For four-year-old kindergarten student Amity Lomas, it’s the new sandpit which is perfect for digging that stands out about her brand new kinder.
For the teachers, it’s having built-for-purpose indoor and outdoor classrooms to create contemporary learning environments.
Last week Lakes Entrance’s brand-new kindergarten, called Gippsland Lakes Early Learning Centre, hosted students for the first time, signalling a new era of early childhood education.
Trusted education provider Gippsland Lakes Complete Health will transition current four-year-old kindergarten enrolments from its established site on Coates Road to the new Carpenter Street site this year.
Gippsland Lakes Early Learning Centre is hosted on the same site as the Lakes Entrance Primary School. The Victorian Government built the new kinder as part of its Best Start Best Life reforms.
The new site will make kindergarten more accessible for local families, including increasing kindergarten hours in the years ahead in response to State Government pre-prep reforms.
Gippsland Lakes Complete Health executive manager Ainsleigh Whelan said the new classrooms had all the latest technology to assist with lifelong learning.
“The Gippsland Lakes Early Learning Centre presents an exciting opportunity for families and children who currently do not have access to kindergarten,” she said.
“We’ll be able to continue our existing programs, like coastal and nature kinder, but from a contemporary new site.”
In term two, the Gippsland Lakes Early Learning Centre will officially open to children and families from 8am to 6pm, with funded four-year-old kindergarten hours from 8.30am to 4pm.
Gippsland Lakes Early Learning Centre manager Kate O’Meara says 2026 kindergarten enrolments open in May.
She said it was exciting to host children and their families on site for initial ‘come and play’ sessions to help children get used to the new classrooms.
“We are looking forward to building further connections within the community, including with Lakes Entrance Primary School,” Kate said.
“We are excited to be able to welcome new children – expanding our current kindergarten and, in the long run, daycare places too,” she said.
