Goodstart Early Learning Mount Waverley

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

👖 Celebrating Jeans for Genes Day!
Our team and children wore their jeans today to stand in support of kids impacted by genetic conditions.
We got creative with fun collage art, decorating cardboard and real denim jeans with bright paper scraps and paint.
A beautiful opportunity to talk about kindness and community with our little learners 💙

🐢 Celebrating National Aboriginal Children’s Day this week!
We honoured the joy, culture and strengths of First Nations children with a special dot‑art activity.
Using a large cardboard turtle outline, our children explored traditional dot painting techniques, decorating the turtle with art tools and vibrant colours.
It was a beautiful hands‑on experience for little ones to connect with Aboriginal culture, learn about storytelling and express their creativity.
We celebrate the talents and voices of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children 💛

✨ Extending our Bush Kinder program with our wonderful nature mud kitchen!
Children have been exploring, creating and imaginative play using natural gumnuts, leaves, branches, along with fresh vegetable scraps and citrus.
Mixing, stirring and concocting all sorts of wonderful potions in our outdoor space.
Sensory‑rich play helps children connect with nature while building creativity, fine motor skills and social skills.
What a magical way to learn outdoors🌿

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 💛

Our little learners joined a fun road safety incursion today! They discovered how to stay safe around traffic, practised crossing roads carefully, learnt all about road signs and listened to important safety tips. This hands-on session built their safety awareness and taught our kinder kids to be thoughtful, responsible community members. #

Quick guess! Who are our kinder kids making these cute handmade winter hats for? 🧶
All these lovely handmade hats will be delivered to seniors living in a local nursing home. With cold weather on its way, our tiny crafters want to send their warmth, so the local elderly residents can feel nice and warm this winter.
Pure kindness from our little ones! ❤️

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 👇

🚦 Road Safety Learning at Our Childcare Centre – Go & Stop Traffic Lights 🚦

The children have been learning all about road safety through the fun and important concept of traffic lights!

We discovered what each colour means:
🔴 Red means STOP – We stop, wait safely, and do not move onto the road.
🟡 Yellow means WAIT – We slow down, pay attention, and get ready to stop.
🟢 Green means GO – We only go when it is safe and always with an adult.

Through role play, games, and discussions, the children are learning that traffic lights help keep everyone safe when crossing roads.

We are also practising important safety steps:
👀 Stop, Look, Listen, and Think before crossing
🤝 Hold an adult’s hand near roads
🚶 Walk carefully and stay alert

Learning road safety early helps children build lifelong safe habits. Great job to all our little learners for being responsible road safety stars! 🌟