Skip to main content

Kindergarten allocation/offer process

How kindergarten places are allocated

To ensure a fair, equitable and transparent allocation of kindergarten places, each registration is given weighting points based on the Department of Education (DE)Priority of Access and our local criteria.  We make every effort to offer your child a place at one of your preferred kindergartens. Despite growing demand, there will always be enough kindergarten places for families across all of the kindergartens in Casey.  
 
If there are not enough spaces at your most preferred kindergarten, we will try to allocate your child to one of your other preferred kindergartens.  If you have only listed one preferred kindergarten, or we are unable to offer you any of your other preferred kindergartens, we will attempt to offer your child a place at the next closest kindergarten with availability.
 
Three and four-year-old kindergarten places are allocated separately.   Every effort will be made to place children at the same service for 3 and 4-year-old kindergarten.  Unfortunately, we are unable to guarantee this due to Government Regulatory space and ratio requirements for kindergartens

What is the Priority of Access?

The Priority of Access is how kindergarten places are allocated.  The Department of Education has developed the following criteria to identify a high priority child:

  • children at risk of abuse or neglect, including Out-of-Home-Care 
  • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children 
  • asylum seeker and refugee children 
  • children eligible for the Kindergarten Fee Subsidy
  • children who have an additional need, defined as children who: those who need additional assistance in order to fully participate in the kindergarten program, require a combination of services which are individually planned or have an identified specific disability or developmental delay.

Children who fit into the following local criteria will be given priority after we have allocated high priority children:

  • children who are in receipt of a second year of 4-year-old kindergarten funding, and/or 
  • children of City of Casey residents and ratepayers
  • is attending one of our funded 3-year-old kindergarten.

Key dates

Stage Date

Kindergarten offers

Three and four-year-old kindergarten places are allocated separately. 

Every effort will be made to place my child at the same service for four-year-old kindergarten.  However, there is no guarantee of this.

From August
Enrolment into Kindergarten (for Casey managed kindergartens) November and December
Kindergarten program begins End of January

When you should receive an offer

We will begin offering kindergarten places in August of the year before your child's kindergarten year. We issue offers on an ongoing basis over several months. If you have been offered a kindergarten place, you will be sent an SMS. The SMS will request you log on to the Parent Portal and accept or decline the kindergarten offer. 

If you haven't received an offer

We issue offers in stages so not everyone will receive their offer at the same time. Not all available places at each kindergarten are allocated in the first round of offers. 

Please be patient and you will receive your offer shortly. 

Responding to your offer

To respond to your offer, log on to the Parent Portal and select the appropriate option. You must respond to your offer within 5 business days of receiving notification that an offer has been placed on your portal account. 

If you do not have a Parent Portal account you will receive an offer via SMS. You will be required to respond to this offer either via reply SMS or alternatively call Council and ask for the Kindergarten Enrolment and Planning Team to respond. If a response to this offer is not received via SMS, a follow up phone call will be made to confirm if the place is required prior to withdrawing the kindergarten offer. 

If you fail to respond, your offer will be cancelled and your child will be removed from the waitlist and will not receive future offers. 

Your options 

1. Accept the offer 

By accepting the offer, you confirm your child will attend the kindergarten offered. 

2. Transfer the year your child attends kindergarten 

If your child was born between 1 January and 30 April, you have the option for them to attend 3-year-old kindergarten in the year they turn 3 or 4, or for 4-year-old kindergarten, the year they turn 4 or 5.   

3. Decline the offer 

If you did not receive a place for your most preferred kindergarten, you can choose to decline the offer and join the waiting list for your most preferred kindergarten. If a place becomes available, your child will be offered your most preferred kindergarten. If a place does not become available, your child may miss out on their most preferred kindergarten. 

4. Cancel your child's registration 

By selecting to cancel the offer, you are cancelling your child's kindergarten registration. We will remove your child from the waiting list and we will not issue any further offers. 

You can find a list of early childhood learning centres and private kindergartens on the Department of Education and Training website. 

What is a kindergarten wait list?

Kindergarten wait-lists occur when there are more registrations than places.  Vacancies are created when either an offer has been declined or expired, or families withdraw after a place has been accepted. If you are on the waiting list, we will only contact you if a place becomes available. 

We cannot tell you where your child is placed on the waiting list, as the waiting list is constantly changing. 
 

Have you found the information you were looking for?