The Top 3 Childcare Centres in Epping, VIC (3076)

Wallaby Childcare Epping on Shimmer Street has operated since December 2012 and is approved for 159 places, the biggest centre on this page. Nine rooms cover nursery, toddler, pre-kinder and kindergarten ages, and the centre's Big Red Barn is a landmark on the street. Separate outdoor play areas serve each age group, with a veggie patch, open green space and natural play equipment.

Its December 2025 assessment kept the Exceeding rating it held in July 2022, with four quality areas above the standard. The November 2025 visit by the regulator led to no enforcement action, and there are no conditions on the approval.

The program draws on the Early Years Learning Framework and the Victorian framework with a Reggio Emilia influence, and specialised teachers deliver the four-year-old kindergarten. The fee of $157.60 a day at every age is the lowest of the three, with nine inclusions on Starting Blocks: afternoon tea, breakfast, education programs, excursions and incursions, lunch, morning tea, nappies, other meals and transport.

Wallaby leads on its rating alone. It is the only Exceeding service among the 16 in Epping, and under our method a higher rating level comes first, so fees and fit did not decide its place. On those measures it would hold up anyway: the lowest daily rate of the three, the most listed inclusions and the most places.

Goodstart Early Learning Epping - High Street has 110 approved places in a central location within walking distance of Epping station and bus stops. It opens 6:30am to 6:30pm on weekdays and is run by Goodstart, the national not-for-profit.

The outdoor environment is a strength: sandpits, digging pits, veggie gardens, a worm farm, a compost area, a fort, a bike track and ample shade. Programs follow the Early Years Learning Framework with a Reggio Emilia approach, and the government-funded kindergarten for three- and four-year-olds runs within long day care hours.

Its September 2025 assessment returned Meeting overall, with two quality areas above the standard. The fee is $177.95 a day up to 35 months and $172.89 from 36 months, with five inclusions listed on Starting Blocks.

Goodstart High Street is second through the published tie-break. It and Story House each win 13 of their head-to-head comparisons, and the results go round in a circle: Goodstart beats Story House on its newer rating, Story House beats Rose Garden on fees, and Rose Garden beats Goodstart on reviews. When that happens, the newest rating at the same level comes first, and Goodstart's September 2025 assessment is the newest. Up to 35 months it charges more than either centre around it.

Story House Early Learning Epping on Harvest Home Road is part of the national Story House group and is approved for 130 places. It opens 6:30am to 6:30pm on weekdays, and its centre page lists nursery, toddler and kindergarten programs.

Its February 2024 assessment lifted it from Working Towards to Meeting in every quality area. The approval carries a bushfire-risk condition: the service is listed as at some risk of bushfire or grassfire, does not operate on days declared Catastrophic fire danger, and must maintain matching emergency procedures. There has been no enforcement action in the past two years.

The fee is $166.70 a day up to 35 months and $157.60 from 36 months. Starting Blocks lists no inclusions against it, so ask what meals and nappies are covered. Its Google record is the deepest of the three, 4.8 from 131 reviews.

Story House is third. Goodstart High Street sits above it on a rating that is 19 months newer at the same level, and the tie-break that settles the circle between them goes the same way. Against every other Meeting centre in Epping it wins on fees, including Rose Garden ($191.90 a day) and First Grammar ($188.15). Two things to weigh: no inclusions are listed against its rate, and it closes on Catastrophic fire danger days under its bushfire condition.