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Child Safe Organisation logo featuring colourful hands forming a star shape, symbolizing support and protection for children in early childhood education.
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AGES 6 WEEKS TO 5 YEARS

Starfish Childcare & Early Learning Centre Essendon

Starfish Childcare & Early Learning Centre Essendon provides play-based childcare and funded kindergarten for children from six weeks to five years.
Starfish Early Learning Centre rated Meeting National Quality Standard childcare logo.
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Starfish Early Learning Centre rated Meeting National Quality Standard childcare logo.Starfish ELC approved kindergarten program recognised by the Victorian Government
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Essendon

Why Starfish Essendon?

  • Starfish’s newest centre, with seven purpose-built rooms designed for different stages of early childhood.
  • Three separate outdoor yards across three levels, giving different age groups their own spaces to explore and play.
  • Conveniently located near Strathmore train station for families commuting through Essendon and surrounding suburbs.
  • Serving Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Aberfeldie, Strathmore, Niddrie, Ascot Vale and Flemington.
  • Funded kindergarten within long day care, supporting children’s learning, development and preparation for school.
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Fees

Starfish ELC Essendon · 1 Melfort Avenue · Six weeks to five years

Child Care Subsidy
Daily Fee
Six weeks to five years
$172.00/day
Estimated out-of-pocket cost $50.48/day*
* Estimate only. Your actual out-of-pocket cost may vary based on your Child Care Subsidy (CCS) entitlement and individual circumstances.
Check your subsidy

What's included in your daily fee

Baby diaper
Nappies and sunscreen
Fresh vegetables
Nutritious, high-quality meals freshly prepared
Healthy balanced meal
Lunch
Children's backpack
Tailored educational programs to children's evolving interests
Open book
Engaging, age-appropriate toys, books and learning resources
Colourful children's building blocks
Two one-hour orientation sessions
Red apple
Breakfast
Healthy banana and cracker snack
Afternoon tea
Colourful paint palette
Rotating educational curriculum
Children's sand bucket and shovel
Safe, shaded playgrounds designed for every age group
Thumbs up
CCS-approved centre
Cup of tea
Morning tea
Children's playground slide
Play-based learning
Pencil and writing paper
Extra-curricular activities
Broccoli
Kitchen garden program and veggie patch
TRUSTED STANDARDS

Our Foundation

Starfish Early Learning Centre logo featuring an orange starfish and playful text, representing early childhood education and care services.
Since 2009
Child Safe Organisation logo featuring colourful hands forming a star shape, symbolizing support and protection for children in early childhood education.
Child Safe Organisation
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program logo
Kitchen Garden
DAILY ROUTINE

A Typical Day

Discover how we balance structured learning, free play, and essential rest throughout your child's day.

Drop Off

A gentle transition. Share overnight updates with your educators and help your child settle into their room's morning rhythm.

Learning & Play

Child-led exploration through Reggio Emilia-inspired provocations, building cognitive and social skills.

Morning Tea

Freshly prepared morning tea.

Indoor & Outdoor Experiences

Flexible flow between our classrooms, the established vegetable garden, and outdoor play spaces.

Lunch

Nutritious, high-quality meals freshly prepared.

Rest & Sleep

Quiet time or sleep tailored to your child's individual routine to recharge for the afternoon.

Afternoon Learning Activities

Continued sensory play, art and group experiences, with a healthy afternoon tea.

Daily updates from our educators

A comprehensive wrap-up of your child's day from our educators, supported by their Daily Learning Journal.

CENTRE LEADERSHIP

Meet Your Director

I’m Samantha Jacobs, Centre Director at Starfish Essendon. I warmly invite you to book a tour, walk through our rooms, meet our educators, and ask any questions you have about your child’s early learning journey.

Meet the Team

Portrait of Tonii Tran, Managing Director of Starfish Early Learning Centre.
Tonii Tran
Managing Director
Portrait of Kera Degenhardt, General Manager at Starfish Early Learning Centre.
Kera Degenhardt
General Manager
Samantha Jacobs, Centre Director at Starfish Essendon
View Staff Bio
I am the Centre Director at Starfish ELC Essendon. I have worked in early childhood education and care for 19 years, and I have loved every moment of my journey—from working closely alongside children of all ages, to supporting operations in the kitchen, and later evolving into a director's leadership position. Each role has taught me something new and helped shape me into the educator I am today. My favourite part of the role is that every day is different. What I love most is witnessing children begin their learning journey with us—from orientation through to their first day—and seeing the strong connections among the children, families and our team.
Samantha Jacobs
Essendon Centre Director

Portrait of Angela, educator at Starfish ELC Essendon
Angela
Portrait of Georgia, educator at Starfish ELC Essendon
Georgia
Portrait of Kamal, educator at Starfish ELC Essendon
Kamal
Portrait of Katheryn, educator at Starfish ELC Essendon
Katheryn
Portrait of Loan, educator at Starfish ELC Essendon
Loan
Portrait of SiSi, educator at Starfish ELC Essendon
SiSi

Discover Essendon's premier state-of-the-art early learning centre – an inviting space designed to enhance your child’s development. Our newest early learning centre will offer your child unparalleled opportunities to learn, develop, grow, and experience.

Newest Starfish Centre

Starfish ELC Essendon is a well-designed centre offering seven rooms catering to children of various age groups. Each room is purposefully tailored to meet the unique developmental needs of the children within that age range. This design allows for age-appropriate activities, resources, and learning opportunities that foster holistic growth and development.

Outdoor play areas

The children have access to three outdoor yards – level 1, level 2 and level 3, each specifically designated for various age groups. Our dedicated spaces offer exploration and play, fostering age-appropriate interactions and physical activities. Our days are filled with indoor and outdoor learning and playtime.

Sustainable practice teachings

The centre plans to establish vegetable gardens for hands-on learning, utilising worm farms to teach composting and reduce food waste. We plan on embracing the local environment, with weekly nature walks along Moonee Ponds Creek Trail and Five Mile Creek. Of course this will be optional for all families and your enrollment pack will contain more information.

Programmes by Age

Baby exploring sensory toy in a play based childcare early learning environment.
6 weeks - 18 months
Babies
  • Safe & Well-designed Learning Spaces
  • Dedicated calm sleep spaces
  • Sensory play
  • Daily routine updates for feeds & sleeps
  • Extracurricular Experiences
About the 0–3 program
Child using a magnifying glass during a hands-on learning activity at Starfish ELC
18 MONTHS - 3 YEARS
Toddlers
  • Play-based learning
  • Building independence & confidence
  • Toilet training support
  • Indoor and outdoor exploration
  • Kitchen garden program
About the toddler program
Young child exploring the vegetable garden outdoors at Starfish ELC
3 - 5 YEARS
Kindergarten
  • Government-funded program
  • Bachelor-qualified Teachers
  • School readiness focus
  • Kitchen garden program
About funded kindergarten
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Ready for your child to join the Starfish Essendon Centre?

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Starfish Early Learning Centre Essendon

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Family Reviews

Trusted by Families

We started taking our son to Starfish at 6 months old and he has been absolutely thriving here. The staff are extremely warm and professional and it has made it really easy for us to be confident that he's being well looked after. The rooms are well set up with lots of great activities and the outdoor spaces are huge with lots of room to play. They have been very attentive to his needs and we get great reports on how he's been each day with naps and food. We love seeing the photos of him playing and socialising with the other kids. Couldn't recommend this place more highly.
H
Hayden Mackenzie
I started my daughter at starfish Essendon last year and the whole entire process has been amazing. She had been at a previous centre and wasn’t settling in at all so I decided to move her . Once she started in starfish she settled right away.
The facilities are great, age appropriate to each age group .
All the members of staff from management to educators are amazing And they have become such a huge part of my children’s growth and development .
I loved it so much I also moved my older son across from his previous daycare and he loves it !!
Beautiful centre and beautiful staff .
P
Patria Carey
I was very nervous to finally send my two year old to childcare and visited a number of different centres around the area. I was very impressed when I toured at Starfish Essendon. The centre was very clean, had wonderful and shaded outdoor areas and allowed the kids can safely view the trains come and go at the platform. The centre manager, Samantha has been warm, accommodating, knowledgeable and very helpful from day 1. My two year old's first day was lovely. She actually felt comfortable enough to even have a nap there. The educators are so kind and attentive to my daughter's needs. I'm very grateful to have found a centre where I can have peace of mind in leaving my child there for the day.
M
M H
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Common Questions

The centre is located next to Strathmore train station, making it a perfect choice for families that take public transport to work.

The Victorian Government provides funding to support children to access a kindergarten program in the year before they start school. The funding is a contribution towards meeting the cost of the kindergarten program and is based on the number of children enrolled in the program at Starfish Early Learning Centre. Each child is eligible to attend only one funded kindergarten for a single year.

Our Essendon Centre is open five days a week, Monday to Friday, from 7am to 6pm.

Our Essendon Centre features three outdoor yards, each specifically designed for different age groups, and an outdoor vegetable garden and worm farm, which children will participate in running to learn the value of sustainability.

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Limited Spots for 2027

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