Coventry Childrens Centre 328 Coventry Street, South Melbourne, Victoria 3205

"I am going to leave a comment because there have been two very negative comments below. I leave a 4-star rating and not a 5-star one because since my child started, the service has become less nice. I think it’s mostly a case of having difficulties finding staff. I also suspect there might have been some management change too. So that’s more a feedback for the council than for Coventry. Apart from this, it would be good to remember that childcare Educators and early childhood teachers are payed super low wages and that’s horrendous. Everyday I am actually amazed about the educators and their passion. I am so thankful for them to care for my daughter and allow me to work. The government is doing very little to subsidise public education in this Country which creates a complete unfair system. And that’s led by Australians because Australians don’t want to pay taxes and vote with that in mind. On sending children back home: yes that’s true that council led centres do send kids home more often because rules are way more strict and I agree that is very disruptive. I think their worst rule is covid based: they send your kid home if they have 37.5 which is completely ridiculous because 37.5 is not fever. I had strong fights with them about that. Know that you can push back and escalate and give feedback to the council. On kids getting sick all the time: That’s a well known fact from every parent. It also vastly depends on individual kids. They are building their immune system and that’s just scientific fact that kids can get something like a dozens of cold a year during the first years of their life, especially when they go to childcare. On outdoor area: I personally like that they have an amazing outdoor area and that they are mixed with all ages, they learn a lot of social skills through this setting, that’s actually one of the most important skills to develop at that age. On the educators: I think it will be the same in every childcare. My daughter started childcare in one of the private one cited below. The staff left her, she was 6 months at the time, without any milk all day… they did not even call me to tell me she was not taking her milk. At Coventry, they would always call me straight away if she was emotionally unwell and would not drink her milk. Some educators are patronising indeed. Some are very negative too. you’ll find this everywhere though, that’s just human nature. Refer to your favorite educators and if some things are very inappropriate just give the feedback. That’s really part of being a parent. Same with nappy change etc. You just have to set the expectations. There are plenty of adorable educators at Coventry. That’s unfair to trash them like that… About the app: Do parents actually realise how hard it is to do this job? Do you know how much admin there is already? Do you really want them to lose more time snapping shots of your kid and filling up app updates? Well I certainly don’t want this. I found it awful to see staff in - very expensive - private childcare walking around with mobile devices to take the best shots of the kids… completely useless and also undesirable when you know that at that age, it’s critical for them to develop social skills. Anyways, thanks Coventry for not doing this! Every parent will have different expectations, so far, Coventry has been good for my toddler. She is happy to go there. She has friends from diverse social and cultural backgrounds which is very important to me. She fully enjoys the outdoor area and is very good at interacting with older kids when we are in playgrounds because she is exposed to all ages at Coventry. Then if you want your kid to come back home with clean clothes, if you want them to be in a fake outdoor area at the third floor of a building, if you want them to have an app with multiple updates a day, and if you want them to be limited to an age group: Coventry is not for you. Coventry prioritises kids needs, not those of helicopter parents."

"Overall Coventry failed to meet our expectations at nearly every opportunity the past few months. PROS: - great location with easy access to city, suburbs and tram - great outdoor area for children to enjoy - offer breakfast for kids getting dropped off early CONS: - Probably no surprise, it’s a cesspool of germs we get at least one fortnightly email informing us of kids getting sick at Coventry - Outdoor play area is a free-for-all everyday in the morning and afternoons so it’s near impossible to contain rapid spread of illnesses across all ages in this environment - No application so you never really know what’s happening at the centre nor have any history - You must completely spell out your child’s needs each and every day which we had to learn the hard way. Needs diaper cream may be obvious you but it will not be applied unless you tell them to do it. This has resulted in the worst diaper rashes he’s ever had in his life. Twice. - Despite the centre bring a cost/value leader, we found that compared to the other centre our son attends that Coventry finds reasons to send children home. Runny nose? Temperature within normal ranges? Loose stool? They will send your child home and you’ll need to get a doctors note before they can return. They’ve also been rude and patronising. Tell me my child is sick don’t ask me a 5 questions that all lead to the same conclusion. Be direct, please. Advice to my former self: Your son will spend nearly as much time at home because of how often he gets sick and they will actively try to send him home. Plan to be flexible with your schedule and finances because you’ll pay for many days you’ll never end up using and still need take off work. You’ll get more negative news from his carers than you will positive news and they will still send him home occasionally with diaper rash. This is a pick him up with a soiled nappy kind of place. You can’t rely that he will get a bottle at 5:00pm depending on who is handling him. There will be times they try to send him home without any good reason at all like “soft stools” not even diarrhoea. Most importantly, don’t compromise on childcare because of cost. If they treat parents like this then god only knows what they treat your son like. It will be scantily documented at best. To echo similar sentiment from another reviewer, it’s not easy to the days you need here and I suspect it’s because demand far exceeds capacity at Coventry. Given it’s a counsel run centre, they have a steady stream of children on the wait list. So there is an environment where they trial families/children. Our experience is that they’ll weed you out if they don’t want you. Calls every week with another reason to come pick up your kid. Meanwhile, Busy Bees down the street is happy to wipe a nose, feed him a bottle regularly, and hand him over without a soiled diaper. Hard pass on Coventry and good riddance."

"This is a very dated facility. I spent some time here while trying to transition my daughter. My son also attending, would have to to take his naps on old foam mattresses. Eventually we left as I couldn’t get the days for both my kids, unless I took the days months before i needed them, even though I asked for them 6 months in advance. Not very flexible in this regard. My son used to throw up with anxiety having to go here. The new childcare we send him to, he skips in with joy. I wouldn’t recommend here."

"We are delighted with the childcare services provided at Coventry Children's Centre. The staff are dedicated to creating a nurturing and learning environment for the children and they all work extremely hard. The centre is very well-organised and the staff are excellent in communicating with us and each other. Our girls, who are in the Possum and Koala rooms, are very happy at the centre. We can't recommend it highly enough!"