Stepping Stone Tea Tree Gully Childcare & Early Development Centre 165 Hancock Road, Tea Tree Gully, South Australia 5091

"Horrible experience!! The treatment my daughter received there was absolutely appalling bordering on neglect. My daughter has food allergies which I discussed numerous times with the staff and director over phone, email and in person. At no point were concerns raised. On Monday the 16th she attended for a half day. She had only eaten a small amount of breakfast so when I dropped her off at 7.30am, I advised them she might get hungry early. At 11am I received a call that they did not know what to feed her so hadn’t given her any food. (Snack time was at 9am which leads me to believe she was made to watch while the other children were fed but she wasn’t). On the phone I advised them that she could have fruit meat and vegetables which the centre director advised they had been too scared to give her any of those foods but they would try some vegetables. I had a family member collect her at 12.30pm and she received extremely poor customer service, including being told to install the car seat while holding a baby. I was advised that the room smelt so much like bleach that it made my family members eyes water and was hard to breathe. So it must have been even stronger for the young babies in the room. My daughter launched herself at the family member extremely distressed and was trying to climb up her body and reaching for the door to leave. She was extremely distressed and the staff member was trying to get my mother in law to fill out additional paper work instead of letting her leave or calm the baby down. When my mother in law said it was the parents job to fill in the paperwork she received an extremely snarky response back. The staff advised that she had only eaten a small piece of pumpkin. After being collected she then had 3 purée packs, roast chicken, grapes and 4 cups of water so must have been starving and dehydrated whilst there. Her nappy was also extremely full. She then caught gastro from the daycare centre and spent Wednesday in hospital. I had written an email with all the issues to the centre and received a call from head office. They were going to look into the complaint and get back to me but I haven’t heard from them since. Now they are trying to get me to pay for the half day plus a $50 bond despite not providing a basic level of care. Would not recommend this child care centre as it is poorly run EDITED - names removed as their CEO threatened defamation and that if the names weren’t removed they would “take things further”."

"If minus was an option!! My son developed social anxiety due to this center!! As this was his first childcare and I never had any issues with my daughter's center (Northlakes Munno Para, amazing!) I didn't think much of him clinging to me to not drop him here. He was there almost a year and all I ever saw was a dark room and children crying. I now look back at it as a prison. Shocking treatment of children by one or two staff occurred. One placed a child down extremely rough and stated "this child will be the death of me" in front of me like I was invisible, I was convinced it must be her child, as no way would she be doing that to someone else's child. It was not her child; I saw her parent collect her about a week later!! I was horrified, and already started to look for another center. Another "educator" could not tell me why my son has a gigantic rash on his face and that she though his face was "just like that" after my son spending almost a year there. The same woman who put the child down rough told me when I saw my son locked outside by himself, with no educator and both the screen sliding door, and glass sliding door closed, that he has the "sh*ts with me because I changed his bum" he was only 1.5 years old!! I was so shocked about what I walked into and what she said for me I was lost for words. Considering my job at the time was also working with children, in huge numbers, and I wouldn't in my wildest dreams do anything remotely close! I saw her recently leaving work for the day at the center as I drove past, so it seems my complaint did nothing and they think it's fine to employ people like this. Her name is Sarah, for anyone wondering! Office staff, and staff in other rooms, from what I could see where lovely, children always sick and not much cleaning done from what I could see."

"Our two children (4 yrs old and less than a yr old) have been with this centre for nearly 6 months now and our experience has been positive so far. There are several great things about the centre among which are the level and quality of communication of both educators and administrators, centre cleanliness, and program. We have observed how the educators go the extra mile for the children and provide meaningful information to parents. We were particularly impressed with how a recent issue is being dealt with in a holistic and inclusive manner (I will not share further details in order not to break confidentiality). We find it favourable that the centre is not at full capacity that allows for last minute bookings and they allow for reasonable flexibility in terms of changes in bookings. They are more expensive than other centres because they provide the hats and sheets but it is worth it. We highly recommend the centre."

"Our son attended Stepping Stones Tea Tree Gully from the age of one all the way through to the kindy room and we have only positive things to say about this childcare centre. From the wonderful management team and educators through to the curriculum, the cleanliness of the centre, the focus on work health & safety, general wellbeing and good communication it really was a great experience for us and our son. This Childcare Centre certainly offered more than just a safe place for us to drop our son whilst we were at work -  it enabled and encouraged the formation of friendships, provided great routine and social development and well and truly kick started our son's learning journey. This centre comes highly recommended."

"Our little guy has now been attending Stepping Stone Tea Tree Gully for a year and a half. It takes a lot for parents to leave their child with strangers but hearing the amazing feedback from other families in our area we couldn’t have chosen somewhere better to help raise, shape and most importantly educate our little guy to be the best he possibly can. The staff go above and beyond for not only our son but the smiles on all children’s faces at drop off and pick up speaks for itself. With another child on the way my wife and I know confidently that she can return back to work with ease. Thank you so much to all staff at Stepping Stone Tea Tree Gully for an amazing experience."