Child Safety is our #1 priority at the Y.
Lightning Reef Primary School
Location
74-88 Holmes Road
North Bendigo
VIC 3552
Programs offered
Before School Care opening hours
Monday to Friday
7:00am – 8:30am
After School Care opening hours
Monday to Friday
3:15pm – 6:00pm
School Holiday Program opening hours
Monday to Friday
7:00am – 6:00pm
Contact us in centre
Lightning Reef Primary
Before and After School Program
We support busy Bendigo families with high quality care outside of school hours. Suitable for children between five and 12 years old, our programs are a great way to complement your child's learning.
We offer a mix of fun activities – from arts and crafts to sport and ball games. Whatever sparks your child's interest, our experienced Educators will make sure they have an amazing start and end to their day.
We'll provide a healthy breakfast in the morning and nutritious snacks after school.
We also offer a Pupil Free Day program throughout the school year, depending on booking numbers.
Bendigo
School Holiday Program
Our Bendigo holiday program provides an opportunity for your child to learn from new experiences through a fun mix of activities, while making new friends along the way.
We offer a wide variety of interest-based in-house activities, themed incursions and exciting excursions. Our holiday programs are run by experienced Educators who help your child become more confident and independent.
Activities could include anything from seasonal craft activities to fitness challenges to becoming a scientist for the day. We run regular excursions too. In the past, we've headed to the local cinema as well as awesome indoor playgrounds.
Keep an eye out for our upcoming program – we'll share the schedule on this page about four weeks before the school holidays start.
Splash into Summer Holiday Program
Bookings are now open for our Summer 2025-2026 School Holiday Program! The program runs on weekdays from the end of term 4 to Tuesday 23 December and Monday 5 January to term 1 2026 (excluding public holidays).
We've planned a bumper program of school holiday activities that will interest your child over the holidays.
Activity days can include:
- In-house (activities run by our Educator team)
- Incursion (activities run by visitors to our service)
- Excursion (activities run at an off-site location)
- Self-guided incursion (incursion activities run by our Educator team)
What to bring
- Lunch and snack (nutritious and nut free)
- SunSmart hat and sunscreen
- Water bottle
- Weather appropriate clothing and shoes
- Swimwear, towel and change of clothes as required (if an activity involves water)
You can also read our School Holiday Program FAQs.
The prices listed in the table below are the full fee for each day. If you're entitled to Child Care Subsidy, what you actually pay could be significantly reduced.
December program
Date |
Activity Details |
| Week 1 | |
| Monday 22 December |
Schools Out Say goodbye to the school year and hello to summer vibes! Dream big as you build your own Summer Bucket List Vision Board, then shake off the term by creating a catchy DIY summer theme song and dance. Design your own pair of stylish sunnies to match your holiday mood and share your ultimate summer plans with friends. Category: Inhouse Cost: $92.00 |
| Tuesday 23 December |
Festive Footprints Let’s take a trip around the globe to celebrate the holiday season! Craft magical broomsticks inspired by La Befana of Italy, create mini piñatas in the spirit of Las Posadas, Mexico, and art inspired by Russia’s Ded Moroz. Play a game of Yule Goat Tag from Scandinavian folklore, before playing in DIY kinetic sand to honour a sun-soaked Kiwi Christmas across the ditch! Category: Inhouse Cost: $92.00 |
January program
Date |
Activity Details |
| Week 1 | |
| Monday 05 January |
Aussie Animals Adventure Hop, crawl, and roar through a day with Australia’s iconic creatures! Play “Who Am I?” with your favourite Aussie animals, craft a 3D koala from newspaper, and bounce through a kangaroo STEM challenge. Stretch out with animal yoga, make Aboriginal-inspired animal track art, and dive into sensory play with platypus water foam. Explore emu art and play a thrilling shark group game. Category: Inhouse Cost: $92.00 |
| Tuesday 06 January |
Virtual Reality DreamCity are bringing their VR incursion to us! Immersive virtual reality education blends fun and learning by providing an engaging and interactive virtual world where you can experience new ways of seeing the world around you. Juniors explore and colour the world with a changing soundscape tied to actions, and seniors learn all new skills in high-tech VR gaming experiences. Category: Incursion Cost: $113.00 |
| Wednesday 07 January |
The Pout Pout Fish We're off to the cinemas today to watch The Pout Pout Fish. When catastrophe strikes Mr Fish a prickly recluse and Pip a hyperactive sea dragon embark together on a daunting undersea quest in search of a fabled mythical fish to grant their wish to save their homes. Come along and enjoy a tasty popcorn treat. Category: Excursion Cost: $129.00 |
| Thursday 08 January |
DIY Solar Car Build, Decorate and Race! Get hands-on with renewable energy and creative fun while you create your own Solar Car. Combining science, engineering, and design, assemble a working solar-powered car and decorate it before racing against your friends in the summer sun. Category: Self-guided Incursion Cost: $103.00 |
| Friday 09 January |
Hello Yellow Celebrate all things bright, cheerful, and sunny! Dive into a day of golden fun with gooey yellow slime, refreshing smoothie treats from your very own smoothie stand, and sparkling sunflower and yellow submarine crafts. Brighten someone’s day by making “You Are My Sunshine” compliment cards and buzz around in a busy bee group game. Category: Inhouse Cost: $92.00 |
| Week 2 | |
| Monday 12 January |
Seaside Explorers Dive into waves of fun with a Seaside adventure! Create kinetic sand and slime clean-up sensory stations, sculpt sea creatures from recycled materials, dodge the sharks and seaweed in our group game, and play under-the-sea charades. Explore water science with a salt vs fresh water float experiment and build a coral reef mural that reveals messages about caring for our oceans. Category: Inhouse Cost: $92.00 |
| Tuesday 13 January |
Colour Run Games Bring a plain white tee and join in the fun with our colour run games incursion today! Get sprayed, soaked and sprinkled with coloured powder while you play super active and fun games. Protective eyewear is provided, a change of clothes is recommended. Category: Incursion Cost: $113.00 |
| Wednesday 14 January |
Tenpin Bowling We're off to Bendigo Bowling for two epic games of Tenpin Bowling. Come along and see if you can get a strike today! Make sure to wear your closed toe shoes. Category: Excursion Cost: $129.00 |
| Thursday 15 January |
Wheels in Motion Get ready to roll, race, and rev up your engines! Bring your wheels and helmet for obstacle courses and relay races that test your skills and speed. Design your very own licence plate and team up to build wind-powered cars from recycled materials. Brush up on road safety with a quiz that keeps everyone safe on the go. Let’s put those wheels in motion and race into fun! Category: Inhouse Cost: $92.00 |
| Friday 16 January |
Little Ninja Warriors We're off to Little Ninja Warriors! Hop along to the biggest inflatable jumping castle in Victoria. Race through the obstacle maze and reach new heights on the thrilling climbing walls. Category: Excursion Cost: $129.00 |
| Week 3 | |
| Monday 19 January |
Rainbow Ruckus Get ready to splash, squish, and swirl in a day full of colourful chaos! Paint with fluffy shaving cream, stretch and squelch with slime, and create walking rainbows with science experiments. Join group games that celebrate colour and mess, and let your imagination run wild in this sensory explosion of creativity! Category: Inhouse Cost: $92.00 |
| Tuesday 20 January |
Mini Golf We're off for a round of mini golf. Can you get a hole in one and win bragging rights for the rest of the day? Master you putt and find out today! Category: Excursion Cost: $129.00 |
| Wednesday 21 January |
Splashtastic Water Games Cool down with super fun water games today! Get ready to be splashed, soaked and sprinkled with water as we play partner battles, team challenges, races and more group games to beat the heat. Please remember to bring a towel and change of clothes. Category: Incursion Cost: $113.00 |
| Thursday 22 January |
Parkys Play This giant four level indoor playground is designed to make you feel empowered and confident. Complete with five giant slides, a soft ball cannon play zone, two trampolines, a large ball pit, a flying fox and one huge jumping cushion! Category: Excursion Cost: $129.00 |
| Friday 23 January |
DIY Solar Fan Fun meets sustainability today with DIY Solar Fans. Get ready for an adventure filled with creativity, knowledge, and a refreshing breeze that's entirely powered by the sun. Explore the wonders of science, renewable energy and the magic of harnessing solar power in a hands-on, interactive activity. Take your fans home to cool off this summer. Category: Self-guided Incursion Cost: $103.00 |
| Week 4 | |
| Monday 26 January |
Public Holiday We are closed today for the Public Holiday. We'll see you in OSHC tomorrow for some Term 1 fun! |
| Tuesday 27 January |
No program See you at OSHC for some Term 1 fun! |
| Wednesday 28 January |
No program See you at OSHC for some Term 1 fun! |
| Thursday 29 January |
No program See you at OSHC for some Term 1 fun! |
| Friday 30 January |
No program See you at OSHC for some Term 1 fun! |
Prices
To support our families, we offer permanent and casual booking options. Casual bookings do incur an additional cost.
Please contact your local centre for advice on any questions you have regarding pricing.
|
Program |
Fee |
|
| Before School Care (permanent booking) | $20.00 | |
| Before School Care (casual booking) | $25.40 | |
| After School Care (permanent booking) | $33.30 | |
| After School Care (casual booking) | $38.70 | |
| Pupil Free Day (dependent on numbers) | $106.40 |
Child Care Subsidy (CCS)
|
Our programs qualify for the Federal Government's Child Care Subsidy (CCS). CCS helps eligible families access approved and registered child care providers by partially subsidising the cost of daily fees. The 'Fee' price listed in the table above is the full permanent or casual daily fee for each program without any CCS entitlements. *The 'You pay as little as' price is an example of the out of pocket fee paid by families who qualify for the maximum CCS percentage (90%). The fees above are calculated at 85% subsidy to allow for the 5% withheld by Services Australia to reduce the chances of an overpayment. When our holiday programs are open for bookings, you'll be able to see the prices for each activity on this page. These prices are the daily price and do not include any CCS you may be entitled to, which could significantly reduce your out of pocket expense. Refer to the Government website for more information about CCS funding and your eligibility. We also recommend using this CCS calculator to estimate your new subsidy payments. Our customer service and onsite teams are happy to assist you with any queries you have regarding this funding and to help you navigate the system. |
Book your place
|
You can book into our Outside School Hours Care programs through My Family Lounge (our online booking system). Read our 'How to enrol' guide to make sure you've got everything you need to book. You can also read our FAQs about Before and After School Care and School Holiday Programs. Returning families: Sign in New families: Register Got a question? Feel free to submit an enquiry and we'll be in touch. Holiday Program: Enquire Before and After School Care: Enquire |
Take part in awesome art and craft activities – we encourage all children to express their creativity.
Let your imagination run wild and try something new with the support of our Educators.
Try out a range of exciting sport and ball games and learn new skills along the way.
Find out how to build new things, create experiments, and test your inventions!
Play outdoors and enjoy a range of physical activities suitable for all abilities.
Discover the magic of science during cool experiments and other STEM activities.
Develop your artistic skills through drawing, colouring, painting and more.
Relax and unwind with quiet time activities – perfect for reflecting on a busy day or recharging for activities to come.
Challenge your friends and work together as a team! Our sport activities are designed to be inclusive and lots of fun.
Play quietly or with friends – our toys, board games and puzzles will engage your child and provide opportunities to socialise.