Starfish Early Learning Centre (Nunawading)

It's been a while since my daughter joined the Guppies room, and I wanted to express my gratitude for the wonderful care she has been receiving. The early days were challenging, with Alana crying during drop-offs, but it's a relief to see her now happy and relaxed. The educators' efforts in helping her transition between naps have been truly appreciated. Special thanks to Debbie, the center manager, for her super quick responses and support, and to Danielle, Rachel, Alana, Acacia, Emily, Grace, and all the educators in the Guppies room, I hope I didn't miss anyone because it's always my husband doing the drop off and pick up😅. The team's support has made a significant impact on my daughter's development and our family's peace of mind☺️.

My son has been attending Starfish in the guppies room since February 2023. Debbie and the wonderful educators of the guppies room go above and beyond to ensure my son has a wonderful time when he is there. Debbie knows all the kids' names which gives the place a real family feel. They also have lots of incursions like music or reptile experiences which greatly enriches his life. My son is a difficult sleeper and somehow they manage to get him to sleep when he is there at daycare. They've also managed to get him to wear a hat and drink milk which I could not get him to do myself. I couldn't be more grateful. Thank you so much Debbie, Jo, Lily, Emily and Rin.

Definitely recommend Starfish Nunawading to all parents. Debbie as the team leader is the best; she is always smiling and approachable, remembering all children's and parents' names. Other educators are also nice and helpful. My son has been here at least three years and we love starfish! Can't believe he will go to prep next year. I think he has learnt a lot in Starfish given so many activities and opportunities.

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: =========================================================== 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!