Box Hill North Primary Kindergarten shares in more than $40 million in capital grants

The Victorian Coalition Government has again demonstrated its commitment to early childhood education, by allocating more than $40 million in capital grants today.

Member for Box Hill Robert Clark, together with Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development, Wendy Lovell, today announced that Box Hill North Primary School Kindergarten was among 92 services across Victoria to receive grants.

The grants were available for upgrades to existing facilities or the development of integrated children’s services hubs, and is a combination of state and National Partnership funding.

The Coalition Government has allocated an additional $4 million to the original $36 million available in this grant round, to ensure that every application that met all of the criteria has been funded to the full amount applied for.

Mr Clark congratulated the successful local recipient.

“This funding will have a huge impact on children in Box Hill North and across Victoria, now and for many years to come,” Mr Clark said.

“The Government is committed to improving education for Victoria’s youngest children and preparing them for a life of learning.

“This funding comes at an important time, as kindergartens across Victoria are preparing to move to a 15 hour per week program for all children in the year before primary school as part of the Universal Access agreement,” Mr Clark said.

Box Hill North Primary School Kindergarten has received a grant of $300,000 to construct a purpose-built room with appropriate facilities to cater for children in both the three year old and four year old programs to further develop the services already successfully operating in the school.

Ms Lovell said the Government’s strong record on early childhood funding was a sign of its priorities.

“I’m proud to say that we’ve delivered record spending in early childhood, including more than $80 million in grants to services in our first 18 months,” Ms Lovell said.

“We recognise that 95 per cent of a child’s brain development happens by the age of five, and a good quality early childhood education will set them up for life.

“By getting it right in the early years, we can deliver better students to our primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, and in the longer term, better applicants to the workforce.

“That can only be a positive outcome for children, families and our state,” Ms Lovell said.