Bethany welcomes families during Open Week

FAMILIES seeking a subsidised kindergarten education will get the opportunity to see first-hand what is on offer at Bethany’s Open Week.

Starting on Monday, May 24 and ending on Friday, May 28, Bethany will open their Geelong and Bellarine Peninsula kindergarten facilities to families looking to enrol their children in 2022.

Children who turn three before April 30, 2022 are eligible for up to five subsidised hours per week under the government’s new kinder initiative, while children turning four will receive up to 15 hours of kindergarten with full subsidy benefits.

Newcomb mother-of-two Laura Robinson said her “shy” three-year-old son, Archer had benefited from attending Bethany’s Kindergarten Services at Normanby Street Preschool in East Geelong.

“My children don’t go to childcare, so I wanted them to go two years of kinder,” Ms Robinson said.

“My son is a very anxious kid, and the kindergarten teacher at Normanby Street was so patient and really good at communicating with him and me.

“He’s in four-year-old kinder now and he’s thriving.

“We’ve seen him grow so much socially, he’s made some lovely friends and he’s becoming more independent.”

Ms Robinson said her daughter Hadley was now enrolled to attend three-year-old kinder in 2022.

“The registration was all online – it was easy and took about 10 minutes,” she said.

“We recently visited a primary school and when I mentioned to the principal our kindergarten, he said ‘we love Normanby Street Kindergarten – those kids come to school ready to learn’.”

Bethany Kindergarten Services executive manager Anneliese Knell said their educators were excited for families to visit after COVID-19 restrictions prevented last year’s Open Week events.

“Kindergarten provides the building blocks for a child’s learning, and it’s important to find a quality service,” Ms Knell said.

“Come and meet our skilled and passionate educators, learn about our services and our anti-bias curriculum.

“Ask us questions about how we support your child to take this key step in their educational journey.”

Bethany Kindergartens are located across Geelong in:

· Grovedale

· Highton

· Herne Hill

· Hamlyn Heights

· Bell Post Hill

· Bell Park

· Breakwater

· Newcomb

· East Geelong

· Lara

Bethany Kindergartens are located across the Bellarine Peninsula in:

· Portarlington

· Drysdale

· Ocean Grove

· Beacon Point

· Queenscliff

· Leopold