Deputy Mayor Cr Andrew Hockley, Ryan Batchelor MP, Bayside Mayor Cr Debbie Taylor-Haynes, Cr Kylie McIntosh and Cr Hanna El Mouallem at the funding announcement at Brighton Recreational Centre.
Work is underway to transform part of Brighton Recreational Centre into the new permanent home for Glen Brighton Kindergarten, supported by a $993,977 Victorian Government grant.
Announced on Monday, the grant from the Victorian School Building Authority will ensure the Glen Brighton Kindergarten has a new permanent home in time for the start of the 2027 kindergarten year.
The renovations will create a secure, accessible and purpose-built kindergarten, with connected indoor and outdoor learning spaces. The garden will include a sandpit, mud play, water feature, vegetable/herb garden beds, a long winding path and a stage.
This important project is the result of a strong partnership between Bayside City Council, the Department of Education, the Victorian School Building Authority and Glen Education, the kindergarten service provider, working together to ensure education continuity for families and children.
Bayside Mayor Cr Debbie Taylor-Haynes thanked the Victorian Government for its support to this project.
“This project illustrates what can be achieved when different levels of government work together towards a shared vision – providing quality education facilities to the next generation of Bayside’s children.
“This grant is an investment not only in a new facility, but in the learning, wellbeing and confidence of future generations of Bayside children.”
Member for Southern Metropolitan Region, Ryan Batchelor MP represented Education Minister Gabrielle Williams MP at the event.
Mr Batchelor said the funding would ensure that local children had access to high-quality early education while delivering lasting benefits for generations to come.
“It’s very important in places like Bayside to make sure that it has different facilities that evolve their services over time, that we’re investing to make sure that provision of kindergarten is maintained. It’s great to have a partner in the City of Bayside that we can work with constructively to make sure that pre-school and kindergarten services are available to local families,” he said.
The project is fully funded by the Victorian School Building Authority’s Building Blocks Capacity Grant Scheme and will be project managed by Bayside City Council.
This project is unique because it is creating a new council owned kindergarten facility to mitigate the loss of Crossway Preschool, which announced its closure in November 2025.
The Department of Education, Bayside City Council and Glen Education have worked together to ensure the 44 children impacted by Crossway’s closure continue to have access to a sessional kindergarten program in Brighton beyond 2026.
Our Kindergarten and Infrastructure Services Plan (KISP) notes that many Bayside families prefer community sessional kindergarten.
