EACH Child - Childcare & Early Learning Centre

Short version: This is the place to send your kids.

Our three boys all attended Each Child. Other than a brief period at another centre when we were on the waiting list, we’ve had a child at Each Child for over ten years. Our youngest will finish the Kindergarten program shortly.

The staff are experienced, kind and always smiling. During all the stress of the last two years, they were always welcoming and understanding despite dealing with their own concerns. Within the different rooms, we have seen a great continuity of the staff. Over time staff do come and go, but we never got the sense there was any issue with retention. Several of the staff remain from when our eldest son first attended. They still ask about him and how is he doing in High School.

We have found the management team to be great communicators, who are always flexible and receptive. The centre is secure and sign ins are done electronically.

But the biggest factor is the care and attention shown to the children. In all my time doing pick-ups and drop-offs I have never noticed staff looking at their phones or otherwise being inattentive to the kids. I cannot say the same for other centres we have experienced.

The centre itself is modern and bright, being rebuilt completely a few years ago. The centre is very close to the train station, which has been a godsend for us as we work in the city. I cannot understate how valuable it is to do a drop off and jump on the train to work 60 seconds later.

All told, we cannot recommend Each Child more highly. My only advice is to get on the waiting list as soon as you can.

We first began at EACH Child (Ringwood East) in 2014 when our first son was around 10 months old. The educators were caring and gentle with me as a new mum and supported all my preferences for feeding my baby and helping him adjust to the new environment away from home while I worked.

Most of the staff who cared for my first son are still at Each, some now in leadership roles and they continue to treat myself and the children with care and a genuinely enthusiastic interest now my oldest is at school.

When my second son was born I did not hesitate to enroll him at the centre and our relationship with the staff and management was once again entirely positive. All children are different and I always felt that Each staff recognized this in my children and provided enriching activities that were tailored to their interests and learning preferences.

We watched EACH transform from the older building to the renovated and visually beautiful new extension. The outdoor play area is clutter free, nature rich and spacious. Water play, mud play, sandpit, and shady trees make for a fun and sensory filled experience. The layout allows for quieter areas where the babies room is and louder play on the far side for the more rowdy kinder kids!

The meals planned and prepared by Lorraine are healthy, diverse and always enjoyed by my kids! I love receiving recipes to try to replicate at home in the monthly newsletter!

As a healthcare worker myself, I have been very impressed with the COVIDsafe practices and communications from EACH over the past two years. Clear directions, an abundance of sanitizer at multiple locations, consistent practices in limiting access / minimizing risk of exposure to the children’s rooms and timely communication. I honestly felt safe sending my youngest during lockdowns and was supported by EACH staff and management during such a stressful time. Tracey is to be commended for her leadership and composure over the past 12 months.

Finally, I have been grateful for a wonderful kinder experience in 2020/21 at EACH. Shannon and Chloe along with their dedicated team of educators have worked tirelessly to ensure my youngest is well prepared for school next year. The experience has been enjoyable for my son and I can see the progress he has made with the well rounded programs delivered. Our children have also benefited from art therapy, the school readiness program and the speech therapy service offered at EACH.

I recommend EACH, without hesitation to anyone looking for childcare in Ringwood East.

I highly recommend EACH Child! My kids have blossomed here both socially and developmentally, enjoying strong attachments with their educators and peers and fun, varied and inclusive play-based learning and kinder experiences. The rooms are spacious, bright and well-resourced and the outdoor spaces are beautifully designed and lots of messy, adventurous fun! The service has good systems for connecting with parents and keeping us updated on assessment of individual learning and development. In my experience, management has always been professional, friendly, responsive and focused on continual improvement. The food service is also of very high quality! I'm so glad to be a part of this community.

I have no hesitation recommending EACH Child to anyone looking for a childcare centre for their little ones. The staff are caring, attentive and make each day interesting and fun for the children. I couldn't be happier with the centre and our experience there over the last 3 years.

We have been part of the Each child community for the last 4yr, with both our children attending long day care & the funded kinder program.

The Educators, teachers, management & support staff are amazing! They are caring, responsive, trustworthy & fun. There is no doubt our children have developed greater social & emotional skills, independence & resilience from attending Each child.

The centre has improved a lot over the last couple of years since the renovation. The playground is fantastic & the inclusion of ‘risky play’ & nature activities is great for the kids.

We would highly recommend Each child to families looking for child care in Ringwood East/Heathmont.

Each Child have been so welcoming, they always respond to you and address any concerns you may have. My son has loved going and has formed great relationships with the others children and educators. The educators are always helpful and communicate well.

The management team and educators at EACH have been so supportive over the past few months. Our family has had a challenging year and the quality of care they have provided both our children and family has been exceptional. We couldn’t recommended them highly enough!

EACH Child has been a wonderful early learning experience for my two children, providing them with a huge range of opportunities to learn and develop physically, socially, emotionally as well as preparing them for schooling.

There is a broad range of cultural experiences and programs on offer, and my children are always coming home and telling me new things they have learned about. They enjoy attending and have good relationships with the educators there. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. The staff are responsive to queries and will clarify information and give regular feedback about how the children are going. All the staff are positive and happy which is a credit to how the centre is managed.

During the lockdown period EACH Child staff continued to provide a great service, even as aspects of the program became restricted (e.g. Had to drop children at the door, not in the room) and talking with staff more tricky with mask wearing. Regular information about any changes to restrictions were provided in a timely fashion.

The worst and most stressfull experience we have had as a family specially at this Covid and lockdown situation. No sense of understanding at all. Not reliable at all when you need care. Don’t recommend it to anyone.

Great centre and great organisation! Professional and friendly staff that really go above and beyond for my family!

One of the worst childcare centres we've been too, absolutely would not recommend this place and you should avoid sending your children here

Will never think about this place again.
We have been at the wait list for nearly a year, and recently I just tried to contact them and asking about waiting list status, as well as other questions that are sane. The people on the other side of the phone was very rude, arrogant, and impatient and being very mean about me asking those questions, and at the end they even threaten me that if I ask or even talk more to them in that phone call, or call them back again for the waiting list update, they will remove my child off the list.

Cannot speak highly enough as a teacher and Early Years Lecturer of the program provide for my grandchildren. Staff build on individual strengths and nurture creativity.

The room staff here care about the kids they are looking after and my child comes back suggesting that the staff are the best friends he has in the room.
The facilities are sometimes well heeled but a big grant has just been approved so things will be changing up.
There is a waiting list but we found the admin staff were great at keeping us informed of what was going on and kept our options open.

We just found out the cook has been sabotaging our sons diet for the whole year by giving him all the things we asked him not to have. Unfortunately for our son certain foods have a negative affect on his behaviour and well being which has taken us years to unpick by engaging with different health care professionals that specialise in this area. The cook it seems however knows better.

Further to our insult, the room carers, rather than make sure he was being properly looked after, treated our son who turned 4 this year, served us with their policy on bullying procedures. Basically informing us if things don't change our son will be managed as a bully. All of this because our son wouldn't sit down at group time, would not do what he was told and threw tanties. Go figure, a 3 year old throwing tantrums and using offensive language. So rather than change his diet which was affecting his behaviour like we requested, they want to treat him like he has behavioural issues that need to be addressed by applying their policy on bullying procedures. Even the dietitian at the centre disagreed with the findings of the specialist diagnosis we received from our health care professionals who specialise in this area, disagree mind you without even looking at the results or scientific evidence we supplied to plead our case. This is how they have treated our son who turned 4 this year.

At the beginning of last year the cook took the only thing our son could eat for breakfast off the menu, porridge. No other nutritious alternatives were provided, that is of course unless you think rice bubbles are a nutritious start to the day, every day, year in year out. At the time the cook told my wife porridge "was breaking the budget". And no, you can't bring your own food in, thats "against policy".

In the last two years the creche has done nothing to fix this problem. The problem it seems has been us all along. All of this from a creche that promotes itself as being child centred. Little wonder we are moving our son to a different creche.

You make up your own mind.

We moved our child from Each Child after 3 years of attendance as our customer experience during the last year was very poor.

Since moving to GOODSTART in Ringwood North, we, and our child have never been happier.

Here are some reasons that support the right decision we made for our family: -

GOODSTART have an excellent director who is human and child centred. This filters down across multiple touchpoint from communication in digital and in person formats, to the child's experience in the room. There is transparency with what's happening in the room via communication tools (Storypark), e-mail and parent teacher discussions, ongoing. GOODSTART over communicate, for example, they tell you where your fees are going and why, so as an organisation there is a flat structure and the customer, YOU is considered at the centre of what they do.

GOODSTART tailor education and diet around individual child's needs. They employ people who are empathic, so that individual needs are supported with an open mindset. Their documentation consists of individual medical management plans for diet needs.

BY comparison, at EACH we were never given an individual management plan, so this meant that our child who had multiple food intolerances, and a medical condition that is effected by food, wasn't dealt with well.

EACH is organisationally focussed and work with policies and processes that are central to what they do. This meant our child was measured against process, policy etc.

GOODSTART have a child centred learning methodology, that means they extend learning around a child's interest. EACH did not have this, although they said they were child centred. Example: toys are scheduled and rotated, regardless of your child's interests. Our child was being forced to sit still at the age of 3 for group time, when he wasn't ready for that.

GOODSTART provide learning opportunities with a range of incursions from 'safe handling of dogs', 'what happens if you need to go to hospital', 'reptile workshop' and 'cooking workshops' (with healthy food).

So in short here's a summary of service so that you can decide where to go:

EACH: organisationally focussed, slow moving, process and policy orientated; from a mindset perspective, closed. Does not deliver on child centricity and does not consider customer centricity at all. Has a range of services within the EACH network, but works in silos with them so doesn't communicate those services that could be of benefit to parents or their own staff.

GOODSTART: really is child centred, customer focussed, provides external activities for children, works to improve service constantly, is agile, responsive and innovative. Provides a service where as a customer, you feel valued and needs are met.