dala Yooro they are also connected to a whole range of other services and supports, and so are their families,” Lisa said.
“For example, our Dala students have regular visits with GEGAC’s medical and dental teams, there’s the cultural activities such as the language lessons and Aboriginal dance workshops, community gatherings, sessions with our healthy lifestyles team… we take a holistic approach to helping these young people get the best start in life.”
“Being able to expand 4-year-old kindy to 4 days a week also gives our parents and carers that extra time to do the things they need to do for their work, life and families.”
In addition to Dala Yooro kindy for 3- and 4-year-olds, GEGAC also offers a supported playgroup 5 days a week for children 0 – 3.
Did you know our Dala Yooro Kindergarten and Boorai Supported Playgroup is not just for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children?
Although we prioritise making spots available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, non-Indigenous children are also welcome at our kindy and playgroup when places are available.
If you are looking for a unique and culturally-rich kindergarten or playgroup experience for your child, regardless of their heritage, have a yarn with Belinda and the Early Years team on (03) 5152 0810 or email EarlyYearsTeam@gegac.org.au
There’s more information at gegac.org.au/early-years
