Millewa Pre-School


The Millewa Pre-School was officially opened on 24 July 1977 after a group of mothers decided at a meeting on 21 June 1973 that the children in our community needed a local pre-school as many families were travelling 75kms or more to access kindergarten for their children. That first year there were 18 enrolments at the Millewa Pre-School, many of whom continued their connection with the Pre-School when their own children were of an age to attend either three or four-year-old kindergarten. Pre-School parents became Pre-School grandparents and Pre-School children became Pre-School parents!


The Millewa Pre-School, located in the smallNorth-West Victorian town of Werrimull, offers both three and four-year-old kindergarten to the wider Millewa community. We are a one room kindergarten, located in the same building that opened in 1977. Our three and four-year-old sessions run at the same time which allows for greater socialisation opportunities for our small groups and ensures that our three year-old group have access to a qualified Early Childhood Teacher for every
moment of their time at the Pre-School, as well as a co-educator at all times.


Our families come from the small towns in the Millewa region as well as farms of all sizes. Strong community ties are very important to the Millewa Pre-School, with many children travelling long distances (some almost 50km) via school bus with the students of the local school, Werrimull P-12 School. Our connection with Werrimull P-12 School has ensured the continued existence of the Millewa Pre-School in the past decade and provides wonderful learning opportunities for our children.

At the Millewa Pre-School we try and involve parents in every aspect of our service, from everyday interactions (both in person and through a range of technology) to special family days held at least once a term where both immediate and extended family
members are invited to join us to celebrate the children and their progress. We don’t often see our parents face-to- face due to the bus travel of our kindergarten group (particularly the four-year-olds who attend for the whole school day in line with the school buses).


Because a number of our children travel by bus (without parents) we need to be creative in our communication methods with families. Funding is always difficult due to small numbers and we are grateful for the current funding model, without it we would not be able to afford to run a program. It can also be difficult to engage outside providers of incursions etc. due to both the tyranny of distance and the cost when offset against our small enrolments, excursions require travel of 75km each way which is another challenge.

We’re proud of the hard work of our families and their dedication to early childhood education within our community; without
their continual fight over time – from first opening the Pre-School to ongoing funding difficulties requiring engagement with politics at both a local, state and federal level – the Pre-School would not exist. We are also proud of our commitment to the continuity of learning between the Millewa Pre-School and Werrimull P-12 School – our close links allow for ongoing transition from day one of enrolment and learning opportunities that would otherwise not exist for our small community.

 

Three Year Old Kindergarten

Tuesday 8:45am to 1:30pm

 

Four Year Old Kindergarten

Tuesday  8:45am to 3:10pm

Friday     8:45am to 3:10pm

 

We provide 600 hours of kindergarten through our four year old program each year with sessions across two days and additional days throughout the year as advised.

 

Contact details:

millewa.kin@kindergarten.vic.gov.au

5028 1293 (Tuesday) or 5028 1251 (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday)

 

Our policies are available to view here.

© Copyright 2019 Werrimull P-12 School