Starfish Early Learning Centre - Nunawading

My son was at Shrimps room for a few months, and it was a very bad experience.

Firstly when I asked how was my son doing when picking up, the educators always said no idea (she explained she wasn’t the educator in that room) or only replied “He had a great day”. Normally you won’t have any idea how are the kids doing in the room.
Secondly, I only saw 4 my son’s photos in the 6-7months.
I thought that was not big issues until the team leader Troy organised a online photo show. The show lasted for more than 30mins, and there were hundreds of kids photos in the Shrimp room. However, there wasn’t any my son’s photo.
Troy only said Sorry and called me twice perfunctorily according to the manager’s notice. But looks like he had no idea why this happened or what’s happed to my son in the room. As a result, I withdrew my son from here as soon as I can and went to another childcare.
There are still some good things in this centre. For example, the manager Debbie is very good and supportive. I am not happy with the team leader, but there were good educators in that room such as Rachel and Ash.

We moved from another centre to this. After few months of our move we found this is the right centre for our kid.no matter how many times you call them or email them, they would respond patiently.the two teachers at kinder room (Dolphins) are amazing and my kid always loves to go there. The food is made by best chef and they are amazing. Thanks Starfish team to make this chapter of life for my kid amazing.

Our daughter Sophia has attended Starfish since she was 10 months to now going to school next year. She has done her kinder there as well. I have say that Debbie and all the staff are really fantastic people who have been superb both looking after our daughter and helping her progress her development.

No matter which room (and we have been in all of them) the staff are just so caring for our kids. Ash, Celeste, Troy, Lorraine, Bernadette, Chloe, Fiona, Bianca, Danielle - seriously I’m sorry if I missed anyone they have all played such a hand in bringing up Sophia.

They are a really cheerful, happy and knowledgeable team of people who genuinely care for our kids. This review is a massive Thankyou to Starfish. I couldn’t have asked for a better place for my child and if I had to do it over again and drive double the distance I would do it without question.

Thankyou from the bottom of our family’s heart to Debbie and the starfish family.

Amazing staff with so much heart and caring mindset at Starfish Nunawading. Our daughter has been a part of this childcare for years now and It’s wonderful seeing her get excited about going to Starfish everyday. She's made such good friends and also developed excellent communication skills at a very young age.
We tried other childcare centres for our 1yo son around the area but were not fully satisfied so put him in the same daycare now, he doesn't want to leave at pick up.
The teachers, Celeste & Lorraine in Dolphins, Nikita & other teachers in Guppies room really make an effort to engage the kids and develop them in a very individualised way. The management is really committed to providing a safe, fun, and loving environment and we’re very thankful to Debbie Scott and the whole team at Starfish Nunawading.
Please keep on the great job that you ladies do.

Update: Thanks for Debbie's call today to discuss the feedback, the manager in this center is supportive, hope they will review their practices and do better in the future.

Original Post:
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We cancelled service recently due to the poor service in the baby room.
1. Unorganised orientation. This process is designed to help new babies to get familiar with the environment, the staff, the eating routine and sleeping arrangements. I am not introducing a playground for my baby, one hour playtime is not significantly helpful. This service should be embedded with feeding attempt (first time) and sleeping attempt (second time). My baby never had his lunch in this center (we only had 2 weeks service and 1 week sick).

2. Careless Guideline: I had submitted the food list for my baby, but the staff had thrown it away without discussing with me for each item, which made me very disappointed. I understand educators are busy, and baby crying is normal, but they are professionals, which means they should give new mums some guidelines and suggestions to comforting babies and mums.

For example, they do kindly advised me to stay for half a day for my baby, but they did not tell me what actions I should take. I feel very embarrassed when I was in the baby room, watch babies crying and did not know which actions were appropriate. And I did their jobs for half a day as well, feeding my baby for lunch and cuddle him for sleeping.

Another example is that they do not provide any strategies to comfort mums and babies. Orientation process I mentioned above is a way to comfort babies, which needs improvement.
In terms of comforting mums, regular communicating with mums is helpful. I did ask them to give me a call if my baby is unsettle. My baby loves playing himself at home without me, I am so surprised that he was crazy unsettle under the service. No one called me on his second day even he had skipped his lunch and afternoon tea. I am happy to pick up him early just need nicely notification. When I talk with the educators, they made me feeling guilty because my baby is unsettle rather than giving me advice to deal with this situation together. Time may be helpful but I appreciate some proactive actions for comforting my baby and myself.

3. Terrible Management. I am the person pay attention to details, and too many bad behaviours ruin my trust. I did not know who is the main educator for my baby, sometimes I talked to one staff about my baby’s routine then she disappeared when I picked up. Not sure baby room does have some notebook for staff shift over and hand over.

I compared the feeding process with my current center, and found the reason why my baby refused to eat. It seems that every center organizes moring tea, lunch, afternoon tea around fixed times, it is fine. The problem is the feeding method. This center put baby to the chair, and one staff tries to feed two babies at once, if the baby refuses to eat, they quit after a few attemps. They treat baby as machines and do not care individuals.
In my current center, my baby started to eat on his second day but he refused to have lunch under Starfish's service for 2 weeks. The new center treat every baby differently, they cuddle my baby and feed him in the arm to help him to get familiar with their service.

The management in the baby room is very terrible, the staff is always busy and baby crying is everywhere, they should analyze why the baby keep crying. The new center I must say, I did not see any baby crying, everyone is happy player, my baby is one too.

I will not recommend this center's baby caring to all my friends.

We are quite new to the Starfish family but feel so welcomed.
Both our boys have settled in so well and the staff are all so lovely.
We look forward to and love getting the weekly wrap up of what each room has been doing during the week.
Get in on the waiting list ASAP to avoid disappointment in not getting a place!

Our son has been attending Starfish Nunawading for a year. From the moment I did the tour of this centre, I knew it was where we wanted him to go. Everyone there is so incredibly welcoming and helpful. You automatically feel part of a family when you enrol. The Director is wonderful and nothing is ever too much trouble. She made has made us feel so welcome.

All of the educators in our son’s room are so caring and nurturing and we can’t believe how much he has progressed in all areas since he began there. The individual care they give is outstanding and they know each child and family so well. Our son loves his time at Starfish and right from the beginning, we have felt so comfortable leaving him in their care.

We are so incredibly thrilled that we found this amazing centre and look forward to our son spending the next few years there. We really cannot speak highly enough of them.

We could not be happier with Starfish. Debbie and her team are wonderful, and really make the centre have a caring and supportive environment. We are so grateful to be a part of such a lovely community.

Update: Thanks for Debbie's call today to discuss the feedback, the manager in this center is supportive, hope they will review their practices and do better in the future.

Original Post:
=
We cancelled service recently due to the poor service in the baby room.
1. Unorganised orientation. This process is designed to help new babies to get familiar with the environment, the staff, the eating routine and sleeping arrangements. I am not introducing a playground for my baby, one hour playtime is not significantly helpful. This service should be embedded with feeding attempt (first time) and sleeping attempt (second time). My baby never had his lunch in this center (we only had 2 weeks service and 1 week sick).

2. Careless Guideline: I had submitted the food list for my baby, but the staff had thrown it away without discussing with me for each item, which made me very disappointed. I understand educators are busy, and baby crying is normal, but they are professionals, which means they should give new mums some guidelines and suggestions to comforting babies and mums.

For example, they do kindly advised me to stay for half a day for my baby, but they did not tell me what actions I should take. I feel very embarrassed when I was in the baby room, watch babies crying and did not know which actions were appropriate. And I did their jobs for half a day as well, feeding my baby for lunch and cuddle him for sleeping.

Another example is that they do not provide any strategies to comfort mums and babies. Orientation process I mentioned above is a way to comfort babies, which needs improvement.
In terms of comforting mums, regular communicating with mums is helpful. I did ask them to give me a call if my baby is unsettle. My baby loves playing himself at home without me, I am so surprised that he was crazy unsettle under the service. No one called me on his second day even he had skipped his lunch and afternoon tea. I am happy to pick up him early just need nicely notification. When I talk with the educators, they made me feeling guilty because my baby is unsettle rather than giving me advice to deal with this situation together. Time may be helpful but I appreciate some proactive actions for comforting my baby and myself.

3. Terrible Management. I am the person pay attention to details, and too many bad behaviours ruin my trust. I did not know who is the main educator for my baby, sometimes I talked to one staff about my baby’s routine then she disappeared when I picked up. Not sure baby room does have some notebook for staff shift over and hand over.

I compared the feeding process with my current center, and found the reason why my baby refused to eat. It seems that every center organizes moring tea, lunch, afternoon tea around fixed times, it is fine. The problem is the feeding method. This center put baby to the chair, and one staff tries to feed two babies at once, if the baby refuses to eat, they quit after a few attemps. They treat baby as machines and do not care individuals.
In my current center, my baby started to eat on his second day but he refused to have lunch under Starfish's service for 2 weeks. The new center treat every baby differently, they cuddle my baby and feed him in the arm to help him to get familiar with their service.

The management in the baby room is very terrible, the staff is always busy and baby crying is everywhere, they should analyze why the baby keep crying. The new center I must say, I did not see any baby crying, everyone is happy player, my baby is one too.

I will not recommend this center's baby caring to all my friends.

My daughter has been attending Starfish for the past year and it has been an absolutely fantastic experience! Her care providers and teachers in the Seahorse room have been nothing short of amazing. Everyday I would have to convince my daughter to come home as she loved her day. It has been a very fulfilling experience for us all!

Great place! We tried out multiple childcare centres before finding this gem. Staff genuinely care about well-being of children. Programs they have for the kids are also hugely beneficial.

We have been a part of the Starfish Nunawading 'family' since just a few weeks after they first opened in 2014. Our eldest absolutely thrived in the environment and he always built strong relationships with the room educators. Even now with him in school - he loves coming with me to pick up his younger sibling - and the educators still get great big hugs from him!

The centre director & educators were very accommodating when we started our youngest, as he had trouble adjusting to a new environment. We were able to do extra orientation sessions to help him settle in. It took time for him to flourish (each child is different), but the educators were (are) always understanding and patient - and now he absolutely ADORES his educators and loves coming, both to see his peers as well as his educators.

Both the staff and centre director have always been welcoming and very open to feedback. Any issues we've had, have been investigated (if req.) and rectified swiftly. In our experience, they are all very caring about the children and families, and very attentive. They all do the best they can to provide a supportive, nurturing, fun & educational environment.

The kids seem to always love the food that their chef/cook makes. I know a number of parents have asked for her recipes as the kids request her food even at home! The centre is also involved with some community groups - the kinder room kids go and visit some of the older folk and do activities with them (beautiful!), and the centre also actively supports some really worthy causes.

All in all - I absolutely love the centre, and it will be a sad day when our youngest finally leaves to go to school in another 3 years as I'll miss being part of the 'family'.

My family and I can't speak highly enough of Starfish Nunawading. The administration team and educators are engaging, incredibly friendly, easy to approach and very supportive and you can tell their first priority is about caring for the children. Well done on providing a safe environment for the children where they can learn, grow and develop a community spirit through the yearly activites.

I have had all 3 children go through starfish, with my youngest being there since she was 5months old, she’s now 4.
All children have had an amazing experience right through

Starfish nunawading is amazing! I highly recommend it. The centre director Debbie is always available to assist with enquires and is very helpful. The centre is beautiful and the staff are brilliant. My son has settled so quickly at starfish. You won't be dissapointed.

We have been part of the Starfish family for the past 3 & 1/2 years and currently have two children there. I have had nothing but positive experiences with the staff & quality of care my children receive. The centre is professionally run & the staff genuinely take an interest in the children and their learning. They are responsive to individual child needs & parents requests. I feel confident my children are safe when they are there and my 4yo son often begs me for “extra” childcare days!

Staff are amazing and caring, manager is very responsible, my both kids loved this place. Centre is clean and the food is healthy.

The centre is nice and clean with plenty of outdoor play spaces. All the educators are warm hearted. The choices of food is great. The menu is season based and fresh ingredients are used.

We’ve been fortunate to have our eldest at Starfish ELC Nunawading since 2015 and our youngest since 2017. We cannot fault management, the educators and other support staff. It is a wonderful, nurturing, happy, clean environment, a real community feel. Our children have had such an impressive range of experiences, learning opportunities and just plain old fun play time.

Both our kids come to this centre and they both love it. Incredibly caring educators, with excellent facilities and food, and just an overall good vibe. Debbie and her crew do an amazing job and we have been impressed by the quality of care and professionalism.
Our kids always have a lot fun and it's always great to hear about the things they've done and learnt. The education program is top quality, and we have found that our son has learnt so much from the centre, whether it's about new planets, different cultures and languages, writing and reading, etc.
It definitely makes drop offs easier in the mornings knowing that your children are in good hands.
Would definitely recommend this centre to anyone who is considering an ELC for their child.