Headstart Early Learning Centre Ocean Grove

"My son has had a great experience in the nursery at Headstart. I've been really impressed with the care and commitment shown by the educators and delighted to see my son form such solid relationships with both them and the other children. Highly recommend."

"Headstart Ocean Grove is tired and lacks care. The Center is old but grubby everything you touch from all the doors, gates and windows are always dirty. Old can be fine but the cleaning is well below par. I’ve never seen a clean door frame let alone clean surface in the Center. Lacks community engagement and variety- they have never taken the children out in all the time my daughter has been there (April -August) and only do in centre activities - nothing external is brought in. The children are missing out on key behaviour and learning from lack of the community engagement. Young inexperienced staff and there is a lot of new faces. There is zero developmental feedback we don’t get any ongoing information about their development stages or learning- the alerts on the app gives more info about “they ate and went to toilet/nappy changes”. We only get a general summary of activities in junior kindergarten but zero else. Poor food and lacks variety- The food is really questionable and of poor variety, I think fish fingers with tomato sauce are still being served under a new name after I complained about them. Materials in use are a mess, basics like pencils are not sharpened and texter pens are out of ink. Paint brushes and paint pots are all old and messy. It appears the staff are not coping as there are so many ongoing incidents of bad behaviour hitting scratching and no action, process or care. There is very little professionalism and the staff is either too young and immature or older and all seem overwhelmed. I’ve witnessed older ladies snap at children instead of being patient and younger staff simply ignore snotty noses and state oh that child always has a snotty nose. Lacks innovation and care. Overall I feel there the Center is tired and possibly stuck in the past. There is very little care for the property and it really lacks innovation. This lack of focus lack of care and pride in the property is damaging as is clearly fostering children’s bad behaviour as when I complained 5 or more times that my 3year old daughter is being hit by boys in the face I’m told they are “aware of the behaviour and goings on” but do not doing anything about."

"This place is sensational. It’s always a good sign when staff retention is high that you have a great childcare center. Because if the staff are content and well looked after then that radiates down into how the children are cared for. Highly recommend."

"We love Headstart Ocean Grove. Friendly full time staff and educators who have all been there a long time so great continuity of care. Great facilities and we have loved every minute here!"

"I appreciate the amount of passion each educator and management are about ensuring each, and every child that comes to their service feels safe, supported, respected, nurtured and cared for. My family and I have been made feel as thou we are an extension to their family. Each learning environment is set up in a way that offer all children with endless opportunities for exploring , learning and achieving their individual best. Sierra has been thriving since January 2021and absolutely loves her educators and classroom friends.Here at Headstart Ocean Grove is where Sierra can say it’s her home away from home xox"