Now enrolling for 2026
A play-based early learning centre in Northcote for children aged 6 weeks to 5 years. Small groups, qualified educators, and a garden built for muddy hands.
Big adventures start with little steps.
Grown in Northcote, VIC
Secure keypad entry, daily safety checks and educators trained in paediatric first aid.
Every room is led by a degree-qualified early childhood teacher who stays with your child all year.
An emergent curriculum built on the Early Years Learning Framework and your child’s own curiosity.
Three cooked meals and two snacks prepared on site, with every allergy individually managed.
Programs
Four age groups, each with its own rhythm, space and team. Children move up together when they are ready — never on a fixed date.
Unhurried days built entirely around your baby’s own sleep and feed rhythm.
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Messy, physical, joyful days for children discovering what they can do.
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Long, uninterrupted projects that follow whatever the group is curious about.
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A government-funded kinder program that makes the move to school feel easy.
Sowing guide
About the centre
Little Steps began in 2009 when two early childhood teachers converted a Northcote weatherboard into the kind of centre they wanted for their own children: small, unhurried, and full of light.
Sixteen years later we still cap our rooms well below the regulated maximum. Fewer children in a room means an educator who knows what your child did at the weekend, which book they ask for at rest time, and exactly how they like their sandwich cut.
Our garden classroom runs in every season. Children dig, plant, climb and cook with what they grow — because the most important early learning rarely happens sitting down.
Amara OkaforCentre Director & Early Childhood Teacher
Our learning approach
We follow the Early Years Learning Framework through an emergent, Reggio-inspired program. In practice that means the children’s questions set the direction and our teachers build the learning around them.
Educators observe, document and then plan. A fortnight spent on worms is a fortnight well spent.
The garden is a classroom with its own program — planting, cooking, building and weather watching.
Rich language all day: shared reading, songs in the home languages of our families, and real conversation.
Open-ended materials, real tools and the time to finish what you started — including the messy parts.
Why families choose us
Most centres will tell you they are caring and safe. These are the specific things parents tell us made the difference.
We staff every room above the legal requirement, all day — not just at peak times.
Educator turnover sits under 8%. Your child’s teacher in February is still there in December.
A 400sqm garden with fruit trees, a mud kitchen and a creek bed, used in all weather.
Meals are cooked on site each morning. Menus rotate seasonally and are published a fortnight ahead.
Photos, meals, sleeps and learning notes arrive in the parent app as they happen, not at 6pm.
Two-, three- and five-day places, casual bookings, and a 7am open for early shifts.
A day at Little Steps
Predictable enough that children feel secure, loose enough that a good idea can take over the morning.
A quiet welcome, books and puzzles while the room fills.
Porridge, fruit and toast, served together at the table.
Songs, the weather, and deciding what today will hold.
Three hours of outdoor play and project work.
A hot meal cooked on site, served family-style.
Sleep for those who need it, stories for those who don’t.
Baking, fruit and something from the garden.
Art, music, construction and water play.
A handover with the educator who was with your child all day.
Inside the centre
No styling, no stock photos — these are real mornings at Northcote, shared with family permission.
Parent reviews
We toured six centres. Little Steps was the only one where the educators spoke about our daughter as a person rather than a place in a ratio. Two years on, nothing has changed.
Our son has a serious nut allergy and I used to feel sick dropping him off anywhere. The cook here talked me through every menu herself. He has never had an incident.
The photos land during the day and I can see he is genuinely happy, not performing for a camera. As a shift worker the 7am open is the reason I can hold my job.
She started school in February reading and, more importantly, sure of herself. Her kinder teacher wrote a transition statement so detailed the school rang to say thank you.
Good questions
Daily fees are $142 before the Child Care Subsidy. Most families at Little Steps pay between $30 and $70 a day after subsidy. We will estimate your actual out-of-pocket cost during your tour.
It varies by room. Nursery places usually open within three months; preschool and kinder places are typically available for the following year. Joining the waitlist is free and does not commit you.
Please do. We run small-group tours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings while the rooms are in full swing, because a centre at 10am tells you far more than a centre at 5pm.
A spare set of clothes, a hat and a bottle. Nappies, wipes, sunscreen, bedding and all meals are included in the daily fee.
Two free orientation visits with you in the room, then a short first day. We move at your child’s pace and stay in touch by phone as often as you need on day one.
Enquire
Tours run Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30am, while the garden is full and the paint is still wet. Book a time and meet the educators who would care for your child.
Where & when
Tell us a little about your child and we will be in touch within one business day with tour times and a fee estimate.