Goodstart Early Learning South Hurstville - Woniora Road

Ever had one of those "What should I be doing with my child?" moments? You might already have the answer at home.

Earlier this year, every Goodstart family received a What & When for Families guide for each child. If it's been tucked away in a drawer since then, now might be the perfect time to pull it back out.

The guide is packed with simple, play-based activities that support your child's learning and development at home. Best of all, it's written in your child's voice, with ideas tailored to their age and developmental stage.

From singing songs with babies and playing peek-a-boo, to "I Spy" games, storytelling and treasure hunts with older children, the activities are designed to fit naturally into everyday moments you already share together.

We know learning doesn't only happen in the classroom. Those small moments at home can help build big communication, language and literacy skills.

Take another look through your What & When for Families guide to explore age-appropriate activities and learning ideas you can try together.

💛 Sometimes the best learning resource is the one you already have at home.

🌿🌼 G is for Garden! 🌼🌿

Thank you to our families for generously donating beautiful natural materials from your gardens.

Using flowers, leaves, herbs and other garden treasures, the children created their own miniature gardens in salt dough. Inspired by garden images and the artworks of Claude Monet, they explored different textures, colours and scents while expressing their creativity and imagination.

This hands-on experience supported fine motor development, sensory exploration and a deeper connection with nature. 🌱💚

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We were fortunate to welcome MP Ash Ambihaipahar to our service today. It was a great opportunity to touch base on important issues affecting early childhood education and to share the great work happening in our community. The visit also coincided with our week-long Toy Swap Event, promoting sustainability and community connection. ♻️🧸💛

📚🧸 Bringing Stories to Life! 🧸📚

Storytelling is a wonderful way to inspire imagination, language development and creativity. Using books and finger puppets as provocations, our preschool children explored characters, retold familiar stories and created their own storytelling adventures.

These engaging experiences support literacy skills, communication, confidence and a love of reading while encouraging children to express their ideas in meaningful ways.

✨ Every puppet has a story to tell, and every story sparks a new adventure! ✨

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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 💛

As part of our NAIDOC Week celebrations, the children created beautiful nature bracelets using recycled cardboard rolls and natural materials such as leaves, flowers, and wooden pieces. The children carefully selected their favourite items to decorate their bracelets, with some making them for themselves and others choosing to gift them to their mummy. This creative experience encouraged a connection to nature, sustainability, and an appreciation for using natural materials in meaningful ways. ❤️💛🖤✨

As part of our NAIDOC Week celebrations, our nursery and toddler children explored a miniature Australian landscape filled with native animals, trees, homes, and natural elements. They enjoyed matching animal figures to pictures and identifying favourites such as kangaroos, koalas, wombats, and echidnas. Through play and conversations, the children developed an early understanding of Australian wildlife and their connection to the natural environment. ❤️💛🖤✨

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 👇