10 MayCRES best practice resources update
The Victorian Department of Education (Vic DE) has recently updated the Kindergarten Central Registration and Enrolment Scheme (CRES) best practice guides and resources.
Since 2020, the best practice guides and resources have been updated to reflect kindergarten policy and the rollout of reforms, and to incorporate feedback and improvements identified by users and other key stakeholders.
The updates incorporate recommendations from the Parliamentary Inquiry into early childhood engagement of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities to make kindergarten registration and enrolment more accessible for families from CALD backgrounds. This includes:
- plain English updates for family-facing materials, such as the Registration Form template, Enrolment Form template, family communication materials and suggested CRES website content
- the incorporation of information on communicating with families in Languages Other Than English (LOTE)
- enrolment Form template updates to include information collected in the Kindergarten Information Management System (KIMS) relating to the cultural background of families, including parents’ country of birth and year of arrival
- updated Referral Form template based on feedback through the department’s CALD Outreach initiative.
The CRES best practice model is underpinned by six principles that promote consistent, inclusive and equitable access for families, service providers and support services. Whilst the guides and resources were developed for CRES providers, the best practice model principles, timelines and family facing resources are relevant to all kindergarten registration and enrolment processes and support good practice and greater consistency across the sector.
Should you have any questions, please contact your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch (ECIB) or the Early Years Management and Partnerships team: early.years.participation@education.vic.gov.au
