Dee Why – Explore & Develop

Monday to Friday 7.30am – 6pm

Level 4 Dee Why Grand 834 Pittwater Road Dee Why NSW 2099

9972 0960

deewhy@exploreanddevelop.com.au

6 weeks to 6 years

We are a child-safe organisation

MEET THE OWNERS

Scott, Jenny & Vanessa

The centre has been owned and operated by Scott and Jenny since May 2014 and in that time three of their four children attended the service. In 2025, after five years as a senior member of the team, Vanessa was welcomed as a part owner.

Vanessa is an early childhood teacher with over twenty years of experience in the sector. Prior to entering teaching, Vanessa was a Paediatric Registered Nurse for ten years. She also previously worked in the Explore & Develop Support Office as an Operations Manager. Vanessa and her husband Steve have a daughter, Gracie.

Features

Individually owned and operated

Rooftop garden

Skilled team of educators

Language classes

Local excursions

Sport programs

Purpose-built service

Our approach

Located at the top of Dee Why Grand we pride ourselves on providing a welcoming home-like environment, where children and families feel they belong and are a part of the community.

Our curriculum is guided by the Early Years Learning Framework and is underpinned by the values and beliefs reflective of our philosophy. Our ideologies are informed through theoretical perspectives, philosophies about children, and knowledge of how they learn. We provide experiences that expose children to various concepts and ideas of the world around them, drawing on their interests, knowledge and ideas.

We are forever grateful to have stumbled across a fantastic centre & team who are developing little lives with love and care that we truly appreciate. We thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the Explore Family and we take many great memories with us.
It is always challenging leaving your child in someone else’s care and the whole process has been seamless and reassuring to know we have sent our child to the right place.

A huge thanks to all of the Explore & Develop Dee Why team. So far right from our first interaction on the phone with Jenny, through to orientation, any admin tasks, meeting Scott and the educators, it has been incredible.

Anna & Chris
Explore & Develop Dee Why has proved to be a great long daycare for our youngest son. Scott, Jenny and their team are thoughtful and approachable on all issues. We have had a lot of success by working together with his room teachers to overcome his fussy eating. With consistent support in getting him to try new foods we would not have the success we have today. We are surprised at his continual achievements in reaching development goals that are definitely contributed to by the educating team at the centre who manage to encourage him to learn so much through a thoughtful and playful approach. Essentially we leave our son with people we trust, they do a fantastic job and we always pick up a happy little vegemite at the end of the day.

Sally Bate
Explore & Develop Dee Why is a wonderful day care. All of the staff and teachers are always helpful and very caring of the children. Their days are structured with a mixture of learning and play, both inside and out, giving them a great place to learn and grow

Alissa Eames
Our family is so happy to have found this excellent centre. Both our boys have developed strong bonds with their carers and have such fun when they are here. As parents we love the safe and stimulating environment and have found the way the staff understand and cater for each child’s individual needs truly fantastic.

Nicola
Our daughter has had the best two and a half years at Explore & Develop and we are incredibly grateful for all of the team’s hard work. We have seen our daughter progress tremendously during this time and that is testament to the incredible amount of work that the team puts in and the high level of professionalism at Explore & Develop.

Our daughter speaks very fondly of her teachers and both she and we have made some fantastic friends through Explore & Develop over the last couple of years. It is a very welcoming and inclusive community and I would highly recommend it to local parents.

Sam

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Learning Environments

Nursery

0 – 2 years

The indoor learning environment for this age group is a stimulating environment with room for children to explore at their own pace. Providing a welcoming and nurturing space, where a secure attachment exists between educators, children, and families.

The indoor learning environment for this age group is a stimulating environment with room for children to explore at their own pace. Providing a…

Toddlers

2 – 3 years

The indoor learning environment is a welcoming space designed to promote a feeling of home, providing children with a sense of well-being and belonging to the service. Spaces within the room reflect children’s interests and are responsive to their abilities, catering for different learning capacities.

The indoor learning environment is a welcoming space designed to promote a feeling of home, providing children with a sense of well-being and belonging…

Preschool

3 – 5 years

Our two preschool learning environments are bright and welcoming, arranged to invite and encourage varied forms of play and learning and provoke further enquiry. We encourage literacy through immersion with innovative and interesting forms of literacy and numeracy experiences embedded within the curriculum. Each environment homes an atelier amongst a variety of learning areas, construction, loose parts play, writing centres and home corner. Large windows enhance the aesthetics of the rooms, allowing plenty of natural light and enriching the vastness of space and natural elements.

Outdoor environment

All ages

Our outdoor learning environment is divided into our 0–2 years and 2 – 5 years age groups, to assist and enhance children’s varied needs, interests and challenges. It is purpose built, and filled with an array of natural, recycled and sustainable materials complementing the space beautifully. It is designed in a way that encourages, supports and challenges children to explore, investigate, problem solve, imagine, create, discover, risk-take and build an interest in nature.

Our outdoor learning environment is divided into our 0–2 years and 2 – 5 years age groups, to assist and enhance children’s varied needs,…

Rated 4.9 stars on Google

Hera Chan

a month ago

We have been lucky enough to have our 2 children cared for at E&D Dee why. The educators are the best and genuinely caring. The staff are always happy to answer questions. Thank you so much for all your care over the years, it means a lot to us that our children are looked after in a nurturing environment during such a special precious time.
Peter Davies

2 months ago

We’ve had the pleasure of our 3 children being looked after by the great staff at explore and develop over the last 10 years. We can’t speak highly enough of the staff and the care taken with our kids.
Rebecca O'Brien

2 months ago

We’ve had all of our 3 boys go through Explore and Develop Dee Why spanning over ten years. All staff are personable, caring and respectful and genuinely treat the children like they are their own. Highly recommend.
Lucy Ryan

3 months ago

We've had an amazing experience with Explore & Develop Dee Why. Our son has made enormous progress during his time there. The educators are warm, caring and professional, and it's clear how much they genuinely care about the children. The centre is exceptionally well run, communication is great and the facilities are excellent. We're very grateful for everything the team has done for our son and would happily recommend the centre to other families on the Northern Beaches.
Giles Butler

3 months ago

Fantastic daycare, great staff and safe place to send your kids. We were so happy with the progress our son made here and the support he received.

Gallery

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Parent Information

A positive start to early education and care
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Parent Information

The lifelong benefits of Early Childhood Education and Care
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Parent Information

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