The Top 3 Childcare Centres in Glenroy, VIC (3046)

Set on Gladstone Parade, this 75-place centre has been run by Busy Bees Early Learning since 2014 and is one of 121 services in the group. It caters for nursery (birth to two), toddlers (two and three year olds) and kindergarten (three to five), and the same approval also covers outside school hours and vacation care.

Its April 2026 assessment is the most recent among the long day care services we found in Glenroy, by 20 months: Meeting in each area, matching October 2022, with Busy Bees in charge both times. Inspectors returned in July 2026, and the approval has no conditions.

Language is the stand-out here. The centre lists educators fluent in Turkish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tongan, Sinhalese, Burmese, Nepali, Cebuano and Tagalog. Children tend a vegetable and herb garden, a worm farm and compost, there is a music program and regular excursions and incursions, and Happy Feet Fitness runs on Wednesdays as an optional paid extra.

Starting Blocks lists $190.80 per day under two years, easing to $188.10 and then $186.50 from three, with six inclusions covering meals and nappies. The website mentions an approved kinder program without any funding statement. Ongoing places had openings Monday to Friday in the week beginning 19 October; casual days did not.

Recency is what puts Busy Bees first: none of the other six long day care services we found in Glenroy has a 2026 assessment, and its Meeting result repeats the previous one, with Busy Bees running the centre both times. Its Starting Blocks rate is also the highest among the ranked centres at every age, and its 7am to 6pm day is shorter than Small Friends'. Its 4.7 across 50 reviews is solid. Check whether its kinder attracts state funding before budgeting on it.

The children's centre occupies part of the Glenroy Community Hub on Wheatsheaf Road, opened in February 2022 alongside the Glenroy Library, Glenroy Memorial Kindergarten, maternal and child health, CoHealth, the neighbourhood learning centre and a community garden. It is run by the Northern Schools Early Years Cluster, a not-for-profit that manages 19 early childhood services.

First assessed in August 2024, it returned Meeting overall with two areas rated Exceeding: collaborative partnerships with families and communities, and governance and leadership. The program leans on play in nature, and the operator links its early years services to local schools for continuity into primary.

Enrolment works differently here than at Busy Bees or Small Friends. Places are offered through Merri-bek Council's free central registration, which asks for proof of residency or, from non-residents, proof of work in the municipality; a Glenroy family qualifies as resident. The council's order of priority was not published where we looked, so ask how offers are made. Enrolment calls go to the operator on 9306 1662.

Starting Blocks holds no fee table for the centre. Its own 2026 fee page gives $149.55 a day, or $672.95 a week, with no inclusion list. The operator's fee page says it offers free 15-hour kinder programs at ages 3 and 4, funded by the Victorian Government; children are accepted between six weeks and six years, and hours are 7am to 6pm.

Glenroy Hub ties Goodstart on assessment timing and comes out ahead on program, with two Exceeding areas and a shared community building. On its own website it quotes $149.55 a day for every age, the lowest figure of the ranked three: $26.45 below Small Friends and $36.95 below Busy Bees' cheapest band, 36 months and over. Two things to weigh: you apply through the council rather than the centre, and the fee figure is the operator's own because Starting Blocks shows none. Its 4.9 from 28 reviews tops the three.

Small Friends runs this 65-place centre on Pearl Street, one of six centres listed on the group's own site. The group took the service over in February 2022, and reviews on its site still call it Pearl Street, which appears to be its older trading name. It enrols children from six weeks of age to six years.

Its single rating under the current provider, from April 2023, is Meeting across the seven areas; the most recent visit was in January 2025, and no conditions apply. Both ranked results above it are more than twelve months newer, which keeps it below them. It holds third rather than fourth because its tie with Goodstart divided across program, fees and fit, and parent reviews then decided.

The centre publishes very little about its program: its site offers a tour form, parent reviews and one line about learning programs in a nurturing environment. It does not mention kindergarten or funding, so ask directly whether a funded program runs on site. What it does publish is a 6:30am to 6:30pm day, longer than either ranked rival.

At a flat $176.00, with eight listed inclusions (meals, nappies, excursions and the program), it is cheaper than Busy Bees in each of its age bands, by $14.80 under two and $10.50 from three; Busy Bees is the other ranked centre with a Starting Blocks rate. That rate has risen 22% since April 2025, when it was $144. Permanent bookings showed availability each weekday when we looked; casual ones did not.

Small Friends took third place from Goodstart Glenroy on Pascoe Vale Road after their tie split. Goodstart publishes more about its program and confirms funded kinder. On fees the answer depends on age: under 36 months Small Friends is $4.19 a day cheaper and lists eight inclusions to Goodstart's five or six, but from 36 months Goodstart is $2.54 cheaper. With our program, fee and fit criteria split between them, Google reviews settled it: Small Friends shows 4.8 from 101, Goodstart 4.7 from 30, and 101 is the deepest record on this page. Two cautions: a 22% fee rise in eighteen months, and no published kinder information.