I think pre-school you can go for the whole day and kindy only for half a day. there is not much difference in their programmes. Kindy you have to provide your child's own food, I think. Some pre-schools have a cheft on site.
I work at a primary school, our school has a programme called "Top Start" which helps children transfer from pre-school/kindy to full time primary study. However, generally speaking, children only start learning when they go to primary school.