Kindergarten service delivery in Cardinia Shire
About
While Council doesn’t directly run early years education services, we’re committed to ensuring the services are the best they can possibly be, now and into the future.
As the central planner for kindergarten services in the shire, we provide the buildings and manage kindergarten registrations centrally to ensure all children who require a place in our community kindergartens are able to access one.
Council engages Early Years Managers to deliver kindergarten on our behalf.
The contract with the current Early Years Manager to provide early years education services to the following centres is set to expire in December 2022:
- Council’s Lakeside Children’s Centre
- Henry Family Children’s Centre
- Hollins Children’s Centre
- Pakenham Springs Children’s Centre
- Bridgewood Integrated Child and Family Centre
As a result, Council conducted a request for service process in 2022 to appoint an Early Years Manager to provide kindergarten and other associated services.
What is an Early Years Provider?
- Early Years Providers are the licensed, approved providers of kindergartens. They deliver high-quality programs that directly benefit children. They are also responsible for the operational management of the kindergarten service and staff.
- In Cardinia Shire, there are 2 types of Early Years Providers – Early Years Managers and Committees of Management.
- Early Years Providers work closely with Cardinia Shire Council, parents and families, and Parent Advisory Groups (PAGs) to ensure Cardinia Shire children have access to high-quality early years programs, giving them the best possible start in life.
Council's role
Cardinia Shire Council is the central planner for kindergarten services in the shire, ensuring all children who require a place in kindergarten can access one.
We support local children and families by:
- building strong partnerships through professional networks and supporting Early Years Managers and Committees of Management
- planning for growth and ensuring we have enough kindergarten places to support demand, and building new centres where required
- administering the process for kindergarten registrations for all sessional kindergartens
- engaging Early Years Providers to deliver kindergarten.
How we engage Early Years Managers to deliver Council’s community kindergartens
- We conduct a Request for Early Years Managers process to operate and manage kindergarten services and other associated services at Council-owned facilities.
- Undertaking this process ensures we meet our statutory requirement to ensure early years providers are selected in a fair and competitive manner.
- The process also ensures that the very best providers in Australia have an opportunity to express their interest in delivering high-quality services for families in Cardinia Shire.
Outcome of the Request for Early Years Manager review
Council has awarded the following Early Years Managers to operate and manage kindergarten services and other associated services:
One Tree Community Services
-
Henry Family Children’s Centre
Cire Services
-
Hollins Children’s Centre
ECMS
- Bridgewood Integrated Child and Family Centre
- Pakenham Springs Children’s Centre
- Lakeside Children’s Centre
About the 2022 request process
- The process fulfilled the Victorian Government statutory requirement to select an early years provider in a fair, competitive and robust manner in the open market.
- The process ensured that the very best providers in Australia had an opportunity to express their interest in delivering high-quality services for families in Cardinia Shire.
Enquiries
If you have queries about the Early Years Manager review process, you can:
- email this dedicated email address: earlyyears@cardinia.vic.gov.au
- call 1300 787 624 and ask to speak to our Manager Future Communities.
For queries about your kindergarten service contact your Early Years Manager directly.