Remi lives 200m from a kindergarten. The council has sent her to one 6km away

2 hours ago 3

A 10-minute walk from Linda Scott’s home is a small community kindergarten where she had hoped to send her three-year-old daughter, Remi.

But Scott’s application for a place was denied by Glen Eira Council which, unlike some others in the area, does not give residents priority access to their local kindergarten.

Linda Scott, with husband Liam Cooney and daughter Remi, wants the council to change the way it allocates kindergarten places so local families have priority.

Instead, Remi was assigned a place at a kindergarten in Elsternwick, six kilometres from her home in Bentleigh.

Travelling to and from Elsternwick twice a day would mean an hour in the car for Scott, instead of walking around the corner to Bentleigh West Kindergarten.

Scott is among a group of parents lobbying Glen Eira Council to add a proximity clause to the way it allocates places at the 14 kindergartens it oversees.

The clause would give families living within a two-kilometre radius of a kindergarten priority access, similar to the operation of school zoning. They argue families with a prior connection to a kindergarten, such as through older siblings, should also be prioritised.

Scott nominated Bentleigh West Kindergarten as her preference ahead of two other local providers because it feeds into the tightly zoned primary school for her area.

“There are three or four kindergartens nearby, and yet we’re being placed at ones that are a 15-minute drive away, it makes no sense,” she said.

Scott said she wanted Remi to go to her local kindergarten to meet families living nearby and said her daughter’s school transition would be smoother if she could start with an established group of friends.

Neighbouring Bayside City Council and Kingston City Council have a policy which gives families living within two kilometres of a kindergarten priority access if there is a waiting list.

Craig Evans, whose son attended Bentleigh West Kindergarten in 2024, is hoping that his younger son can get a place when he starts next year. The kindergarten is 600 metres from his home.

Evans said the policy had to change because it was failing to meet the community’s needs.

“The way it currently works is that families are being sent away from their nearest kindergartens to kindergartens that are likely outside their school zone.”

Evans said the way the council allocated kinder places put extra cars on the road at peak hour, eroded community connections and reduced opportunities for active transport, including the chance for children to learn to scoot and cycle.

“A kindergarten is a community hub,” he said.

Glen Eira launched its Active Schools campaign to encourage primary school-age students to ride, walk, skate or scoot to school this month.

In promoting the program, the council highlighted benefits including health, reduced local traffic and environmental impact.

The parent group will make a submission, including a 460-signature petition supporting a proximity clause, later this month.

Glen Eira Council chief executive Lucy Roffey said the council would review its kindergarten policy, including whether a proximity clause should be added.

However, she said a balance needed to be struck between residents’ needs and those working in the municipality.

“The issue is not just about policy settings – it is that there simply aren’t enough kindergarten places to meet demand,” Roffey said.

Glen Eira closed three early learning centres in Murrumbeena, Carnegie and Caulfield in March 2024, citing financial pressures. Each offered childcare and kindergarten programs for eligible three and four-year-olds.

On Friday, the state government announced it would expand the former council-run early learning centre in Murrumbeena to make it a two-room kindergarten at the cost of $825,000.

Children’s Minister Lizzie Blandthorn said the new kindergarten would provide 70 additional places for local children.

The introduction of free kinder has resulted in a surge of enrolments across the state. The policy will lead to 15 hours a week of three-year-old kinder by 2029, and 30 hours of four-year-old kinder by 2032.

All councils have to follow the education department’s mandatory access kindergarten policy and give priority to Indigenous, at-risk or disadvantaged children. Additional placement decisions are made at local council level.

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