The Top 3 Childcare Centres in Mickleham, VIC (3064)

One Early Education Mickleham opened on Brossard Road in 2024 and belongs to the One Early Education network, a group with centres across Melbourne's northern and western growth corridors. Its approval covers 118 places; it takes children from six weeks to six years and opens from 6:30am to 6:30pm on weekdays. Its first assessment, in October 2025, returned Meeting in all seven quality areas, and no conditions sit on its approval.

The curriculum is based on the Early Years Learning Framework and the network's Brain Development Program, supported by daily enrichment in sport, mindfulness, the arts and music. The outdoor area includes climbing forts, a bamboo planting, a vegetable garden and a climbing wall. Meals are prepared on site to a nutritionist's plan, and a Storypark app keeps families across each child's day.

The register lists seven inclusions against a fee of $174.94 a day up to 35 months and $179.94 from 36 months. On Google it holds 4.7 from 60 reviews.

One Early leads Mickleham on review depth. Its October 2025 rating is less than 12 months from both other ranked centres' ratings, so the rating ties all three. Against Green Leaves it is cheaper in both age bands but lists one fewer inclusion, which leaves fees level, and capacity and hours are level too; with nothing else separating them, its 60 Google reviews at 4.7 outweigh Green Leaves' 28 at the same score. Against Happy Hippo the fee comparison splits by age band, capacity cannot be compared because Happy Hippo's figure includes school-age care, and 60 reviews against 15 decides it. Its rating is a first assessment, so there is no earlier result to compare it with.

Happy Hippo Childcare Annadale is on Enderby Drive, off Donnybrook Road, and is one of three Happy Hippo centres in Victoria. It is approved for 106 places, a figure that also covers its outside school hours and vacation care, and opens from 6:30am to 6:30pm on weekdays. Its own page describes rooms for babies from two months, toddlers, pre-kinder from two years and preschool from three to five, and the register also lists outside school hours and vacation care at the service.

Its July 2026 assessment rated all seven areas Meeting, matching its previous rating from November 2019, and the regulator visited in June 2026. There are no conditions on its approval.

The full-day fee is $176.10 at every age, with nine inclusions listed on the register. The centre's page says nappies, chef-made meals and cow's milk are provided and that its enrichment programs are included in the fee, and it runs both a kinder program and a bush kinder program. On Google it holds 4.4 from 15 reviews.

Happy Hippo is second. Its July 2026 rating is the newest of the three but under 12 months clear of the other two, so the rating does not separate them. Against Green Leaves it wins on fees, $176.10 with nine inclusions against $186.00 with eight; its 106 approved places include school-age care, so capacity is not compared, and the fee result decides the pair. Against One Early the fees split by age band, so One Early's larger review base, 60 against 15, takes first place. It ranks ahead of Kool Kidz Merrifield, whose April 2024 rating trails by over two years.

Green Leaves Early Learning Merrifield is a purpose-built centre on Cityside Drive in the Merrifield estate, operated by the national Green Leaves group. Approved for 128 places, it cares for children aged six weeks to six years across nursery, toddler, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten rooms and opens from 6:30am to 6:30pm on weekdays. Its first assessment, in January 2026, was Meeting across every quality area, and the regulator last visited in June 2026.

The centre describes learning journeys tailored to each child, with literacy, numeracy and science work alongside interactive whiteboards. A chef's kitchen and a cooking area sit at the centre of the building and meals are prepared on site each day. Outdoors there is a bike track, a cubbyhouse and edible gardens.

The fee is $186.00 a day at every age, the highest fee among the ranked centres, and the register lists eight inclusions against it. The centre is on the state Category 4 bushfire-risk list, so a condition on its approval requires it to close on any day a Catastrophic Fire Danger Rating is declared for the area. On Google it holds 4.7 from 28 reviews.

Green Leaves is third. On the rating it ties One Early and Happy Hippo, all three assessed within a year. Against Happy Hippo it loses on fees, $186.00 against $176.10 with one inclusion more listed at Happy Hippo, and its 128 places cannot be set against Happy Hippo's figure, which includes school-age care. Against One Early fees, capacity and hours are level, and One Early's 60 reviews against 28 at the same score decide it. Plan around the bushfire-day closures its approval requires.