Register for 2025 kindergarten

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You can register your child for 3 or 4-year-old kindergarten online through Council’s central registration and enrolment scheme at participating kindergartens.

Registrations start on 1 April the year before your child starts kindergarten.

Before registering you may wish to:

visit the Groups and Sessions page to find program times that suit your needs
consider visiting a few kindergartens by arranging a visit by the methods below.
- phone our Kindergarten team on 9298 8000
- email [email protected]

During registration you can:

select up to three programs in order of preference
first preference offers from 1st round registrations are sent via email in August
if there are no vacancies in your first preference, your child may be offered a place at one of your other choices in second or subsequent round offers from September onwards

Key dates

Stage	Date
Round 1 registration period	1 April 2024 to 15 July 2024
First preferences from registrations received in round 1 will be considered and offers for a place or advice of a waitlist are emailed in August.
Ongoing registration period	16 July 2024 onwards
All preferences from registrations received will be considered and offers for a place or advice of a waitlist are emailed monthly from September.
Enrolment	November 2024
Kindergarten program begins	End of January 2025

Registering your child

To register your child in a kindergarten program:

your child must be 3 years old before they commence in 3-year-old kindergarten
your child must be 3 or 4 years old by 30 April of the year they start kindergarten to enrol in a kindergarten program
you can register your child from 1 April the year before they start kindergarten.
You need to register each kindergarten year separately in the year before they attend

Using Central Registration and Enrolment (CRES)

At Knox, you can register your child for a participating kindergarten program through an online system.

The process allows you to:

register your child
nominate your kindergarten preferences
update your details and preferences
accept or reject an offer
enrol your child

Keep your child’s details updated

It is important that you keep your child's details up-to-date at all times. This helps us to process your child's application effectively.

Choosing your preferred kindergarten

You can nominate your preferred kindergarten groups when registering your child.

The first round of kindergarten offers is based on your first preference. The second and further offers are based on all preferences you have selected.

Allocation of places

We allocate places using the Priority of Access criteria.

This ensures fair and transparent selection for all eligible children where there are more children than places available.

There are 5 Priority of Access criteria:

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Priority 1 – High priority children

Children at risk of abuse or neglect, including children in Out of Home Care
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children
Asylum seeker and refugee children
Children eligible for the Kindergarten Fee Subsidy (Health Care Cards, Pension Cards)
Children with additional needs, defined as children who:
- need additional assistance to take part
- need a combination of services which are individually planned
- have an identified disability or developmental delay.

Priority 2 – Local Kindergarten Community Areas OR Knox residents with prior attendance by older siblings

Living in a Local Kindergarten Community Area

A Local Kindergarten Community Area recognises:

families that live in Knox and may want to attend a local kindergarten. They may also have strong links to primary schools in the area.
that local transport and walkability are important factors for families.
that families make better social connections if they attend:
- groups for new parents
- local community and supported playgroups within their Local Community Area.

Note: Families choosing a kindergarten in their Local Kindergarten Community Area as their first preference will receive higher priority.

Priority areas

map of local kindergarten priority areas

Priority 3 – All other children who are Knox residents

Families who live in Knox, but DO NOT fit into either Priority 1 or 2.

Priority 4 – Non-Knox resident, who works or studies in Knox

Residents who do not live in Knox, but work or study in the area.

Priority 5 – Non-Knox resident who does not work or study in Knox

Residents who do not live in Knox, and do not work or study in the area.

Kindergarten offers

You will receive your kindergarten offer by email. You can respond to the offer directly from the email.

Council runs a minimum of 3 rounds of offers beginning in August.

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Accepting an offer

If you accept an offer, you will secure a place for your child in that group.

You will be contacted by your kindergarten from November with general information and will be invited to enrol your child.

Declining an offer

If you decline the kindergarten place you are offered, you must resubmit your preferences and await the next round of offers (sent approximately every 4 weeks).

Offers will depend on vacancies at that time.

If your child does not receive an offer

If you do not receive an offer, you will be advised via email and you will remain on the waitlist with your current preferences until the next round of offers.

Your child may not receive an offer for various reasons, such as:

all the groups you have selected have no vacancies at this stage
you have only selected one group which has no vacancies at this stage
we do not have your most up-to-date information, such as email
you may not have registered your child

If you believe that you have registered, but have not received an offer, email [email protected].

Deferring an offer

If you choose to defer your child's offer, contact Knox Kindergarten Services to ensure your child's registration is transferred to the following year.

Waitlist for offers

We are unable to advise you of where your child is on the waiting list.

Your child's position on the waiting list may change:

depending on new registrations
whether other families accept places
whether they choose to decline and go back on the waiting list.

We have an extensive process to ensure all registrations meet the Priority of Access criteria.

Enrolling your child in kindergarten

Families that receive and accept an offer of a kindergarten place must then enrol their child at that kindergarten.

From November onwards, you will receive an email invitation to complete the online enrolment form.

Please fill in this form as soon as possible after receiving the link. Your child will not be able to attend kindergarten without a completed, validated and accepted enrolment form.

Kindergarten enrolment policies

Our Funded Kindergarten Policy and Funded Kindergarten Registration and Enrolment Procedure set out how we manage kindergarten enrolment. They are designed to ensure that the process is accessible and places are allocated fairly.

Fees

No fees are charged for 3 or 4-year-old sessional kindergarten. Kindergarten is funded by the Victorian Government.

Inclusion of children with disability

Preschool Field Officers work with educators and families to support the inclusion of children with additional needs in our kindergarten programs.

This service is funded by Knox City Council and the Department of Education and Training.

About preschool field officers

Knox City Council preschool field officers are experienced kindergarten teachers with extra specialist qualifications.
The role includes:

supporting early childhood educators in the development and delivery of inclusive programs
supporting partnerships between educators and their families
carrying out play-based observations of referred children in kindergarten
linking families into the range of available supports.

Preschool field officers do not work one-to-one with individual children.

No Jab No Play

All children enrolling in our early childhood education and care services must be up to date with their immunisation or have an approved exemption.

No Jab No Play is the Victorian Government legislation requiring all children to be fully immunised before enrolling in any childcare and/or kindergarten in Victoria.

Need help?

Email [email protected] and we will come back to you.

We aim to contact you within 1 business day after receiving your enquiry. This may take longer during the registration period.

Or call our Kindergarten Services on 9298 8000.