The Top 3 Childcare Centres in Berwick, VIC (3806)

Headstart Early Learning Centre Berwick is on Parkhill Drive, approved for 120 places and open 6:00am to 6:00pm on weekdays. Its centre page lists nursery (0 to 2), toddler (2 to 3) and kindergarten (3 to 5) rooms for children from six weeks to six years. It is one of the services run by G8 Education, which has held the approval since July 2014.

The March 2023 assessment rated it Exceeding overall, the same result as in September 2017, with educational program, staffing, relationships with children, family partnerships and governance all above the standard. Health and safety and the physical environment were rated Meeting. Exceeding is the top result available through standard assessment; the separate Excellent designation is awarded by ACECQA on application. There are no conditions on the approval, and the past two years show no enforcement action.

The daily fee is $182.05 at every age, with eight inclusions listed on the register. The centre page says an in-house chef prepares breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and a late snack, and that a weekly Hey Dee Ho music session, excursions and incursions are part of the fee. Its government-approved kindergarten is taught by a Bachelor-qualified early childhood teacher. Places were open Monday to Friday, casual and permanent, when the register was read.

Headstart heads the Berwick list on capacity. Its March 2023 Exceeding rating and Hippity Hop's October 2023 one sit seven months apart, close enough that the rating does not separate them. On fees the two come out level: Hippity Hop is cheaper ($170.00, or $165.00 from 36 months, against $182.05) but lists seven inclusions to Headstart's eight. Hours are level too, since each end of the day differs by just 30 minutes. That leaves practical fit, and Headstart is approved for 120 places against Hippity Hop's 74. The trade-off is price: its fee is the highest on this page, $22.05 a day above Edrington Park.

Hippity Hop Early Learning Berwick at 56a Harkaway Road holds an Exceeding NQS rating issued in October 2023, up from Meeting in January 2019, with educational program, staffing, relationships with children and family partnerships above the standard. Exceeding is the top result through standard assessment; Excellent is a separate designation that ACECQA awards on application. The centre is family owned and operated and is one of four Hippity Hop centres in Melbourne.

With 74 licensed places, Hippity Hop Berwick is a mid-sized centre on Harkaway Road, with indoor and outdoor spaces designed around the Reggio Emilia approach, which treats the environment as the third teacher and encourages curiosity, exploration and respect. It takes children from six weeks to six years and is open 6:30am to 6:30pm.

Fresh meals are prepared on-site daily, with food intolerances and allergies accommodated. The daily fee is $170.00 up to 35 months and $165.00 from 36 months, with seven inclusions listed on Starting Blocks; the centre website also mentions sunscreen, milk and individual linens, so confirm the full list with the centre.

The service carries two conditions on its approval, both specific to this site. There is a swimming pool on the property: the provider must ensure children at the service cannot access the fenced pool area or use the pool, and that no outdoor play equipment sits within 1.9 metres of the pool fencing. No enforcement action has been recorded in the past two years. A family touring here should ask to see the pool fencing and how the rule is supervised in practice.

The 3 and 4-year-old kindergarten program runs within long day care hours, with qualified educators delivering a play-based program focused on school readiness, social development and early literacy and numeracy. The regulator last visited in July 2026, and the register showed casual and permanent openings across the whole week.

Hippity Hop sits second, behind Headstart and ahead of every other ranked contender. Against Headstart the rating is a tie (October 2023 against March 2023, seven months apart) and so are fees, because its lower rate ($170.00, then $165.00 from 36 months, against $182.05) comes with one fewer listed inclusion. Capacity decides that pair, 74 places against 120. Against Edrington Park and the other Meeting centres, its Exceeding rating settles the order before fees or fit are compared. Its Google figure is 5.0 from a single review, too thin to read anything into. Read the two pool conditions on its approval before touring.

Edrington Park Early Learning Centre is a privately owned family business on Edrington Park Drive, approved for 120 places and open 6:30am to 6:30pm, 52 weeks a year. Its website lists five rooms: Jellyfish (0 to 2 years), Seahorse (2 to 2.5), Turtles (2.5 to 3.5), and two kinder rooms running government-funded three and four year old kindergarten within long day care hours. Bush kinder sessions are held at Akoonah Park.

It was assessed in September 2026 and rated Meeting in all seven quality areas, the same overall result as in January 2023. The regulator visited in July 2026, there are no conditions on the approval, and the register records no enforcement action in the past two years.

The fee is $160.00 a day at every age, with seven inclusions counted on Starting Blocks but not itemised, so ask the centre what the rate covers. Starting Blocks does not publish vacancy information for this service. On Google it reads 3.8 from 8 reviews, a small base.

Four Meeting centres were rated between May and October 2026: Edrington Park, Great Beginnings Berwick, My Stars and Creative Garden, and Edrington Park comes out on top of that group for third place. With the rating level across that group, practical fit settles it. Edrington Park is approved for 120 places against 95 at Great Beginnings, 79 at My Stars and 60 at Creative Garden. Its fee is also the lowest of the ranked three at every age, $160.00, though against Great Beginnings fees come out level, because the cheaper rate comes with one fewer listed inclusion (seven against eight). Its Google figure, 3.8 from 8, played no part. Hippity Hop's Exceeding rating places it second.