Getting started
Victorian children from 3 years old are able to attend Kindergarten giving them the opportunity to learn, play, and develop important social and educational skills before starting school.
Get started on your Kindergarten journey and find out about what is available for children in Maribyrnong below.
On this page you can find:
About Kindergarten
All children from 3 years of age can go to kindergarten and attend for 2 years until they begin school.
Your child can attend kindergarten across the City of Maribyrnong at either:
- Sessional (standalone) Kindergarten
- Integrated Kindergarten (in long day care centres).
Sessional (standalone) kindergarten
- Open only during kindergarten program hours
- Set their own days and times
- Often closed in school holidays
- Programs are free.
Integrated kindergarten (in long day care centres)
- Kindergarten program plus longer care hours (helpful for working families)
- May include meals and extra activities
- Usually open during school holidays
- Families may pay long day care fees with a fee offset.
Translated information
For more information about kindergarten in your language, see the Victorian Government website which has information translated into 30 languages.
Free Kinder
Children in Victoria receive two years of free, funded kindergarten in the years before they attend school.
They can attend:
- Three-Year-Old Kindergarten - up to 15 hours each week
- Four-Year-Old Kindergarten - 15 hours each week
- Pre-Prep - 16 to 30 hours each week (for eligible groups of children).
More information about free Kindergarten
Find out more about free Kindergarten visit the Victorian Government website.
Pre-Prep
Four-year-old kindergarten is becoming Pre-Prep.
Pre-Prep has been introduced to offer eligible children more hours to learn and socialise through play. Apart from the additional hours, there are no differences between the program offered for Four-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep.
Pre-Prep will slowly increase hours from 15 up to 30 hours a week, giving children more time to learn through play.
Who can access Pre‑Prep from 2026 – 2027?
- Children who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
- Children from a refugee or asylum seeker background
- Children who have had contact with child protection or are in out of home care.
Who can access Pre-Prep from 2028?
Families who meet the above criteria, including those families who hold a Commonwealth Concession card, or families with triplets, quadruplets or more children attending in the same year.
More information about Pre-Prep
For more information about Pre-Prep visit the Victorian Government website.
At My Kindergarten
At My Kindergarten helps children and families know what to expect when attending kindergarten. The video and storybook give parents/carers and their children an opportunity to talk together about all the fun activities and things they will learn in preparation for kindergarten.
Translations
At My Kindergarten has also been translated into the following languages: Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Hakha Chin, Hindi, and Vietnamese.
See the video in English below.
See the storybook below or download here(PDF, 5MB)