Kindy uplift pilot

Who is eligible for funding?

The department has determined eligible kindergartens and invited them to participate in the pilot. The services include a selection of community kindergarten services and long day care services with approved kindergarten programs.

Kindergartens were pre-selected based on characteristics predictive of educational need and where additional funding can provide the greatest opportunity to improve learning and development outcomes for children. As the program is a pilot, the number of services was determined to ensure a balance of different service types, locations and community characteristics.

Can we tell families about the Pilot?

Yes. Your service can advise families about your participation in the pilot. The Kindy uplift webpage is a useful source of general information about Kindy uplift. The department will provide more information for you to provide to families before the pilot commences in Term 2 (April) 2022.

Is our service eligible for the Kindy uplift pilot if we are not delivering an approved kindergarten program? For example, what if we are unable to recruit a qualified Early Childhood Teacher (ECT)?

To be eligible to receive Kindy uplift funding for the calendar year, a service must be an approved kindergarten program provider (KPP) delivering an approved kindergarten program, as defined under the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme: Funding Category Guidelines, as at 31 December in the year prior.

Providers must make every effort to engage and retain an ECT for the pilot period. If a qualified ECT cannot be recruited for a period of more than 10 consecutive working days during the pilot period, a service must advise the Kindy Uplift team.

Where a service becomes ineligible during the pilot period, the service may apply to resume Kindy uplift participation at a later date.

How will participating services be supported to deliver Kindy Uplift?

Participating services will have support from a Kindy uplift advisor for 2022 and opportunities to attend online information sessions and workshops.

What is a Kindy uplift advisor?

A Kindy uplift advisor provides training, guidance and professional support directly to services. They will engage with you from commencement of the pilot and assist with the Kindy uplift planning process, including development of the Kindy uplift Plan. The advisors will also provide ongoing implementation support, through monitoring progress and outcomes for the first year of the pilot.

How do we access our Kindy uplift advisor?

Participating services will be advised of the contact details of their appointed Kindy uplift advisor early in 2022.

Can I apply to be a Kindy uplift advisor?

The Department of Education will fund external organisations to provide advisory support to services, including appointing dedicated Kindy uplift advisors. The department will not be employing these positions directly.

What is a Kindy uplift plan?

The Kindy uplift plan identifies the educational needs of kindergarten cohorts and the priority areas to be addressed with the Kindy uplift funding. A Kindy uplift plan template will be provided and this must be completed and approved by the Kindy uplift advisor before pilot funding is released to the service.

What are the Kindy uplift priority areas?

Five Kindy uplift priority areas are identified as being crucial in enabling all children to successfully access the curriculum, actively engage in learning and take part in experiences that improve learning success in kindergarten and beyond. Programs and supports accessed using the Kindy uplift funding must align with one or more of the priority areas:

• social and emotional capability
• physicality
• thinking and responding
• oral language and communication
• access and inclusion

Can changes be made to Kindy uplift plans?

Yes. Services can amend their plan after it has been approved. They will need to discuss and negotiate any significant changes with their Kindy uplift advisor. The department may seek clarification about any changes made, so it is important that a service and the Kindy uplift advisor document the adjustments made.

How are funding levels determined?

Funding levels differ between services and are calculated based on each service’s educational need, enrolment numbers and the opportunities available within the service to improve learning outcomes for children. A formula was used to determine funding, which considers the proportionate number of children from families:

• with low English language proficiency
• with lower parental education attainment/occupation skill level
• who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

Is the annual funding amount the same each year?

Each eligible service is allocated a fixed amount of funding per annum. A pro rata payment (75% of the total funding) will be provided in the first year of the pilot (2022) because implementation of the Kindy uplift plan will commence from Term 2.

For the remaining two years of the pilot, services will receive the full annual funding amount (100% of the total funding) per year as implementation of the Plan will commence from Term 1.

When will services receive the funding?

Payment will be made to the service once the service’s Kindy uplift plan has been approved by the Kindy uplift advisor.

How will services receive the funding?

Payments to both branch and affiliate community kindergartens are coordinated through the applicable Central Governing Body and payments to long day care services are made once the approved plan is submitted to the Department of Education via QGrants.

What can Kindy uplift funding be used for?

Participating services can spend their funding to:

• implement initiatives and/or purchase programs and supports to address the needs of children who attend the kindergarten (e.g. educator coaching, social and personal learning supports, language and literacy programs, art and music programs, or other educational program supports)
• engage community partners to strengthen inclusive practice, transition pathways and community connections (e.g. cultural inclusion support, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members, family support and outreach services)
• purchase professional learning to build educator capability
• fund backfill arrangements to support Kindy uplift activities from the approved plan.

Services will submit annual uplift plans to demonstrate how the funding is being used to improve outcomes for kindergarten children. Services can access the Kindy uplift decision-making guide which provides information to assist with their Kindy uplift plans.

Can funding be pooled across services?

Yes. Services in the pilot (under the same organisation or across multiple organisations) that have identified a common educational need or priority area may choose to collaborate and pool funding to access programs and supports. It will be up to services to collaborate, negotiate and approve these arrangements with the relevant suppliers. Services interested in pooling funds should first discuss this option with their Kindy uplift advisor.

Can funding be used to access allied health?

Services can spend their funding to engage Allied Health practitioners, such as Speech Pathologists and Social Workers, to address the educational needs of the kindy cohort by enhancing educator capability and strengthening the learning program.

Kindy uplift funding cannot be used to purchase individual, child-specific therapy and/or support, interventions and programs. Child assessment and individual referral services are also out of scope.

Can funding be used to support an individual child?

No. The funding cannot be used for individual, child-specific therapy, support, interventions and programs, child assessment and individual referral services, one-off program or resource promotions or stand-alone, unsupported resources or packages. The funding must be used to address educational need and lift the outcomes for all children within the kindergarten cohort.

Can funding be used to purchase supports in more than one priority area?

Yes. Through the Kindy Uplift planning process services will identify the priority areas that align with the educational needs of their current and future cohorts. This may include more than one priority area and services can choose to purchase programs and supports in these priority areas.

Can funding be used to backfill educators?

Yes. Services can use a portion of the funding to provide backfill arrangements for educators engaged in Kindy uplift activities but must prioritise purchasing Kindy uplift programs and supports.

Backfill allows educators to be released from regular duties or to work additional hours to enable participation in training, professional development, reflective practice or consultation.

Can funding be used to reduce fees for families?

No. Various QKFS subsidy payments are available to assist with the cost of delivering an approved kindergarten program to ensure cost is not a barrier for families.

Can we claim for QKFS if our teacher is offline for Kindy uplift activities?

If the Early Childhood Teacher (ECT) delivering the kindergarten program is released from regular duties to engage in Kindy uplift activities, services must make every effort to engage another ECT to replace them. A service will not be able to claim QKFS funding for the period when the kindergarten program is not delivered by a qualified ECT, as defined under the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme: Funding Category Guidelines.

Will our service still receive KISS funding?

The Kindergarten Inclusion Support Scheme (KISS) will continue in 2022. It will be available to all community kindergarten services, including those in the Kindy uplift pilot. KISS will continue to provide additional funding to community kindergarten providers to enable children with identified or suspected disability or developmental delay to continue to participate in an approved kindergarten program.