Goodstart Early Learning Burleigh Waters

Strong relationships are the foundation for confident, curious learners 💛

Goodstart’s key educator approach ensures every child is known, supported and feels safe - through consistent, nurturing connections with educators and meaningful partnerships with families. These bonds help build wellbeing, resilience and a true sense of belonging from day one.

Discover how this approach supports your child’s learning journey: https://brnw.ch/2

Did you know we invested $65.5M into our social purpose last year, a 14% increase on the year before? 👏 At Goodstart, we're proud of the impact we have on children, families and communities. As a not‑for‑profit, every dollar we earn is reinvested to improve outcomes – from high‑quality learning and educator development to extra support for children who need it most.
Because when we put children first, the impact goes further 💛

The research is clear 📚 reading aloud is one of the most powerful things we can do for our children.

When we read with a child, we’re doing far more than sharing a story. We’re building the foundations for language, confidence, curiosity and a lifelong love of learning.

Decades of research shows that children who are read to regularly:

💛 Build stronger language skills
Hearing rich varied language in books exposes children to far more words than everyday conversation alone. This growing vocabulary helps them understand, communicate and make sense of the world.

💛 Develop early literacy skills long before they learn to read
Through stories, children learn how books work – that print carries meaning, that pages turn left to right, and that stories have a beginning, middle and end. These early understandings make learning to read feel familiar and exciting.

💛 Strengthen phonological awareness
Rhymes, rhythms and playful sounds help children hear the building blocks of language.

💛 Grow their comprehension and thinking skills
Talking together about a story, predicting what might happen, wondering how a character feels, and connecting events to real life helps children develop memory, problem-solving, and higher-order thinking.

💛 Experience connection, comfort and joy
Shared reading fosters calmness, closeness, and moments of joint attention. These warm interactions support a child's sense of security and belonging.

Most importantly, children who experience positive, engaging reading moments from a young age are more likely to develop a genuine love of books - something that matters even more than early literacy skills alone.

Reading is simple, joyful, and sets children up for success in school and life.

Here is a list of some of our favourites below 👇

A huge thank you to Holly & Yvette for holding another amazing dance concert today. 💛

We absolutely love seeing the joy on the children’s faces as they showcase all the fun, confidence and love for dance they have been learning over the year.

Little Groovers has been a very special part of Goodstart Burleigh Waters for over 10 years, bringing so many wonderful dance lessons, concerts, family connections, and moments of joy and happiness to our little dancers.

We feel incredibly lucky to have Holly & Yvette as part of our community and are so grateful for the lasting memories and smiles they bring to our children each year. ✨

Click on the link 🌟
https://careers.goodstart.org.au/job/BURLEIGH-WATERS%2C-GOLD-COAST-Educator-QLD-4220/1360893566/

The one who guides us, inspires us, and has supported our team in creating an Exceeding environment — Lee Green — recently shared her reflections on our journey to becoming an Exceeding-rated centre and being recognised as National winners for Enabling Environments in the 2025 Goodies Awards.

But as always, her words carry so much depth, heart, and purpose 🤍

The role of environments in high quality early learning: 5 quick questions with an exceeding centre Q and A with Goodstart Burleigh Waters Centre Director Lee Green

Our staff meetings are more than just meetings. They’re valuable training sessions where we grow and learn together.

We feel so honoured to be working with Steven Bekue from Bundjalung Dreaming, who is deepening our understanding of how to respectfully explore and embed Indigenous perspectives into our program. It’s been a meaningful journey learning how to introduce Aboriginal art with intention and share stories through traditional symbols and patterns.

We’re mindful to approach this in a way that honours culture, builds our knowledge as educators, and creates authentic learning experiences for our children.

It’s something we’re truly proud to be learning together. 🤎

Congratulations to our gorgeous Hannah Fowler who not only won the National rising star awards at the 2025 Goodies, but has also completed her Diploma of Early education and care. We are very proud of you and the work you are doing. Not long now and a study tour in New Zealand for June 🙌🥰