Goodstart Early Learning Strathfieldsaye

🌿 Community Adventures 🍃

Our toddlers enjoyed another Community Adventure, exploring the natural environment with curiosity, confidence and excitement. As they searched for treasures, balanced on logs, investigated plants, climbed, observed their surroundings and shared their discoveries with friends, they were developing far more than physical skills.

These real-world experiences support children's confidence, resilience, problem-solving and sense of belonging. By taking learning beyond our gates, children build meaningful connections with their community, develop an appreciation for the natural environment and discover that every walk can lead to
new questions, new discoveries and new learning.

Community Adventures remind us that some of the richest learning happens when children have the time, freedom and opportunity to explore the world around them.

💚 Little explorers, big discoveries.

💚 We Have a Voice 💚
Children's voices matter.

Our kindergarten children have created "We Have a Voice – A Child's Guide to Goodstart Strathfieldsaye", using their own words, artwork and ideas to explore the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This project supports Child Safe Standard 3 by empowering children to understand their rights, actively participate in decisions that affect them and know they will be taken seriously when they speak up.
By listening to children, valuing their perspectives and creating opportunities for genuine participation, we are building a culture where every child feels safe, respected and heard.

Because every child deserves to know:
"You have rights. You have a voice.
We will listen." 💚

The power of mark making ❤️

Just three weeks can make an incredible difference when children are given time, encouragement and meaningful experiences to draw.

Our first image shows a bird, inspired by watching the birds visit our bird feeder. While simple in appearance, it captured what was important to the child and reflected their growing ability to represent something they had observed.

Fast forward three weeks, and the same child proudly drew a man fixing an elevator. When asked about the arrows, they explained they showed the elevator going down.

What might look like "just a drawing" actually tells us so much about learning.

We can see growth in:
❤️Representing people and objects with greater detail.
❤️Using symbols, such as arrows, to communicate movement.
❤️Planning where objects belong on the page.
❤️Using drawings to tell a story rather than simply creating a picture.
❤️Expressing ideas, observations and experiences through mark making.

This is why we value children's drawings. Every line, shape and symbol gives us insight into their thinking. Mark making isn't just preparation for writing—it is a powerful language in its own right, allowing children to communicate ideas, solve problems and make sense of the world around them.

The marks children make tell the story of how they are learning to think.

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 💛

🔢 Building Number Sense Through Play

At our service, we believe children develop the strongest mathematical foundations when numbers are explored through meaningful, everyday experiences—not worksheets.

Number sense is intentionally woven throughout our daily program. Our educators create opportunities for children to count, compare, sort, estimate, recognise patterns, solve problems and talk about mathematical ideas during play, routines and investigations. Whether children are setting the table for lunch, building with blocks, collecting natural treasures, sharing resources or exploring loose parts, they are developing an understanding of how numbers work and what they represent.

By asking open-ended questions such as "How do you know?", "What do you notice?" and "Is there another way?", we encourage children to think deeply, explain their ideas and build confidence as capable mathematicians.

When children develop strong number sense, they aren't just learning to count—they are building the foundations for problem-solving, reasoning, critical thinking and a lifelong confidence in mathematics.
We encourage families to continue these conversations at home. Every trip to the shops, every game, every meal and every walk provides opportunities to notice, talk about and enjoy maths together.

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 👇

DJAARA
Today we were privileged to welcome Uncle Jason to our service to hold a Welcome Smoking Ceremony on Djaara Country.
Uncle Jason shared the importance of coming together, respecting one another, working together, and caring for Country. He spoke about the importance of walking together, with no one in front and no one behind, reminding us that connection, respect, and unity are what will carry us forward into the future.

Through sharing culture and stories, Uncle Jason highlighted the importance of teaching and passing cultural knowledge on to the next generation, as this is where our future lies. He encouraged us to build strong connections with community and to recognise that we all have a role to play in caring for Country and each other.

One message that deeply resonated was that what we do upstream impacts downstream. Our actions, decisions, and relationships today create lasting impacts for future generations. By working together, respecting one another, and caring for Country, we contribute to a stronger and more connected future for us all.

We are incredibly grateful to Uncle Jason for sharing his wisdom, culture, and knowledge with our children, families, and educators. Experiences such as these help strengthen our understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and deepen our connection to the land, community, and each other.

Today our Educational Leader Jaime attended the Victorian Institute of Teaching, Mentor of Pre-Service Teachers Seminar, an opportunity to deepen understanding around mentoring and supporting future educators as they begin their teaching journey.

Quality mentoring plays such an important role in shaping confident, capable and reflective teachers. Through guidance, encouragement and genuine connection, mentors help bridge the gap between theory and practice, creating safe spaces for pre-service teachers to learn, ask questions and grow.

At our service, we value the opportunity to support emerging educators and recognise the impact that strong mentorship has not only on teachers, but ultimately on outcomes for children and families ❤️