CCCI provides Early Childhood Education for children aged 6 months to 6 years old. This includes:
- Long Day-Care
- Kindergarten, including:
Long Day-Care
Long Day-Care is offered at CCCI Monday to Friday, from 7am to 6pm, approximately 49 weeks per year, for children aged 6 months to 6 years old. Long Day-Care is staffed by an experienced Team Leader and several Educators, who are often qualified beyond what is required by regulations. We know that the relationships with Educators are essential in creating a trusting and harmonious environment – we rarely use agency staff so that there is a continuity of relationships and unfamiliar faces are limited.
Our long day care includes:
- All meals and snacks (see our nutrition page here for more information)
- All cloth nappies and reusable wipes used while attending the centre
- Flexible pick-up and drop-off times, including half-day bookings
- Integrated Kindergarten for Kinder-aged children (see below)
- A nature-based learning program that encompasses a range of learning experiences and interactions
- Excursions and incursions at no additional cost
- Support for school transition
Kindergarten
Kinder is an essential learning experience for many young children and can significantly impact a child’s achievement and wellbeing. CCCI offers both integrated kindergarten and sessional kindergarten for 3 and 4 year old’s.
What Happens at Kindergarten?
All of our kinder programs are delivered by a qualified kindergarten teachers through a play-based curriculum. Research shows that during the early part of a child’s life, the emotional, cognitive, social and behavioural skills they need for their future are built through play, so facilitating positive play is essential to what we do at CCCI.
The skills play-based learning can include:
- Social skills like negotiation and cooperation so they can work together with others and make connections and friendships
- Communication skills like listening, taking turns to talk, and having conversations
- Creativity and problem solving so that children can express themselves and generate ideas to deal with the issues they come across in day to day life
- Developing the very beginnings of reading, writing, and math’s skills
What may look like playing is actually intentional teaching encompassing experiences, resources, and environments built by our teachers to help children develop these important skills.
The Different Models of Kindergarten We Offer
Integrated Kinder
CCCI runs sessions integrated into long day care for children that turn 3 before 30th April of the current year (3-Year-Old Kinder) or turn 4 before 30th April of the current year (4-Year-Old Kinder). These sessions run five days a week in the Walert and Gurrborra room. Eligible children will receive up to $2000 credit towards their long day care fees when attending integrated kindergarten as the governments Free Kindergarten – Best Start Best Life reforms.
Kinder-aged children that attend long day care in the Gurrborra room participate in the weekly Bush-Kinder program (see below).
Bush Kinder
In addition to our nature-focused, outdoor play spaces at CCCI, we offer Bush-Kinder for children attending Long Day-Care in the Gurrborra room. During Bush Kinder, the children venture into our Bush Kinder site along the Merri Creek, to engage in child-led, nature play. Research suggests that learning in nature supports children’s imaginative play, the development of positive relationships, and allows for the environment to become a place of learning. The Bush Kinder day rotates each term to maximise children’s opportunity to participate in the program.
Bush-Kinder only takes place in the Gurrborra room long day care program – if you would like your child to participate in our Bush Kinder program, please ensure your child is enrolled in long day care as there is no Bush Kinder in sessional kinder.
Sessional Kinder
For enrolments for Sessional Kindergarten, please call the Centre to discuss current opportunities.
Unlike Integrated Kinder, Sessional Kinder is capped at 15 hours per week for 3 and 4 year old’s. At CCCI, we provide 15 hours of free kindergarten to 3 and 4 years old’s per week. Additionally we will be offering before & after kinder hours care and holiday care for the sessional kindergarten children. Families eligible for the child care subsidy will be able to apply their subsidy to these additional fee paying services. For more information on CCCI’s sessional kinder programs and how to apply, please call our office on 9354 7633 or go straight to Merri-bek Council Central Enrolment to enroll your child: https://www.merri-bek.vic.gov.au/kindergarten
Our Sessional Kindergarten includes:
- All meals and snacks
- Qualified staff in each room, including:
- Higher than regulation ratio of qualified diploma and teaching staff
- Rare use of agency staff and focus on ensuring stability of educators in each room
- Excursions and incursions at no additional cost
- Support for school transition
Sessional kindergarten for both 3 and 4 year old’s operates from 8.30 to 4pm each day, during school terms.
4 year old’s:
- Group 1: Monday and Wednesday
- Group 2: Wednesday and Friday
- Group 3: Monday and Friday
3 year old’s
- Tuesday and Thursday
Out of Kinder Hours Care
We are pleased to be able to offer greater flexibility to sessional kindergarten families by providing care, for a fee, outside of the kindergarten hours and during school holidays.
This includes:
Wrap Around care: 7.30am to 8.30am
4pm to 5.30pm
care during holidays and curriculum days – 7am to 6pm.
Preparing for Pre Prep at CCCI
In Victoria, 4-Year-Old Kindergarten is becoming Pre-Prep, with programs increasing from 15 to 30 hours each week for children from the following Priority Cohorts:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
– children from a refugee or asylum seeker background
– children who have had contact with Child Protection services
– children supported by Early Start Kindergarten or Access to Early Learning in their Three-Year-Old Kindergarten year.
The Pre-Prep program for children from a priority cohort group will be for 22.5 hours each week at our service in 2026
Pre-Prep offers a longer program in the year before school, which means there will be more time for children to deepen their learning and development. Pre-Prep is a play-based learning program led by qualified teachers. Full roll-out will be complete by 2036.
How to Enrol
If you’re interested in enrolling your child for Long Day-Care or Kinder at CCCI, you can find more information here or call us for a chat.
You might also be interested in:
FAQs
Not sure whether Long Day Care or Sessional Kindergarten is right for you? Try our FAQs
About us
For all the details of our centre, our staff, food, educational programs, etc.
Fees
Fees for Long Day Care and Sessional Kindergarten, and what these cover.
Join our centre
Find out how to arrange a tour and join our waiting list.