About Us
A place to thrive
Our Story
The Children‘s Centre is located in Wheelers Hill. Recently we have moved from our Mulgrave site that was first created in 1994 to support employees with families, and to provide families in the local community with high-quality and reliable childcare. Over the 31 years, our centre has grown and so has the need to expand our centre to a new facility with additional rooms. We are excited to open our new centre and welcome you to come for a tour and enquire about the vacancies we have.
We currently have 129 places and provide care and educational programme for children aged from three months to five years old. Eight dedicated rooms – Possum, Bilby, Koala, Wallaby, Wombat, Kookaburra, Turtle, Crocodile – cater to different age groups and stages of development. We are open from 7.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday, and close only for two weeks over Christmas and for public holidays.
Our team of 50 qualified staff have a wealth of experience in Early childhood and Kindergarten program. We pride ourselves in our consistent team who are long standing with minimal staff turnover, which means we can provide a consistent and stable environment, in which your child can thrive. Our Educators and teachers undergo continual training, which enables them to develop innovative early childhood program that best meet the needs of each child. Educators have adopted the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework into current practices and programming as well as embedding an indigenous curriculum in our rooms that supports our Reconciliation Action Plan. Our centre has a Cultural inclusion program that focuses on the wellbeing of the children, educators and families. We are passionate about creating an atmosphere of inclusion, and support throughout the centre. We have a working RAP (Reconciliation Action Plan) and invite families to also be involved.
Contact with Parents
Families are welcome to meet regularly with Educators to discuss their child‘s learning and development. Prior to your child commencing care we offer a meeting with the room leader to discuss your childs routines, personalities and how we can best support your child and family to settle into the centre. We warmly encourage open communication to provide the best possible network of support. Several times throughout the year we hold parent information evenings where Educators and families discuss the running of each room and contribute to programming. Our Kindergarten runs Kinder readiness and school readiness information sessions each year as we strive to establish smooth transitions between Kinder and Primary school. We also regularly invite parents to hear guest speakers present on specific themes of interest, such as Sleep Education, Dads Den, School readiness, Behavioural guidance, and health and safety awareness. We have several community events throughout the year as well which our families love to be involved in.
Families are welcome to make an appointment with the room educators to discuss their child‘s progress and overall development, parent teacher interviews are offered twice a year. This is an opportunity for Educators and parents to collaborate on their child‘s interests, strengths and family values. The centre provides termly newsletters and centre event calendars which keeps families up to date with happenings and developments in each room.
Meals
Meals are prepared and delivered three times a day by our kitchen team lead by our Qualified chef. Our chef is also a trained nutritionist who is passionate about creating specific child-friendly, wholesome and freshly prepared seasonal menus for the centre, which also includes a wide variety of multicultural dishes. The children‘s centre chef incorporates The Get Up and Grow guidelines and those set out by the Australian Health Department for Early Childhood Nutrition in the meal planning, to ensure a healthy and delicious variety of foods and dishes are offered. As a centre we recognise the important values of introducing children to a wide variety of healthy foods and textures to set up healthy and positive life long eating habits. Children with specific dietary requirements will have an alternative meal prepared for them after consultation with the Chef.
Early Learning & Additional Programs
As well as development programs for each room and for each child, the centre incorporates specialist programs including Active antics, Music & Drama, languages (Auslan, Italian, Mandarin), Yoga, Art / Craft days, environmental awareness and cooking sessions. These are available to all children at the centre at no additional cost to parents. Programs are delivered by trained staff in fun and practical ways that encourage children to develop skills and knowledge in areas they may not be exposed to at home.
Detailed information and links between the learning program and the Framework can be seen on the rooms monthly program on their display wall. There is a reflection book and fortnightly reflections folder which contains interests, stories of play and special events. The reflections, together with children‘s individual portfolios can give families an understanding of their child‘s learning journey throughout the year. Families are highly welcome to participate in the child‘s learning and are encouraged to share ideas and have input in programs. We welcome parental input into these programs; if you have a skill, passion or profession that can be shared with the children, we warmly welcome you to discuss it with the staff and arrange a special visit.
Early intervention services
The Children’s Centre’s has a number of contacts established that can support children’s learning, behaviour and development. These support services can sometimes be the first step in diagnosing learning or development difficulties or disorders for children and supporting them within the program. There are many different types of intervention and support services available. For some children these may be needed for a longer period of time than others and for others they are for a short period of time with strategies put in place for continued support.
We welcome therapists to attend throughout the day where your child can undertake an assessment or their ongoing sessions within the room or in our meeting room. This has shown positive results with childrens engagement and also more success working in partnership with goals within the room and also therapy sessions and the home setting.
Orientation
Orientation to the centre is carefully planned to allow for a smooth, slow and stress-free transition. Feeling secure and safe is vital to the settling-in period for each of us. Before children start full days, we invite parents to accompany them for two orientation visits which are for two hours. These sessions are free of charge. Orientation sessions are a time for educators to learn about your child's routines, likes, dislikes and how we can best support their learning in our centre. If a child is displaying signs of not settling within these periods, additional sessions may be negotiated. We have found that this orientation process works exceptionally well because it allows for children, families and staff to build trust, security and a foundation for early learning.
Leaving your child for the first time
We understand that leaving your child in the care of others for the first time can be a very emotional experience for both parents and the child. We are here to support all families and children during this process and encourage families to take the opportunity to attend out Meet and Greet Nights or meet with the room leader prior to their child starting.
We have also found that talking to your child about what is about to happen does help. You may like to tell your child that while you need to leave, you have spoken to your child’s room leader and they are going to keep you safe just like Mum and Dad do. They will hold your hand like you do and that you will come back. We always recommend saying goodbye to your child.
Fees
Fees for the centre are outlined below; our fees have been set to provide high quality care and educational programs. Childcare benefit and childcare tax rebates are available at the centre; parents should access fee subsidies through the Family Assistance Office and the Taxation system.
From 2nd June 2025 our fees are: Daily $174.00 per day, a discount of $5.00 per day for Full time children.