Our centre offers the Victorian Government-approved ‘Kinder: Best Start, Best Life’ program for 3–4-year-olds, providing up to 15 hours per week of funded Kindergarten. This program supports children’s learning, development, and well-being, setting them up for future success.

Our Enhanced Learning Program for Kindergarten children focuses on:

• Numeracy & Literacy: Developing key skills for lifelong learning.
• Self-Regulation: Fostering emotional control and resilience.
• Social & Emotional Development: Supporting independence and building healthy relationships.
• Creativity & Problem-Solving: Encouraging curiosity and critical thinking.

With extended hours and a year-round program (excluding public holidays), our Kindergarten program is delivered by qualified Early Childhood Teachers committed to supporting your child’s individual development.

Additional Benefits Include:

• Government subsidy: Further reduces out-of-pocket Kinder fees in addition to your eligible Childcare Subsidy (CCS).
• Personalised Learning Plans: Tailored to your child’s unique needs.
• Rhythm and Resilience Program: Music and movement to improve emotional regulation.
• School Readiness: Preparing your child for a smooth transition to school.

We also engage with local schools and provide transition statements, ensuring your child feels confident and prepared for the next steps in their education journey. Stay connected with your child’s progress via our Xplor platform, which offers regular updates on their learning and development.

“Let the child be the scriptwriter, director and the actor in their own play” - Magda Gerber

Nursery Space: 6 weeks – 2 years

Learning starts from before birth, and our Educators have created a welcoming and nurturing nursery environment where each baby feels safe to explore and discover new things - through their senses, their communication and cues (body language, facial expression and sounds) and through experimentation. On any given day you can see the nursery children engaging in all types of play including sensory play, music time, story time and more. Every day provides a brand new, exciting adventure for our babies to support their development, learning and wellbeing.

Toddler Space: 2 - 3 years

Our teachers and educators encourage the children to learn through play to help enhance their sensory-motor development. This happens through carefully planned music, dance, games, role playing and reading experiences.

On any given day the Toddlers can be seen developing their numeracy by building a tower, sorting objects, pointing and identifying shapes and patterns and participating in counting songs and games.

Children in our toddler space are encouraged to participate in group play. Group play is important as it helps our toddlers develop important social skills such as, turn-taking, developing self-confidence and emotional self-regulation. Our skilled team helps children through talking, planning and role modelling.

Kindergarten Space: 3 – 6 years

Kindergarten is a unique time for learning with peers and developing skills for later learning including confidence and curiosity, important skills for starting school. Our play-based program has school readiness at its core, encouraging active engagement in learning and supporting a range of positive developmental outcomes including resilience, independence, critical thinking and creativity.

The oral language supports literacy learning and a child’s oral language ability is the best predictor for later success in learning to read and write. Hearing the sounds within a language is the first critical step for all literacy learning. Our team supports our Kindergarten children's literacy development by engaging in rich discussions, reading, storytelling, dramatic play and experimentation all of which introduce new vocabulary as part of everyday conversations.

Throughout the Kindergarten year, children use their language to share ideas, ask questions, express themselves, and connect with peers and adults in social settings.

Social-emotional skills, including the ability to self-regulate emotions, are supported through group learning experiences. Our team supports each child’s social and emotional development by labelling and talking about emotions and su pporting appropriate responses as together, they engage in new and challenging situations. Our goal in the kindergarten year is to prepare children and families for a smooth transition to primary school.

Our centre chef prepares and cooks nutritious meals daily, catering to the unique dietary requirements of every child. We believe that by encouraging active participation (such as growing their own fruit and vegetables, preparing, and finally cooking!) children learn to appreciate and understand the importance of healthy eating across a wide variety of food.

Our centre offers seasonal whole food-based menus – created to delight the fussiest eaters.

Hi my name is Ashlee, and I am the Centre Manager here at Great Beginnings Keysborough. I began my career in early childhood education and care in 2004 and started working Great Beginnings Keysborough in 2020. I hold a Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care. After high school I got a full-time traineeship at a community child care center where I completed my Diploma. After having both of my children and re-joining the work force I wanted to ensure my knowledge was as current as it could be, so I re-did my diploma. I then went on to lead classrooms of varying ages and also became an educational leader. I have been in centre manager roles since 2016. 

From the age of ten years old I always knew my calling was to care for children. I originally wanted to be a midwife but was turned off by the nursing side of babies being born so began my career with older children, which was where I discovered my passion for educating and caring for valuable children who needed some extra love. This is when I discovered I would never have to “work” another day of my life. My real passion is the relationships you can build with children wo need someone to care for them. To see their little faces, light up when they arrive and see us here waiting for them with open arms, ensuring the families know how much their whole world is truly cared for.

All childcare centres, including our centre, use the foundation of play-based learning to guide our experiences every day. With access to a range of age-appropriate learning resources, trained educators, and new experiences among friends, we set children up to thrive in an environment that is dedicated to learning. Children develop their curiosity, problem-solving, confidence and resilience at our centre, and we carefully plan play-based learning experiences around their interests and learning goals. Over time, you will see your child develop abilities such as language, motor movement, memory, concentration, and social relationships all by partaking in these experiences - it's a truly incredible journey to witness!

Our team are a truly diverse group with a range of life experiences as individuals and also as a team. They have the same passion and vision to be the best they can for the children within their care. They are so committed and positive about their role as educators. The whole team sees their role as incredibly important, helping children establish the building blocks for a successful lifetime of learning.

Our team understands just how important your children are to you and we ensure we take our responsibilities seriously. Great Beginnings has extensive policy and procedures in place to assist our team in protecting children in our care. You can read more about our commitment to safety here. 

At Great Beginnings Keysborough we have an open-door policy where we encourage families to be involved in the program. E.g sing songs/read stories in their home language. We also offer fruit and hot drinks to take for the journey at drop off times to make a smoother and quicker morning routine.

When enrolling my own children in childcare I found that having the same person who lead the tour, be there for orientation and the first day made our experience so much easier and that is the approach we follow. We also ensure that everything is written down as well as verbal. This gives families the opportunity to read through things, so they don’t feel overwhelmed after a tour. 

Welcome to Great Beginnings Keysborough.