Goodstart Early Learning Ringwood

National Science Week Special Storytime

Rakali of the Riverbank with Stephanie Owen Reeder

At Goodstart Ringwood, we use stories to spark children’s curiosity and help them explore science and the natural world.

As part of National Science Week, our Kinder children joined author Stephanie Owen Reeder for a special reading of Rakali of the Riverbank, provided by the State Library of NSW.

As the sun sets, Rakali, an Australian native water rat, begins his nighttime adventure along the riverbank. He needs to find food, protect his pups and keep his home safe while facing challenges from introduced animals and changes in his environment. Along the way, he encounters a platypus, fish, toad and fox.

The story sparked lots of curiosity among our children. They wanted to discover: What does a rakali look like? Where does it live? What does it eat? Is it active during the day or at night?

Together, we learned that rakali are Australian native animals that live around rivers, creeks, lakes and wetlands, and they are mostly active from dusk through the night.

Learning Science Through Storytelling

This special storytime brought together science, literacy and environmental learning. Through the story, children explored Australian native wildlife, habitats, nocturnal animals and environmental changes while developing their curiosity, questioning and scientific thinking.

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

Wearing Jeans for a good cause!

🌟 Celebrating Our Quality Learning Journey 🌟

We are excited to share some wonderful news with you!

Recently, our Kindergarten participated in a QRS (Quality Rating Scale) observation, where two assessors spent time in our learning environment observing our daily practices, interactions, and teaching. We are incredibly proud to have achieved Excellent quality.

This achievement reflects the dedication, passion, and teamwork that our Kindergarten Teachers bring to our classroom every day. We are committed to creating a warm, inclusive, and engaging learning environment where every child feels safe, valued, and inspired to learn.

We believe all children are capable and competent learners. Through intentional teaching, meaningful play experiences, and high expectations, we strive to support every child to reach their full potential while fostering curiosity, confidence, and a lifelong love of learning.

Dental Week in our nursery room

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 Children in our 4-year-old kinder program engaged in building with large foam blocks in a variety of shapes, including squares, rectangles, triangles, and cylinders. This explicit shape experience supported children to explore shape properties while developing problem-solving, collaboration, and mathematical thinking.

The children in our 4 year old kinder room worked together to construct a large house using the foam blocks, demonstrating teamwork, communication, creativity, and persistence. As the children were deciding which shapes would fit together to create a stable structure, one of the children shared an idea about where a block should be placed. Our kinder teacher recognised this as an opportunity for shared inquiry and encouraged the child to share the idea with their play partners and the wider group by asking, “What do you think about this idea?” and “Which shapes do you think will help make our house stronger?” The children listened to each other, discussed different possibilities, compared shape properties, and experimented with different block placements to test their ideas. Through this collaborative inquiry, children developed their understanding of how different shapes can be combined to create stable and purposeful structures.

Overall, the experience fostered confidence, cooperation, creativity, and communication, while extending children’s understanding of shape properties, problem-solving, and the social dimension of inquiry through shared thinking and exploration.

So excited! After a long break, we finally restarted our Bush Kinder. Bush kinder is important because it supports children's physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and language development while fostering a lifelong appreciation for nature. Through child-led, play-based learning in natural settings, children develop confidence, resilience, creativity, and problem-solving skills that contribute to healthy overall development.

Big Little Buddies – Building Connections Across Generations
Today we began our Big Little Buddies intergenerational music program. Every Monday our kindergarten children will visit the neighbouring aged care residence to share music, movement and meaningful connections with the elderly community.
The program aims to bridge generational gaps by creating opportunities for children and older adults to learn, connect and bring joy to one another. Intergenerational experiences support children's social and emotional development by fostering empathy, confidence, communication skills and respect for older generations, while also reducing age-related stereotypes. At the same time, these visits help reduce feelings of isolation for aged care residents, providing a sense of purpose, belonging and community connection.