Building Blocks is the Victorian Government’s three-year-old kindergarten infrastructure strategy.

What is the Building Blocks Grants (BBG) program

Building Blocks Grants (BBG) bring together new and existing grant streams into one integrated grants program that will support the roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten across the state throughout this decade and assist the sector to meet ongoing growth in demand for Four-Year-Old Kindergarten.
Building Blocks makes it easier for the sector to seek state co-investment in their facilities, providing greater certainty, greater flexibility and greater investment.

The BBG program aims to contribute to high-quality early years programs by:

• the building or expanding kindergartens so there are more places for three and four-year-old children
• helping integrate community services at kindergartens so families can access early childhood education and care, health and development and family services in one place
• improving access to local and responsive early childhood services for children from vulnerable or disadvantaged families
• building kindergartens at, or next to, schools

The BBG program has four grant streams:

• Planning stream
• Capacity building stream
• Improvement stream
• Inclusion stream

What is the difference between grant streams?

Planning stream

This stream provides grants up to $150,000 for pre-construction work on kindergarten building projects that support the roll-out of three-year-old kindergarten across Victoria. This might include designing, developing the scope or calculating construction costs of the project.

The planning stream is for applicants who will be applying for a construction Building Blocks grant once planning is complete.

Capacity building stream

This stream provides funding up to $9 million for projects that create additional infrastructure capacity for funded Three and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten programs by building new or expanding existing infrastructure. There are four grant categories in this stream:

• Integrated Children’s Centre
• New Early Learning Facility
• Modular Kindergarten Facilities
• Expansion

GrantHelper Success

GrantHelper assisted Heatherdale Pre-school based in Mitcham secure a $600,000 expansion grant to fund building an extension to the existing facility to accommodate more children. Check out the story on our client showcase page.

Improvement stream

This stream provides grant funding up to $750,000 for upgrades and minor expansions to existing early years facilities and investment in IT equipment.

There are three grant categories in this stream:

• Early Learning Facility Upgrades
• Minor Infrastructure
• Information Technology

Inclusion stream

This stream provides grants up to $200,000 for upgrades of existing facilities and the purchase of equipment to provide safe and inclusive environments for children of all needs.

There are two grant categories in this stream:

• Building and Playgrounds
• Equipment

See the resources section below for links to separate GrantHelper posts and the funding guidelines for each stream for further details.

BBG important details that you will need to know

BBG Program outcomes

The Victorian Government has invested $5.3 million for early childhood infrastructure for 2020 and 2021 roll-out areas, in consultation with LGAs and services.

Funded projects

Below is a sample of funded projects.

Learning facility	Grant stream	Project	Grant
Golden Square Kindergarten	Capacity	Expansion for at least 66 new places	$833,362
Greenville Kindergarten	Capacity	Expansion for 31 new places	$453,000
Mansfield Kindergarten	Improvement	Restoration and expansion of Mechanics Institute building	$300,000
Gunditjmara Aboriginal Co-operative	Planning	Planning of integrated children’s centre	$150,000
West Maddingley Early Years & Community Hub	Capacity	Building of an integrated children’s centre	$2 million
Dandenong Ranges Steiner School Kindergarten	Improvement	Building of new office and meeting room	$131,098
Joy Avenue Preschool	Inclusion	Improvements to outdoor play space to make it more inclusive	$199,400

BBG Program resources

• Grant Helper – BBG Planning stream
• Grant Helper – BBG Capacity stream
• Grant Helper – BBG Improvement stream
• Grant Helper – BBG Inclusion stream
• Building Blocks: Three-Year-Old Kindergarten Infrastructure Strategy
• Funded projects

I need help applying for grants

Our Insights showcase some of the grant-winning methods we employ at GrantHelper, and they will help you create a stronger grant application. But no matter how well prepared you are, winning grants takes time—something we know many business owners and directors just don’t have. And that’s why we’re here to help.

• Check out our How to Prepare Before You Apply insight to help you reduce the stress levels when you apply for a grant.
• Check out How to write a successful grant application to learn some time-saving tips to make the grant writing process easier.

GrantHelper can assist with your organisation’s next grant application, no matter what stage of the funding journey you’re at.

Our in-depth eBook is the single most valuable resource you will find that helps organisations to truly understand how to win government grants.

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