Goodstart Early Learning Bendigo

Join the team at Goodstart Bendigo!

Role: Centre Cook
Location: Bendigo, VIC 3550
Centre: Goodstart Bendigo
Employment Type: Part Time / 32.5hours per week

As a Cook at Goodstart, you'll create delicious, healthy meals that fuel young minds and bodies, becoming a cherished part of our community. Your passion for food and commitment to quality will play a crucial role in shaping the daily experiences of the children in our care.

In this role, you will:
- Ensure the safety of children by preparing meals to account for special dietary requirements and allergies
- Use your creativity and organisational skills to plan the menu and order food supplies in consultation with the Centre Director
- Maintain high standards of food safety by ensuring all storage, handling and preparation of food and drinks is hygienic

🌟 Prime Location – Located in the heart of Bendigo, our centre offers a welcoming and accessible environment. Enjoy nearby cafés, parks, arts, and recreational facilities—perfect for both staff and children.
🚶‍♀️ Easy Access – Conveniently positioned on a main road with public transport nearby, including a bus stop on McIvor Road just a 1-minute walk from the centre entrance.
🚗 Free Onsite Parking – Stress-free parking so you can arrive with ease and start your day right.
🏡 Our Centre – Be supported by an experienced leadership team including our Centre Director, 2 Assistant Directors, Educational Leader, 4 Early Learning Teachers, and 2 Room Leaders. Together, they foster staff development, a positive culture, and high-quality outcomes for children.
💖 🧸 Our Centre Vision – At Goodstart Bendigo, we are committed to providing a nurturing, inclusive, and stimulating environment where every child can thrive. We believe in working together to create a brighter future for our children and community.

Apply now: https://careers.goodstart.org.au/job/BENDIGO-Centre-Cook-VIC-3550/1361485466/

In our Toddler 2 room, children recently explored a fun and exciting painting experience inspired by their interest in dinosaurs. Educators set up a sensory experience where children stomped through paint with dinosaur footprints, creating unique patterns and prints on paper.
🫟 Children thoroughly enjoyed the activity, experimenting with movement and watching the patterns emerge. They also explored colour mixing by combining different paints, discovering new and vibrant colours throughout the process.
🦖This experience supported their creativity, sensory exploration, and self-expression. The stomping and balancing involved in manipulating the dinosaur feet helped develop their fine and gross motor skills, coordination, and balance. Exploring paint and colour mixing fostered early cognitive skills such as cause and effect, problem-solving, and curiosity.
✨Additionally, working alongside peers encouraged social interaction, cooperation, and confidence. Children learned to take turns, share materials, and celebrate each other's creations. Overall, this activity provided a rich, multisensory experience that promoted physical development, cognitive growth, and social skills, making learning engaging and enjoyable for the children.

Cooking experiences offer a wealth of learning opportunities for young children. By actively participating in the process of preparing a meal or snack, children develop essential skills and concepts in various areas.
🧑‍🍳Fine Motor Skills: Children improve their hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and gross motor skills as they perform tasks such as measuring ingredients, mixing, and stirring.
👫Teamwork and Social Skills: Cooking together fosters a sense of community and cooperation, as children learn to work collaboratively, take turns, and communicate effectively.
⚖️Mathematical Concepts: Children develop early mathematical skills such as counting, measuring, and comparing quantities, as they participate in activities like measuring ingredients, following recipes, and judging quantities.
🧠Science and Literacy: Cooking experiences introduce children to basic scientific concepts, such as cause-and-effect relationships and the life cycle of food. They also develop their literacy skills by reading recipes, following instructions, and learning about different cuisines.
👧Independence and Confidence: Children build confidence and independence as they complete tasks and contribute to the cooking process, promoting a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem.
🧁Nutrition and Health: Cooking experiences provide an opportunity to teach children about healthy eating habits, nutrition, and food safety, promoting a lifelong appreciation for wholesome foods and a balanced diet.
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🌟 Enrolments Now Open – Nursery Room 🌟

We are now accepting enrolments in our Nursery Room at Goodstart Early Learning Bendigo for children aged 6 weeks to 15 months 🍼👶

Our nurturing nursery environment provides a calm, safe, and loving space where our youngest learners can grow, explore, and develop at their own pace. With responsive routines and strong, secure relationships, our experienced educators support each child’s individual needs every step of the way.

📍 Limited places available
📅 Secure your child's place now
☎️ Contact the centre today (03 5444 1777) to find out more.
💛 We look forward to welcoming your family.

We look forward to welcoming your family into our centre community

As the children in our 3-5 space explored and created with modelling clay, their imagination and creativity flourished. They eagerly used their hands to shape, roll, squash, and mould the clay into a variety of designs. This hands-on experience encouraged the children to express their ideas and thoughts, while also developing their fine motor skills, hand strength, and coordination. As they manipulated the clay, they practiced using their fingers to pinch, twist, and squeeze, improving their dexterity and hand-eye coordination.
Through this activity, the children also developed their problem-solving skills, as they experimented with different shapes, textures, and techniques to achieve their desired outcomes. They demonstrated great focus and persistence, frequently asking themselves, "How can I make this better?" or "What if I try this?"
The children's learning and development were further enhanced by the opportunity to practice their critical thinking skills, as they considered different solutions and approaches. They also developed their self-confidence and self-esteem, as they took pride in their creations and shared their ideas with their peers. By working with modelling clay, the children were able to express themselves creatively, build their confidence, and develop essential skills that will serve them well in all areas of life.

Just a quick reminder that the Centre will be closed Monday 8th June for the King's Birthday Public Holiday.

We hope all of our families enjoy the long weekend and look forward to welcoming everyone back on Tuesday.

Join the team at Goodstart Bendigo!

As a Cook at Goodstart, you'll create delicious, healthy meals that fuel young minds and bodies, becoming a cherished part of our community. Your passion for food and commitment to quality will play a crucial role in shaping the daily experiences of the children in our care.

In this role, you will:
Ensure the safety of children by preparing meals to account for special dietary requirements and allergies
Use your creativity and organisational skills to plan the menu and order food supplies in consultation with the Centre Director
Maintain high standards of food safety by ensuring all storage, handling and preparation of food and drinks is hygienic

🌟 Prime Location – Located in the heart of Bendigo, our centre offers a welcoming and accessible environment. Enjoy nearby cafés, parks, arts, and recreational facilities—perfect for both staff and children.
🚶‍♀️ Easy Access – Conveniently positioned on a main road with public transport nearby, including a bus stop on McIvor Road just a 1-minute walk from the centre entrance.
🚗 Free Onsite Parking – Stress-free parking so you can arrive with ease and start your day right.
🏡 Our Centre – Be supported by an experienced leadership team including our Centre Director, 2 Assistant Directors, Educational Leader, 4 Early Learning Teachers, and 2 Room Leaders. Together, they foster staff development, a positive culture, and high-quality outcomes for children.
💖 🧸 Our Centre Vision – At Goodstart Bendigo, we are committed to providing a nurturing, inclusive, and stimulating environment where every child can thrive. We believe in working together to create a brighter future for our children and community.
https://careers.goodstart.org.au/job/BENDIGO-Centre-Cook-VIC-3550/1361485466/

At Goodstart Bendigo, we regularly engage in collaborative Floor Book activities, inviting the children to share their ideas and interests for learning, exploring, and playing throughout the month of May. It was inspiring to observe the children coming together to communicate their preferences, listen attentively to their peers, and contribute their thoughts and ideas in a supportive and collaborative environment.
Currently, the children are demonstrating strong interests in several key areas:
⚽ Ball play and movement-based games, which promote gross motor development, coordination, and spatial awareness
🍼 Caring for baby dolls and engaging in dramatic play, fostering nurturing behaviors, empathy, and social-emotional skills
🎨 Drawing, mark making, and creative expression, supporting fine motor development, sensory exploration, and early literacy skills
These emerging interests will serve as a foundation to guide our program and curriculum this month. By aligning learning experiences with the children’s individual passions and strengths, we aim to create meaningful and engaging opportunities that nurture curiosity, build confidence, and develop a broad range of skills.
Following the children’s interests allows us to foster active engagement, enhance communication abilities, encourage creativity, and strengthen social connections through play-based learning.

In our Toddler 1 room, children have been actively demonstrating a keen interest in self-expression through art, particularly through mark-making activities that utilise a vibrant range of colors. They are experimenting with creating lines, circles, swirls, and various patterns, showcasing their natural curiosity and emerging confidence in artistic exploration.
🌟As they engage with different drawing tools and materials, the children display enthusiasm and a willingness to explore, moving their hands with intentionality to produce a variety of marks. This hands-on experimentation is crucial for developing their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and concentration. By grasping crayons, markers, and pencils with increasing control, they are laying important groundwork for early writing skills and symbolic expression.
🌟These creative experiences in our Toddler 1 room support holistic development by fostering sensory-motor integration, cognitive flexibility, and expressive language. Encouraging their artistic exploration not only nurtures their physical and cognitive growth but also promotes confidence and a sense of achievement as they experiment and create.

At Goodstart Early Learning Bendigo, we welcome all families seeking high-quality early learning and care for their children.

Please see the link below for more information about the 3-Day Guarantee for all children. This wonderful initiative helps make early learning more accessible and supports families to access care that suits their unique needs and circumstances.

If you would like to discuss your family’s individual needs, explore care options, or book a tour of our centre, we would love to hear from you - 03 5444 1777

Unlocking more days of early learning for your child at Goodstart - Bendigo Times Access more affordable early learning with the 3 Day Guarantee. Help your child build social skills and confidence at Goodstart Bendigo.