The Top 3 Childcare Centres in Croydon, VIC (3136)

Birches Early Learning Centre Croydon at 202-204 Dorset Road received its Meeting NQS rating in February 2026, following a January 2026 regulatory visit with zero enforcement actions.

Birches Croydon brings the group's Reggio Emilia-inspired curriculum, purpose-built natural environments and all-inclusive fee structure to Croydon families.

The daily fee of $178.40 is one rate across all four age bands. Starting Blocks lists eight inclusions: meals through the day from breakfast to afternoon tea, other meals besides, nappies, education programs, and excursions and incursions.

The centre runs a kindergarten program within long day care hours. No age range and no Free Kinder status appear on the register for this service; ask the centre about both.

One distinguishing feature across all Birches Early Learning centres is the monthly incursion program, included at no additional cost to families. Programs rotate by term and centre but consistently include hands-on experiences like the Henny Penny chicken hatching program, butterfly lifecycle (caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly), reptile and native animal incursions, Museum Victoria's outreach program, Little Scientists, dental visits, woodworking workshops, and Aboriginal cultural music and history sessions. The program brings expert-led learning experiences directly to children at the centre rather than requiring families to coordinate external visits.

Birches Croydon heads the page because of who owns it rather than the five factors, and it sat outside the comparison with Discovery and Goodstart. February 2026 brought its first assessment, which rated it Meeting in every quality area, after a January 2026 visit from the regulator with no enforcement actions. The register lists eight inclusions at $178.40 a day: meals across the whole day, including breakfast and other meals, plus nappies, education programs, excursions and incursions. Google shows 5.0 for it, over a base of 24 reviews read under control on 22 September 2026. Two conditions sit on its approval and are quoted above. Set against Discovery, it costs $21.91 a day more, has 24 Google reviews to 54, offers no Saturday session, and has one assessment where Discovery's Meeting has held across two. Families drawn to a Reggio Emilia-inspired program should tour both.

Discovery Childcare and Education on Maroondah Highway was rated Meeting NQS in March 2026, having also been rated Meeting in April 2022. Every quality area sits at Meeting. Starting Blocks shows no enforcement actions in the past two years and no conditions on approval; the regulator last visited in August 2026.

At $156.49 a day, one rate applies to every age band Starting Blocks lists. The fee covers breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and other meals, nappies, and excursions and incursions. Starting Blocks also lists education programs for the younger rooms and transport for the 36 months to preschool room.

It opens 6:30am to 6:30pm on weekdays and 7:00am to 1:00pm on Saturdays. Birches and Goodstart are closed on Saturdays.

The operator also runs Discovery services in Ringwood and Boronia. Its program draws on Forest School, Reggio Emilia, Montessori and Steiner approaches, with regular outings, nature play and bush kinder, and a kindergarten program led by qualified kindergarten teachers. Starting Blocks does not publish an age range, approved places or a Free Kinder status for the service, so confirm those with the centre.

Discovery Childcare and Education leads the ranked centres on the five published factors. Its Meeting NQS rating was issued in March 2026, the most recent of the three, and follows a Meeting rating in April 2022, so the result has held across two assessments. A controlled capture on 17 September 2026 put it at 4.8 across 54 Google reviews. At $156.49 a day it is the lowest fee here, with eight inclusions, and it is the only one of the three open on Saturday mornings. The August 2026 regulatory visit recorded no conditions and zero enforcement actions. Starting Blocks publishes no vacancy data for the service, so confirm availability directly.

Goodstart Early Learning Croydon at 418 Mount Dandenong Road is part of a not-for-profit early learning provider operating 662 services nationally. The centre holds a Meeting NQS rating and is led by Centre Director Ashleigh Cakuls, who brings 15 years of early childhood education experience. The purpose-built facility features light and bright interiors with beautiful timber floors, high ceilings and expansive rooms, a non-institutional feel.

The outdoor environment includes a tree-lined adventure playground with a fort, sandpit area, bike track and plenty of shade, plus a separate outdoor area for younger children to play at their own pace. Children tend a vegetable patch as part of the daily program, and a reading and book loan program connects centre learning with home life. The Hey Dee Ho extracurricular dance and movement class adds to a rich program of cooking experiences, collage-making and music exploration.

The daily fee is $176.27 for children under 36 months and $170.65 from 36 months to preschool age. Starting Blocks lists meals from breakfast through to afternoon tea, and nappies, with excursions and incursions from 25 months; other meals and education programs are not. Nutritious home-cooked meals are included, prepared on-site daily. The operator is a not-for-profit. Families stay connected through the Storypark app. Ample parking and public transport access make it a practical choice for commuting families.

Goodstart Croydon has been rated Meeting twice, in July 2022 and again in February 2026, every quality area included. A June 2026 inspection found no conditions and no enforcement actions, and the register shows casual and permanent places Monday to Friday, which neither of the other two publishes. On price it sits between them: $176.27 for children under 36 months and $170.65 from 36 months, against $156.49 at Discovery and $178.40 at Birches. What the fee covers is narrower, though. Starting Blocks lists meals from breakfast through to afternoon tea, and nappies, with excursions and incursions added from 25 months. Other meals and education programs, which the other two centres both list, are not included. Its Google score stands at 4.8, drawn from 54 reviews captured in the same 22 September run as the Birches figure.