Rethinking School Readiness Funding: A Grassroots Perspective
Recently, I was asked a simple but powerful question: “If you could wave a magic wand and use School Readiness Funding (SRF) to improve children’s communication, wellbeing, access, inclusion, and participation, what would you use it for?”
It made me stop and think, not about programs or professional development sessions, but about what really changes outcomes for children and families in our kindergartens.
The truth is, SRF often ends up channeled into professional development packages run by large organisations. These may offer value for new educators, but for experienced teachers, they rarely address the real issues we face on the ground. There isn’t a shortage of expertise in our workforce, there’s a shortage of support.
If I could use that “magic wand,” I’d invest the funds directly into the daily realities of kinder life:
Smaller class sizes — because a class capped at 24 allows every child to be seen and heard.
Better ratios, Come on DET, Let’s align Victorian Kinders with NSW standards (1:5 for three-year-olds and 1:10 for four- and five-year-olds), so educators can provide genuine connection rather than crowd control.
Additional support educators in classrooms with high toileting or care needs, ensuring safety and dignity for all children.
A community kitty in every service to send home books, food, or even nit treatments to families who need them small gestures like this build belonging and trust.
These are the kinds of investments that strengthen communication, wellbeing, access, inclusion, and participation, not through theory and grand ideas, but through lived experience.
School Readiness Funding has incredible potential, but to truly make a difference, it needs to reach the grassroots. It needs to be in the hands of the people who understand what children need, the educators, the families, the communities that surround them.
Tammy Lawlor
VSKEA President and Founder