Busy Bees at Castlemaine welcomes you with warm and nurturing learning environments, a unique atelier art workshop, and spacious outdoor areas — with sandpits, a timber fort with climbing net, slide, bike track, cubby house, vegetable garden and bush tucker garden — where children are encouraged to ignite their sense of curiosity and discovery.
At Busy Bees at Castlemaine, your child will benefit from:
Our Castlemaine childcare considers a child’s family to be their first teachers and collaborators in all we do. We believe the environments act as the ‘third teacher’ encouraging children to investigate, use their imagination and learn through play. Our environments reflect the image of children as competent and capable learners who yearn to be challenged — we provide opportunities for risky play to empower confident, competent, and resilient learners.
Our Castlemaine childcare values the relationships between siblings by allowing visits with siblings when they ask the Educators, or we feel a visit with the siblings will help the children’s day. Our long-standing team of multicultural and bilingual Educators — Indian and Filipino — love to share their languages and cultures with the children. We focus on teaching sustainability and respect for the environment through our compost, worm farm, recycling program, vegetable and herb garden, and loose parts play.
Our funded Government Approved Kindergarten program is led by a Bachelor-qualified Early Childhood Teacher who is committed to getting your child set for their next big steps in school. We work in partnership with you and the local schools to make their transition to school successful.
We would love to have you join our Busy Bees family at Castlemaine. We look forward to meeting your family! Book your tour today.
Service Manager
Hello, my name is Sam West and I am the Service Manager for Busy Bees at Castlemaine.
I have enjoyed working at Busy Bees at Castlemaine for the last 13 years. I started as a Diploma Trainee, and worked my way up to a Group Leader, to then become Service Manager in 2014.
I have an absolute passion for setting our children up to be the best people they can be. I strive to provide a day care centre where all children feel loved and safe. My personal teaching philosophy is based around the Reggio Emilia approach and that it takes a village to raise a child.
In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two beautiful boys, Julian and Lewis. We are a sport based family; we race historic cars, I play basketball and women’s footy.
Assistant Service Manager
Hi, my name is Criselda, but you can call me Cris, and I am the 2IC for Busy Bees at Castlemaine.
I’ve been in the childcare industry for 17 years and I hold a Diploma in Children’s Services.
Throughout the years, my passion for giving children the best start in life has only grown more and more. I believe nurturing a child’s sense of worth, hope and dreams is the most important responsibility we are entrusted with as adults. Therefore, I aim to provide care and support to children as they journey through the many learning and developments ahead of them.
My goal is to work in collaboration with my colleagues, families and the community to create and maintain a positive, nurturing and effective environment for our children.
I am a wife and a mum to two young adults. I enjoy cooking, shopping, being creative and spending quality time with my friends and family.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Busy Bees Early Learning acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and recognises First Nations peoples’ continued cultural and spiritual connections to land, sea, sky and community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Privacy Policy
We regret that tours and online enquiries are currently unavailable for this centre, please call our Family Support Team on 1300 851 331.
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