Northern Schools Early Years Cluster

17/10/2026

We are excited to share that we are a finalist in the Victorian Early Years Awards, Continuity of Early Learning category! The awards celebrate the remarkable work that our early childhood professionals do every day to improve learning outcomes of children across Victoria.
Our work on our Northern Schools Wellbeing Program is being recognised for bringing family support workers into early learning teams, working alongside families, educators and schools to help children make a supported transition from kindergarten to school.
Thank you to our dedicated family support workers, educators, school partners and families. This recognition celebrates our work together that has already helped hundreds of children and families . 💛Read our profile and all about the other finalists, before winners are announced 27 October: www.vic.gov.au/finalists-veya

14/10/2026

Join us at the Hume City Council Universal Children's Day celebration on Thursday 29th October! The theme of the day is "Children have the right to use their own language, celebrate their culture and practise their religion".

Where: Highlander Community Centre, Craigieburn
When: 10am to 1pm, Thursday 29th October
Cost: FREE

Come along for face painting, stories, music, dance, arts and crafts, and play activities. We'll also be providing information about our kindergarten programs in the area.

14/10/2026

Our Rothschild Road Kindergarten in Gisborne has been exploring Spring/Poorneet and noticing the seasonal changes happening around them. With many children walking to kindergarten, there have been lots of conversations about magpies swooping!

The children explored why magpies behave this way during nesting season and investigated the different materials birds use to build their nests, including sticks, grass, leaves and feathers.

Using clay and natural materials, the children then created their own bird nests, sharing ideas, talking about their thinking and describing their creations along the way.

Thank you to Jessica and the Rothschild Road team for sharing!

20/09/2026

Our CEO Sigi was thrilled to meet the Minister for Children, Lizzie Blandthorn and local MP for Sunbury, Josh Bull at the site of our new Sunbury College Kindergarten (interim name) last week! School principal Craig O'Bree and members of the Victorian School Building Authority team were proud to show off the progress on site so far.

At the moment it may be hard to imagine, but when the modular buildings arrive the local community will surely be impressed by how quickly the site comes to life! We can't wait to see these beautiful new learning spaces take shape. 🦋🌿🌸🚴‍♀️🎨🪇

We're now taking 3 and 4-year-old enrolments for 2027 via Hume City Council - https://www.hume.vic.gov.au/Community-Services/Children/Kindergarten

18/09/2026

🎉 Celebrating Exceeding! 🎉

A huge congratulations to our wonderful teams at Lorne Street Kindergarten, Dallas Kindergarten @ Dallas Brooks Community Primary School, and Belle Vue Park Kindergarten for achieving an Exceeding National Quality Standard rating at their recent Assessment and Ratings! 🌟

This fantastic achievement recognises our teams' dedication and commitment to creating high-quality learning experiences and building strong, meaningful relationships with children, families, and our communities.

Our NSEY Values – Trust, Respect, Relationships and Curiosity – are at the heart of the work our teams do every day. 💙

Congratulations to our teams – we are incredibly proud of you! 👏

18/09/2026

Our NSEY Buzz newsletter for Term 3 is out today!

This edition includes:
🌸 Preparing for 2027
🌸 Our new Sunbury College Kindergarten
🌸 New Toy Library at Roxburgh Park Primary School Kindergarten
🌸 'Exceeding ratings' for three more of our kindergartens
🌸 Book Week celebrations and the Children's Library at Will Will Rook Preschool
🌸 A special visit to Molesworth St Kindergarten.

Happy reading, and happy school holidays to all of our kindergarten children and families!

Welcome to our Term 3 newsletter. There have been so many great things happening across our organisation this term, we hardly know where to start!

13/09/2026

It's a beautiful spring day here at the Fawkner Festa! We're here promoting kindergarten enrolments and doing some nature play (and battling the wind!!). Thanks to Merri-bek City Council for having us.

09/09/2026

Come and say hello to Bec and Aleyda from our team who will be at the Fawkner Festa on Sunday! We'll be there promoting kindergarten enrolments for 2027 and offering a nature play activity for children.

Fawkner Festa returns on Sunday 13 September from 11am to 3pm at CB Smith Reserve! 🌟

Celebrate Fawkner’s community spirit with:
🎵 Live entertainment
🛍️ Market stalls
🍲 Delicious food
🛹 Youth skate activities
📖 Urdu and Bengali Storytime
🎨 Workshops for all ages

Explore the full program: https://brnw.ch/21x5imq

Image description: Colourful illustration of a bird among plants with text that says Fawkner Festa.

02/09/2026

We would like to wish all of our wonderful early years staff across NSEY, and all those in the broader sector, a very happy Early Childhood Educators Day!

Early Childhood Educators’ Day recognises & celebrates the work of Australia’s educators in early learning services (long day care, family day care, kindergarten/preschools and occasional care) for their wonderful contribution to the wellbeing and healthy development of the young children in their care.

Thank you all for your dedication to giving the children across our communities the best early learning opportunities!

28/08/2026

We held our annual conference last Friday - a chance for our teams to step away from their services, share in professional learning, and connect with colleagues from across our organisation. And what a fantastic day it was!! 🤩

Highlights included:
⭐️a beautiful acknowledgement of country from our Bethal Kindergarten team
⭐️ an interactive session on Intentionality in Teaching and a Child’s Right to Learn led by Circularity Consulting Catharine Hydon & Kerrie O’Neill
⭐️ a presentation on Child Safety: Moving Beyond Compliance to Embedded Practice by Talarico Consulting Early Years Consultant
⭐️ a relaxation activity from our Rothschild Road Kindergarten team
⭐️ a trade show featuring Preschool Equipment, Yarn Strong Sista, fka Children's Services, Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc., Modern Teaching Aids and a loose parts stall from our own Teaching and Learning team
⭐️And of course, to help get the positive vibes flowing, we had an all-in-sing (as we do every year) to ABBA's "Mamma Mia" - but with some very creative lyrics! ("A & R... Here we go again!"🎶)

Thanks to all of our teams and presenters for their wholehearted participation and amazing contributions throughout the day!