Guardian Childcare & Education Croydon Park

My Daughter has loved and enjoyed every minute of being apart of this childcare centre. She is a huge lover of the outdoors and is always so happy and excited when outside with her educators. Their large outdoor play area caters for so many learning possibilities but also allows for my daughter and her peers to explore the natural world. She loves mud, sand and water and tells me every night on our way home about playing in these areas. I am so happy with the high duty of care provided to her and would highly recommend this service to all my mummy friends!nnThank you so much Guardian for providing a quality childcare service that I can trust!

The centre is so beautifully designed, I was very impressed with the presentation and cleanliness of the spaces. The educators were super friendly! Even the cook took time to have a chat! Really looking forward starting there.

During the tour, the staff was very friendly, caring and the centre seemed to be new and well-equipped. However, there are a quite few concerns that I noticed during our orientation visit.nnFirst of all, the bowls served to the babies were dirty when served to them. It was not just one bowl being dirty. The staff kept trying pick up lots of bowls to find clean one for my daughter but couldn’t. She finally gave her one, which was just less dirty than the others. They were visible food marks not being washed properly (not just stains). These food marks were not noticed when taken out from the dishwashers, nor from the educator served food to the babies and toddlers. This is especially concerning when it’s during covid pandemic and there’s a gastro outbreak going around. The staff only cared about arranging the bowls around the table and the taco plate in the middle to take a beautiful photo.nnSecondly, when the 3 babies/ toddlers were all upset and crying, they were all eating very little. (Baby A was crying the loudest). However, staff only offered something else to feed Baby A. This staff also told another staff to take a photo of Baby A eating to show the parents that “Baby A actually eating something” (what she said on the day). The director later told me that because Baby A’s parents complained that he didn’t eat enough. This made me worry that my daughter can be one of the other toddlers; i.e. If she doesn’t cry the loudest and if we don’t express any concern, she would be the one to be ignored (other babies and toddlers were not offered something else though they ate next to nothing)nnLast but not least, there were 4 kids (3 were awake and one was sleeping) and 2 educators on the day. The ratio is much lower than the standard but the team leader was visibly stressed and annoyed. This makes me worry what it would be like when it is 8 kids to 2 educators.nnWhen I raised these issues up, the director only made excuses, for example the bowls were dirty because of the manufacturer’s faults and they can’t be cleaned properly. We have the same bowls at home and we don’t have this problem.nnThese are a few things I noticed during our short orientation visit. I was very excited to have my daughter starting her childcare sessions but I don’t have the confidence to start her at the centre and leave her the whole day there. What they said and what I observed don’t align at all. If I would have left my daughter in the morning and picked her up in the afternoon, I wouldn’t have seen these and would be happy because of the beautiful photos that they posted.nnI lost my bond and also charged for two weeks childcare without my child even starting.

I have only positive things to say about Guardian Croydon Park! My two children feel welcome and at home at the centre and have made beautiful connections with the staff and other children. They are happy at drop off and dont want to leave at pick up time and I can see how content and comfortable they are at the centre! We have been to numerous daycares having moved from interstate and I can honestly say Guardian has been my favourite of all!! The staff genuinely care and are so welcoming, often organising events and morning teas to invite parents to feel welcome as well. Staff go out of their way to support the children and parents and im often leaving the centre with a home made muffin or treat that their amazing chef has prepaired! No request is too much trouble and with the centre being new everything is pristine and purpose built! Couldnt be happier and feel more secure knowing my kids are safe and content at Guardian!!