The School Readiness Funding (SRF) is a permanent and ongoing part of the Victorian kindergarten funding model.
The funding specifically aims to address the impacts of educational disadvantage experienced by some children, to ensure that all children attending a funded kindergarten program get the most out of their early learning.
It funds a range of programs and supports that aim to build the capacity of services, educators and families to support children's learning and development. The amount of SRF each service receives is based on the level of need of the children enrolled at their service. This is informed by parental occupation and education data.
The Department of Education and Training (the Department) has made available a range of other resources to support the implementation of SRF including:
- SRF Annual Planning Guide
- Planning worksheets
- Online planning system in the Kindergarten Information Management System (KIMS)
- Quick Reference Guides
- Data literacy tip sheets and resources
Purpose of this guide:
This guide provides information for you to understand what SRF is.
This guide provides step by step instructions on accessing and answering the mid year and end of year reviews for School Readiness Funding.
Implementation:
Once an SRF plan is approved, service providers can commence implementation with menu providers in the plan. The Campus should then make direct contact with menu providers to access program and supports according to the SRF plan. This may require negotiation with the menu provider regarding dates, times and locations. The Department is not directly involved in this process once the plan is approved, however if services require support with engaging with menu providers the local ECIB can assist.
All service providers must submit an SRF Plan for each of their services through KIMS to receive SRF payments in the following year.
Who should be involved in the School Readiness Funding annual plan?
Approved providers are responsible for ensuring a School Readiness Funding annual plan(s) is completed and approved for their service(s), however, a collaborative approach to planning at the individual service level supports a culture of reflective practice and professional inquiry. Approved providers should conduct planning with their service(s) to ensure that each plan is specific to the needs of children, their families and the service. Engaging teachers, educators, children, families and relevant community services in the planning process is critical to enrich decision making and ensures the development of common goals for continuous improvement.
🛑 A great SRF guide for you to look at: file:///Users/woodlandsroxburghpark/Downloads/Woodlands%20Ed%20Leader%20SRF%20presentation.pdf
Mid-Year Review.
- Services are asked to complete a mid-year review survey in each cycle. This process provides a mid-cycle opportunity for services to reflect on how the implementation of the SRF plan is going, to make any changes required due to unexpected circumstances, and to assess and communicate the likelihood of an underspend.
- The mid-year review also enables the Department to pre-empt any risks of significant underspend and put measures in place to support services to pivot and reduce that risk.
- This process must be completed for every service, and the service provider is responsible for endorsing the mid-year review survey before submitting to the local ECIB.
Overview of the Mid-Year Review process:
Note. You will be notified when this process must be completed.
1. Log into KIMS (the link to the system can be found on this webpage: Kindergarten Information Management System
2. Go to the Plan tab
3. Go to the Mid-Year Review tab
4. Confirm that you are ready to proceed to the Mid-Year Review Survey
5. Complete the relevant questions on the survey
Once completed, the survey will be submitted to the Service Provider Approver for review, who will review and submit to the department.
Important resources that will support the process:
When completing the SRF, it is good to have these 2 documents to support you as the Educational Leader and the Kinder Teachers:
School Readiness Funding Planning Template:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XpBSHhazm8NSIQyyvLdGFQOFjBt5JFEr/edit
How to enter a School Readiness Funding Annual plan:
Annual SRF planning guide:
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/providers/funding/school-readiness-funding-annual-planning-guide.pdf
School Readiness Funding Planning Template:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XpBSHhazm8NSIQyyvLdGFQOFjBt5JFEr/edit
Important for completing the Mid-Year Review Survey:
- Please attempt each question.
- All questions marked asterisk must be answered.
- The survey must be completed in one sitting.
End of Year Acquittal.
- Services are required to acquit the SRF allocation each year. This provides the Department with oversight of SRF expenditure in line with the funding intent to ensure services have accessed and received appropriate supports during the year.
- Service providers are best placed to nominate who should complete the end of year acquittal for each service, and this may be more than one person. This may be completed by a business manager, centre director, early childhood teacher or a combination of staff.
- This process must be completed for every service, and the service provider is responsible for endorsing the end-of-year acquittal before submitting to the Department.
- Visual guide for SRF End of Year Acquittal: https://stonly.com/sl/5ca517ad-38f6-4cb9-ad84-dee6e784ce2a/Steps/
Additional resources:
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/providers/funding/school-readiness-funding-guide.docx#:~:text=The%20School%20Readiness%20Funding%20(SRF,other%20stakeholders%20involved%20with%20SRF.
https://www.vic.gov.au/school-readiness-funding