School Readiness Funding is a Victorian Government needs-based funding initiative which aims to reduce the impact of educational disadvantage on children’s learning and development outcomes.  Services delivering a kindergarten program are allocated funding to purchase high-quality items from a Menu of evidence-informed programs and supports (the Menu).

The Menu supports kindergarten services to spend their School Readiness Funding to effectively enhance outcomes for children and is available on the Department of Education and Training’s website.  

REAIE has developed The Inclusive Community program for inclusion on the School Readiness Funding Menu. The package is designed to embrace the eight interrelated practice principles of the VEYLDF that orientate and guide educator practices in Victoria with the principles of the Reggio Emilia Educational Project.  The program references and builds understanding of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that: all children have the right to an education that lays a foundation for the rest of their lives, in a way that respects their family, cultural identity and languages.

The Inclusive Community program poses critical reflection questions for educators that draw from theory and invite practitioners to think more deeply about the capacity of their programs to respond equitably to the needs and rights of children and to and take action to transform pedagogy and practice.

Available for 12 months the package comprises of six online webinars focused on inclusion and social justice, these ‘expert infusion’ webinars focus on offering early childhood educators working with children aged 3 – 5 ideas and strategies that strengthen their practice capabilities to welcome and include all children with the program. 

The webinars are accompanied by a comprehensive support pack of materials, including:

• A webinar guide for each webinar that explores a series of critical reflection questions that educators can use to strengthen practice.
• An REAIE Notebook to be used as a critical reflection journal.
• A mapping document that aligns the VEYLDF with the 12 principles of the Reggio Emilia Educational Project.
• A copy of Indications: a book that identifies the identity and aims of the infant toddler centres and preschools in Reggio Emilia.
• Two copies of REAIE’s Challenge Journal will be included in the program to support ongoing reflective practice.