Kew Kids Early Learning

We love Kew Kids! My two girls settled in super quick and always look forward to heading in for the day.
Emma is an amazing support who’s always available to talk over concerns and is full of reassurance

Unfortunately we had a negative experience. Please be advised the reputation Kew Kids previously had, is no longer valid under the Managing Director Emma Lyons.
I witnessed the Emma be physical with one of the children in my child's room as a form of "correction", by dragging her by her arm along the floor when the child had walked away from her.
The rooms are also not up to code, with the children being unable to access the toilets on their own when outside.
The assistant director and also the staff that have been there 15+ years are rude, abrupt, unfriendly. Never wanting my husband or I to linger in the rooms at drop off, and my child was scared of them, to the point I'd have to wait until room leaders started to avoid them caring for my child.
The communication was appalling within the centre. I was not told when my child was bitten by another child. Eventhough the director and room leader had both witnessed it & had seen me that day. I was only made aware of the x4 seperate occasions by my child and had to follow it up myself.
I wasn't advised when my child had toileting accidents because they were unable to get inside to toilets on their own.
I'd also seen and heard one of the parents almost in tears explaining it was the third time her child had been scratched and bitten, without any intervention or communication from room leaders to avoid the repeated offense.
We were not notified of staff leaving and new staff starting, to the point where my child didn't know who his carers were and I didn't recognise any of his Carers.
When introducing myself to new room leaders they didn't even know who my child was! They also couldn't coherently communicate in both written or spoken English, making my childs development even more difficult.
My childs dietary requirements were also not met. My child was never given alternative options of food items, instead they had to continually miss out on the food the other children got.
Prior to us leaving, I had communicated all my concerns repeatedly to the staff and Emma gving them the benefit of the doubt and instead of any plan or change, it was only on my childs last day that I got sent a long winded email from Emma, once again, making up excuses for all that we'd experienced.
I truly hope you think twice about enrolling, don't let distance, convenience or past reviews make your decision. If I witnessed all of that, while being in the centre - who knows what happens when parents aren't there.
We are amazed by our new centre and I was relieved that things I had to fight for while at Kew Kids are common practice elsewhere.

Kew Kids is a warm and welcoming environment, and our two year-old has been very happy there since he started 9 months ago. He adores his lead educator. It is lovely to see him have new experiences, lots of learning activities, creative play and plenty of time outdoors. Thank you, Kew Kids!

Moved to Kew Kids in Jan 2021 after being at a separate childcare for the previous 12 months. Have not looked back. Beautiful centre and facilities, great meals, some of the best educators I’ve ever come across. And perhaps most importantly- our child has been consistently healthy and well! (Which has been such a relief after back to back illnesses at his initial centre)

We cannot express how much we adore the team at Kew Kids. We have 2 boys who started at 11mths old for 5 days a week. They spend a lot of time there and you only want the best for them.

The teachers are caring and my boys love going. They provide an incredible curriculum and my kids have flourished well beyond our expectations. They take the time to work with each child and create fun lesson plans to engage the kids. Every day we drop them off there are never tears!

The entire team from the Kew Kids go above and beyond. We trust them 100% and know that they treat our kids with the utmost respect and caring that we could ever ask for. Thankyou!

We couldn’t be happier with the care and support our daughter has received at Kew Kids. The educators are friendly and attentive and we feel reassured and comfortable leaving our daughter in their care. We are always welcomed with a smile and friendly hello. The outdoor areas and playgrounds are newly updated, safe and there is plenty of room for children to explore. The indoor areas are clean and spacious. The children enjoy a wide range of activities and experiences and updates are provided throughout the day via the app which includes photos and a detailed schedule of meals, sleep times, nappy changes etc. We feel very lucky to have found Kew Kids and have no hesitation recommending the centre to others. Thank you Margaret and the Kew Kids team.

The team at Kew kids have been nothing but exceptional with my daughter. We started there 6 months ago and her transition to this daycare has been seamless. Thank you to the staff at Kew Kids, your work is phenomenal

Teachers are taking care of kids needs. My daughter love to be in cc. Especially teacher Karen who is in charge of my daughter class always ask if there is anything we need.

My little one has been in Kew kids for one year, he made many new friends. The teachers in there are very kind and trustful, they reply parent’s message quickly and update the daily information on time.

The activity in this center is very helpful for kids, I can see the progress from my son, learn from play, learn from kinder teacher. I am highly recommend this center is a good place for your kids to explore.

Our daughter has attended Kew Kids for over a year now and she could not be happier there. During our time we have seen a change in management and the new centre Director Margaret has continued to improve the service and provide a wonderful environment for children and staff alike. The centre is bright, clean and very well equiped - the curriculum is a great mix of educational and physical activities that our daughter loves. In addition to all the activities planned by the educators they engage professionals such as yoga teachers and "happy feet" classes which she loves. The staff are kind and genuinely enjoy looking after the children. Our daughter has a great sense of belonging at Kew Kids - she is not only looked after but she is nurtured by the staff and speaks fondly of her "friends" when she is not there. As parents, we could not ask for more and appreciate the efforts the staff put into making this a safe, bright and happy place for our child to be.

Great rooms and friendly educators. My girl has recently transferred to pre-kinder room and their educator called and asked about my girl's current progress and what I wish my girl to achieve this year. They have also introduced their program and what they have noticed, their description and advice are accurate. I found that they are more helpful and responsible.

Kew kids is an excellent place for young children with great educators and the management. I see that my child loves the centre, and talks about the centre and the educators with smile and happiness in his face. I witness how everything is progressing since Margaret came to the centre. Margaret and all the educators are so friendly and responsive, and try hard to enhance the quality of the centre everyday. My child has been learning a lot through the exccellent activities, and his language skills has been developing fast.
I highly recommend this childcare centre when I see that my child loves it. At the moment, I feel very well and not stressed to leave my child there.

Finally, I should add the beautiful architecture of the building and very attractive environment of the centre for children to explore. I say this as a person with an architecture background.

My son has been attending Kew Kids for over a year and couldn’t be happier with the room carers. Palak is particularly attentive to children’s needs and my son can not stop mentioning her name even at home.
For a working mom, I have peace of mind know my son is in good hands all day.

I am so thankful I've found a child care centre for my little person that has the most nurturing team of educators. My little person has the privilege of not just being cared for by his team of educators in his room, but all educators. Gosh, even the cook at the centre knows my child and that's just amazing! Mel, the centre director, is fabulous and I'm so thankful that she provides such honest and responsive feedback. It's such so comforting knowing that all of the team at Kew Kids are there for my child. I don't know much about anything, but I know how I feel, and all I can say is that I feel special and comforted knowing my child is cared and educated by such beautiful educators who genuinely care and go above and beyond. Thanks team. I know I've found the right centre for my child and our family and intend on staying here forever!

Prospective parents- this centre is like the titanic- it’s a sinking, collapsing mess. Since the new ownership has taken place, we have seen the worst staff turnover to be experienced by any business, my son’s meals were being forgotten/skipped, carers were forgetting to put nappies on him and on one occasion he was handed back to me barefoot with no shoes on on a 12 degree Melbourne day (!), the centre reported one of it’s own carers to the department of education for an incident/s involving the carer hand grabbing and arm pulling the children in her care and falling asleep on her shifts, telephone msgs are rarely returned and we have pulled out both of our kids since the end of last year due to the above mentioned health and safety concerns. Please don’t send your children here. Please do your research. Please find somewhere else. Anywhere else is better than here.

We heard so many good things about this place, so decided to send our son here. But, the worst decision of my life. This place is so disorganized. Staff keeps on changing. There is NO communication with parents. My call NEVER get returned. My son is not happy at all. We will not be staying for long.

Current review:
I’m sad to amend my original 5 star review of this facility. Unfortunately, there has been a noticeable drop in quality since Story House took over. There is a staff member leaving every week. Staff who have been there for years are leaving in droves. This is a very unsettling time for parents, and the silence from Story House Management has been deafening.

I recently sent an email to head office outlining my concerns. No reply.

I feel for all the staff, who are doing their best in a situation beyond their control. Story House upper management; Shame on you. Wake up and realise your entire business is built on amazing staff, and engaged parents and children. To simply ignore feedback and concerns from a parent is woeful. Your focus on stripping out cost and balancing the books may deliver in the short term. However, it won’t be long before enrolments dwindle and the centre is not at capacity. Unbelievably short sighted management!

The Story House enterprise get 1 star for the way they have managed the take over.
The staff working day to day at Kew Kids are still brilliant (5 stars) and I sincerely hope Story House pull up their socks and learn from their mistakes.
This lands me on a 3 star review - 5 for the staff, 1 for the big company that is Story House.

5 Star Review from before centre was taken over:
Very happy with Kew Kids! Our daughter loves going there and has gone from being tearful at drop off, to now being confident and talking about her educators as her friends. Obviously well run, and low staff turnover helps children to develop a connection and become settled.

Sadly no longer a good place. Whilst Management says all of the right things, the reality is that families are unhappy. Was a great place before the change of ownership and then i'd say 97% of staff left. We have had staff apologise to us (off the record) for the changes, and then they themselves leave as clearly management is doing somethign wrong (it aperas that the centre is not run with the kids in mind as if it was there wouldn't be so much turn over as people want to work in a good place). There is a great community of like minded parents (we are all in a whats-app group) who are all very disgrunted with everything from billing, major staff turn over and all talk and no action. We have now left. Sorry guys, i wish i could be more positive.

We started at Kew Kids 4 years ago and it was an excellent experience and easy transition into childcare. The past 12 months, however, I cannot say the same. We have lost many great educators, had incursions removed without the premium fees lowering and the inconsistency in the educators left is less than encouraging. I hope Story House manage to sort themselves out soon but if this wasn’t our final year here, I’d be moving on next year. Sad to say - no, I would no longer recommend Kew Kids ELC.

Honestly I wish I could give a better review, as we loved the venue a lot.
We have been with kewkids for 3 years, we witnessed this Centre from being excellent like the children’s second home, to now a fully commercial/money driven/unstable “business”.
Almost all old staff have left kewkids since the change of ownership to story park. Some staff have worked There for over ten years. But they feel so hopeless about the new management which resulted the huge gap/problem about the center’s staffing.
To cut the cost, a lot of changed also happened. They changed the agency, cut budget for paid activities.
They did add a coffee machine at foyer to make it look better, but honestly, parents are in and out, no one cares about a free coffee but the well-being of their children.
We did try to write a few emails to the head office management hoping to voice the parents concern. It did not work.
For the reasons above, I don’t recommend kewkids for any one, at least not until it becomes more stable (if it ever will).