The Top 3 Childcare Centres in Bentleigh East, VIC (3165)

This Guardian centre stands at 31 East Boundary Road and holds 118 approved places. Children from six weeks to six years are spread over four age groups. Babies stay in the nursery until 18 months, toddlers move up at roughly 30 months, then come two preschool rooms, the older taking children from about 42 months until school.

Its July 2026 assessment placed all seven quality areas above the standard, a clear step up from the Meeting result of January 2023, when only family and community partnerships had gone beyond it. The approval passed to Guardian in August 2017, so both ratings belong to it. Two yard-layout conditions attach to the approval.

The program is Guardian's To BE Me framework, with the Flying Start to School kindergarten taught by teachers over the two years before school. The centre says the Victorian Government funds as much as 15 hours of Free Kinder weekly. A chef cooks every meal on site from seasonal menus, and outdoors a bike track loops past the veggie garden, sandpits and water play.

At $182.97 for every age group, Starting Blocks counts six items as included: breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, nappies and the educational program. Every weekday showed casual as well as permanent openings at our check. The number on this card rings the centre itself; the Google listing carries the network's 1300 number instead.

Same operator, same programs, same 6:30am to 6:30pm hours and the same July 2026 result as its sister centre at number 236, so first place came down to price. This one costs $20.55 less a day for under-threes and $18.32 less from three, and still supplies nappies for older children. Its 4.6 across 63 Google reviews is a solid record. Do note the name: whatever the sign says, this is a Bentleigh East centre.

The register gives this service's address as 236 East Boundary Road, but Guardian's own page directs families to 15 Curtin Street, with entry at the corner of Curtin and Barrington Streets. Its 124 approved places make it the larger Guardian campus, though Buckets holds more. Families move from a nursery, for under-twos, into the toddler group at two, then a kinder group covering three to five; no minimum starting age is published.

Every quality area was rated Exceeding in July 2026, an advance from the December 2022 Meeting result, when governance was its only area beyond Meeting. The approval has been with Guardian since May 2015, so both results are its own, and the approval is condition-free.

Kinder is the Flying Start to School program, led by degree-qualified teachers; the centre reports receiving state Free Kinder funding. The site describes an extensive outdoor area and recently refurbished rooms, with ELLA language sessions, cooking and sustainability among the regular activities.

Fees are $203.52 a day below three years and $201.29 once a child turns three. Starting Blocks lists breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and the educational program at every age, plus nappies only for the younger bands; the site promises nappies, wipes and outings for everyone, so ask which is right. Both booking types had weekday openings.

Rated the same as number 31, on the same day, by the same operator, this campus loses only on cost: it runs $20.55 a day dearer for babies and toddlers. We hold no confirmed Google figure, because its listing sits under the Curtin Street entrance rather than the registered address, so reviews could not be weighed. Choose it if the extra space or the Curtin Street entry suits your drop-off.

Buckets occupies a purpose-built building on the corner of Centre Road and Wards Grove, with 128 approved places, outnumbering either Guardian. This is a separate service from the Buckets on Tucker Road that ranks on our Bentleigh page. The rooms are spread across two levels, and every room opens onto its own indoor and outdoor learning space.

Weekly music, movement and yoga classes run through the program, kindergarten groups head out for Bush Kinder each week, and chefs plan seasonal menus. The group's site describes government-funded kinder for children aged three and four, with qualified teachers leading it, but does not name the Centre Road centre, so ask how it runs here.

Its newest assessment, May 2025, returned Meeting on every area, repeating May 2021, when it also held Meeting throughout. No other eligible Meeting centre here has a newer result. No conditions apply, nothing has transferred since approval in January 2013, and the enforcement count is zero.

The fee is $193.60 at any age, up 4.20% from $185.80 in May 2026, and Starting Blocks lists no inclusions against it. Starting Blocks gives a 7:00am to 7:00pm day, while its website says it closes at 6:30pm, so check pick-up time before relying on it. Openings existed for casual bookings and permanent ones alike.

Excellent Education & Care, the next centre in line, was assessed precisely a year before Buckets, so the two tied on rating. Excellent costs $33.60 a day less with seven inclusions; Buckets is nearly four times the size, publishes vacancies and keeps longer hours. With that split, the review record had to decide: Buckets holds 4.5 from 30 Google reviews, Excellent 5.0 from 15. We weighted the deeper record, so the lower score ranks higher here.