Up to $1.6M is available from CFCP t0 upgrade kindergarten facilities and to improve services they offer families and children.
Children’s Facilities Capital Program (CFCP)
The Children’s Facilities Capital Program (CFCP) is designed to support the delivery of high-quality early years programs for children and their families.
Objectives
The Victorian Government is delivering a record $76.4 million to build, expand and improve early years infrastructure across Victoria to ensure local families can continue to access great local kindergartens, including $10 million targeting growth areas. This investment through the Children’s Facilities Capital Program will support the provision of high quality early years programs for children and their families by:
- increasing infrastructure capacity to deliver kindergarten program for children in the year before school
- promoting integrated service delivery at one location where families can access early childhood education and care, health and development and family services
- improving access to local and responsive early childhood services for children from vulnerable and/or disadvantaged families
- establishing early childhood infrastructure on or near school sites.
Funding
- Integrated Children Centres Grants (up to $1.6 million) – for organisations wishing to build an integrated children’s centre
- New Early Learning Centre Grants (up to $650 000) – for organisations wishing to build a new early learning facility to meet local demand for kindergarten places
- Early Learning Facility Upgrade Grants (up to $350 000)- for organisations wishing to meet local demand for kindergarten programs through a building upgrade to an existing early learning facility
Minor Grants
- Minor Infrastructure Expansion Grants (up to $25 000) – a contribution towards the cost of a small refurbishment project designed to increase the usable space of a licensed service, with a view to better accommodating new educator to child ratios to apply to children aged three years and over.
- Minor Infrastructure Refurbishment Grants (up to $10 000) – a contribution towards the cost of a small refurbishment project designed to enhance the quality of education and care for children attending a funded kindergarten program.
- Information Technology Grants (up to $1 500) – a contribution to the cost of the purchase of digital hardware for services for administrative use or for use as part of the learning program.
Eligible Projects
CFCP Major Grants
For all Major Infrastructure Grant categories, the following items can be included as part of the total cost of the
project for the calculation of the maximum Victorian Government contribution:
- planning and design costs
- project management costs
- site prep, including clearing/demolition if needed
- construction and commissioning
- fittings, furniture and equipment.
CFCP Minor Grants
Minor Infrastructure Expansion grants are for the renovation or refurbishment of existing, licensed early childhood education and care facilities used for the delivery of a funded kindergarten program for children in the year before school to expand licensed capacity.
Eligible projects may include:
- Increasing the usable indoor and/or outdoor space to increase licensed capacity. At least 3.25m2 of indoor space and 7m2 of unencumbered outdoor space (open to the sky) must be provided per child.
- Renovate or repair any structural features which prevent a facility from using its entire licensed capacity.
Minor Infrastructure Refurbishment grants are for the renovation or refurbishment of existing, licensed early
childhood education and care facilities used for the delivery of a funded kindergarten program for children in the year before school to improve the quality of the learning environment.
Eligible projects may include:
- Renovate or repair existing indoor or outdoor space to improve the ability of the service to deliver kindergarten services at a high standard.
Information Technology grants support the purchase of desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers and televisions for use in the delivery of educational programs or administration at the service. These grants are for existing, licensed early childhood education and care facilities used for the delivery of a funded kindergarten program for children in the year before school.
Eligible Applicants
CFCP Major Grants
The following organisations are eligible to apply for all Major Infrastructure Grants:
- local governments
- not-for-profit community organisations
- government schools
- non-government schools.
CFCP Minor Grants
The following organisations are eligible to apply for a Minor Infrastructure Expansion Grant and Minor Infrastructure Refurbishment Grants:
- local government
- not-for-profit community organisations offering a funded kindergarten program
- kindergarten cluster managers
- government schools offering a funded kindergarten program.
If the applicant is not the building owner they must have written evidence of permission from the building owner to undertake the proposed works.
Funding cannot be applied to services operated by or on non-government school sites.
The following organisations are eligible to apply for an Information Technology Grant:
- community-based, stand-alone kindergartens
- kindergarten cluster managers
Services that received an Information Technology Grant as part of the 2014-15 Children’s Facilities Capital Program are not eligible to apply in 2015-16.
Funding cannot be applied to services operated by schools and/or on non-government school sites.
Timing
Applications for Major Grants now closed.
Applications for Minor Grants now open and close 31 May 2018.
More Information
Media Release
Families in Melbourne’s south east are notching up some exciting kinder milestones, with an upgraded early learning facility opening its doors in Chelsea Heights and another getting underway in Mentone thanks to the Andrews Labor Government.
Minister for Early Childhood Education Jenny Mikakos and Member for Mordialloc Tim Richardson visited Chelsea Heights Kindergarten today, joined by the local community and original kinder staff and students from 1967, when the kinder opened.
The kinder has undergone a $1.02 million upgrade, adding an indoor learning space, an outdoor undercover area, multipurpose meeting room and refurbishments to existing spaces and staff areas.
This exciting upgrade will increase the centre’s capacity to meet future demand for kindergarten enrolments.
The Government provided $350,000 for the upgrade through the Children’s Facilities Capital Program.
Ms Mikakos and Mr Richardson then turned the first sod of a $2.2 million project which will deliver a brand new facility for Acacia Avenue Pre-School.
A new building will be constructed next to the existing centre, featuring two indoor education spaces, staff facilities, and more than double the centre’s capacity to 66 places.
Local families with young children will be able to access the upgraded centre at the start of the 2019 kinder year.
Once construction is complete, the old facility will be demolished and a brand new outdoor area will be ready by the middle of that year.
The Labor Government provided $650,000 for the project, with Kingston Council stumping up $1.5 million.
The Labor Government is investing a record $123.6 million to build, expand and improve early years infrastructure across Victoria to ensure local families can continue to access great local kindergartens.
South east families are set to benefit from the Labor Government’s $202.1 million Education State Early Childhood Reform Plan, which provides strong support in early childhood so kids are ready for kinder, ready for school and ready for life.
Expert Assistance
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