Gerald Lynch
The Northern Schools Early Years Cluster (NSEYC) has been nominated as a finalist for three 2023 Victorian Early Years Awards.
The NSEYC, a not-for-profit Early Years Management organisation, is nominated for the improving access and participation in early learning award, for its fast-tracking of 15 hours of kindergarten for children at risk.
This involves delivering 15-hours of funded kindergarten for three-year-olds across each of its 15 kindergarten services, including Bethal and Meadows primary school kindergartens, Broadmeadows Preschool, Dallas, Upfield and Holy Child kindergartens.
In line with the state government’s reform to roll out 15 hours of three-year-old kindergarten by 2029, the initiative from NSEYC is ahead of its time, providing children from the north with access to high quality education and care.
NSEYC chief executive Sigi Hyett is proud to be able to provide high quality care for children of Melbourne’s north despite being a lower socioeconomic area.
“We’re absolutely delighted to be nominated for three awards, but it’s about the children,” she said.
“The communities we work within are vibrant and richly multicultural, and most of our families have language backgrounds other than English. There are high levels of vulnerability amongst many of our communities.”
According to the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) 2021, in Broadmeadows, 42.9% of children were vulnerable in at least one domain, and 25.8% in at least two domains – compared to the Victorian average of 19.9% and 10.2% respectively.
“Our initiative gives children free access to two years of a high-quality kindergarten program that caters to children of all developmental stages, backgrounds and abilities. This will have a long-lasting positive impact on their outcomes at school and in later life,” Ms Hyett continued.
The NSEYC are also nominated for the continuity of early learning award due to their Kindergarten to grade 6 model and teacher Michelle Ives has been nominated for the early childhood teacher of the year award.
Winners will be announced on November 9.
