Thank you to all families to applied for a place at Ripponlea Kindergarten in 2026. We understand that choosing a kindergarten is a big decision, and we're grateful for the interest and enthusiasm families have shown for our programs.
In 2026 we will continue offering two groups of funded 3-year-old kindergarten (15 hours each) and 2 groups of funded 4-year-old kindergarten (15 hours each).
Ripponlea Kindergarten is a proud provider of the Victorian Government's Free Kinder initiative.
From 2026 children identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, from a refugee or asylum seeker background, or who have had contact with Child Protection services will have access to up to 25 hours of free kindergarten per week. Please contact our service if you would like to find out more about this.
Join us for our 2025 Open Day and see all that Ripponlea Kindergarten has on offer!
On the 1st of January 2012 the Federal Government introduced new quality standards that a service must meet, as a part of the National Quality Framework. The following is a brief outline about the new system:
Ripponlea Kindergarten is immensely proud of our Bush Kinder program and this article, recently published in The Guardian, highlights many of the wonderful skills students can learn within a program like ours.
In 2021, Ripponlea kinder received an award recognising our service as delivering "Excellence" in early childhood education. The KindiCare Rating is based on both community feedback from families using our service as well as our centre's performance under the National Quality Framework from ACECQA. Our service was rated 9.2 out of 10. The award...
Our Director Mishel chatted with Molly and Craig last Saturday about our Rippon Lea Bush kinder program. Check out 'Molly's Blooming Hour', on Southern FM Saturday at 4pm by downloading the episode below. You can hear the interview with Mishel starting at the 18min, 47sec mark.
Our very own Mishel Lowndes will join a panel of expert early year educators to give an informative update about the new 2 year funded kindergarten initative, as well as answer other questions you may have about your little one attending kinder.