Me For Kids Croydon Early Learning Centre

We have been at this centre for 3.5 years now and they have been incredible. There is so much to love about it, but as in most places, it's the people that make it. The educators are extraordinary. Too many to mention here. They're warm, friendly, funny, caring and attentive. Our son struggled with separation and then his transition to primary and they went above and beyond to support him/us. The facility is new and the rooms are full of things for the littlies to do. They have a wealth of activities always happening and an outside area that was our kids favourite part of the day. Highly recommend 😊

We love CELC. They've been caring for both my kids for 5 years now and I couldn't recommend the place more. We looked at approximately 20 centres for my son but we knew this centre was the one instantly. The staff were welcoming and the place had such a homely feel. All the staff have been there for a long time and always go above and beyond.

The director Shameem is hands on, you are just as likely to find her helping put your baby to sleep as you are to find her in the office.

We chose to keep our oldest here this year to do kinder instead of a government center because we couldn't bare to leave.

We have had our daughter in CELC for a year now and we highly recommend this centre.

Joe and Tatiana in the baby room have given so much love and care to our daughter and have truly gone above and beyond to accommodate her allergies and eczema flare ups. Which has given us huge reassurance our daughter is safe and well looked after when she’s in care.

Shameem the director is the most caring person who is always hands on getting involved with the children. Shameem and ALL of her team work very hard and provide a welcoming friendly atmosphere for both the children and their families.

CELC do regular community excursions, have daily interactive learning activities, yoga, animals and heaps more. I am beyond happy with the care my child receives here and highly recommend anyone looking for a centre to check CELC out.

My three children have been attending CELC for the past 7 years... I love this centre!!
The staff are always friendly and treat my children with such love and care.
The service provides breakfast, morning tea, cooked lunch and afternoon tea. The children have a variety of daily activities to keep them engaged- such as music, cooking, science and more.
I could not recommend highly enough for you to pop past and inspect for yourself!!

My daughter has been in one other childcare and I have had trials at others. She is in the baby room at Croydon a early Learning Centre. CELC is by far the best childcare centre I have been through.

Here’s why:
- loving, you can tell the teachers all love what they do and love the children. Critical.
- clean, as soon as you walk in you can smell how clean it is. Plus they’re really diligent disinfecting all the toys every evening
- calm, all the staff are so calm and relaxed. The program is extremely well managed, everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing and the calmness rubs off on all the kids. I have been in other childcare’s where it’s absolute chaos, the teachers are stressed, the kids aren’t properly looked after or cared for, and ultimately the children are negatively affected. This is further emphasised when making appointments to view the school, Shameem would always say “pop in whenever, no appointment necessary”, demonstrating a school tour was never staged.
- stimulating, each day new toys are put out, and/or there is a new program for the kids to focus on. It means the kids are always stimulated rather than playing with the same toys day in and day out.
- exciting, the centre has lots of animals for the kids to nurture, learn about and help care for. Terrapins, lizards, chickens, and a few others.
- consistent, there is extremely low turnover at this childcare. Every childcare will tell you that when you visit them, but after some time you realise it’s not true. At CELC it is true. My daughters head class teacher has been there for more than 10 years!
- delicious, the food my daughter receives at CELC is fantastic. Lots of healthy veg and fruit.

There’s a lot more praise, but hopefully above is a great summary. All the best with your choice :-)

My daughter has been at CELC for 18 months now and has formed such great relationships with the staff there, from the baby room to now the toddler room. They have a stimulating program which is based on the children’s interests, go on local outings, have daily activities such as cooking, music, kiddy gym and saying hi to “ninja” the turtle in the foyer every morning is a must!

I can’t speak highly enough of the fantastic care that my child receives at CELC. Shameem and all the educators have made my child and family feel welcome from day one. Their is always constant communication and I love the updates that we receive at the end of the day. We are very happy with the Croydon Early learning centre

We found CELC when we moved to Croydon in January and were nervous about transitioning our then 2 year old to a new environment. The staff were (and are!) so friendly and accommodating that it did not take long for her to feel at home here. We could not be happier with the care our girls have received this year from every member of the team! Thank you CELC :)

Sending my child to Croydon Early Learning was one of the best decisions I have made. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
The new facility is AMAZING but more importantly the educators are so warm, caring and professional; they really became a very important part of my son's first 5 years and I'm so thankful for everything that they did for him.

Shameem and her team of staff are so loving. They always create fun activities to keep the kids engaged and put so much effort and care into the kids well being and happiness. I love the excursions and incursions the kids do around their local community and always feel so welcome when I'm there. Highly recommend!

Wonderful childcare centre! Warm, friendly centre with amazing staff. Very healthy meals and lots of outdoor play. I can’t recommend Caitlin and her team enough.

Hopefully my review gives a more fair an objective picture of Croydon Early Learning Centre. I’ve also tried to include a bit of information about the national rating system so you know how to check out the standard of different services.

Since 2009 there has been a national governing body that conducts independent ratings of each service (kinder, long day care etc.). They look at the service in relation to aspects such as educational program and practice, physical environment, child health and safety and staff ratios amongst other things.

There are 5 levels:

Working towards National Standards
Significant Improvement required
Meeting National Standards
Exceeding National Standards
Excellent

Croydon Early Learning Centre achieved a rating overall at exceeding national standards. Each service by law must display their national rating in the front entrance of the building.

Yes, the building is a bit older (it has been a functioning childcare facility for over 40 years!). The business owners, who do not actually own the building, Shameem and Sanjay are still frequently updating and improving the facilities. For example: last week a new shade cloth area was added to the toddler yard and the animal barnyard was re-done. And yes, there is a vacation holiday program.

Some of the things I really value about the centre include:
• the centre is a smaller centre with approximately 50 places, so all the staff know all the kids really well! As staff members walk in in the morning you will see kids running to hug and greet them. The walls are filled with children’s artwork and there is a lovely homely feel.
• the staff are culturally diverse and friendly. Many members of the the team are bilingual, which is great for families whose primary language is not English!
• The directors, Shameem and Sanjay work on site and are friendly and accessible. They are always happy to help parents access any funding options that they are entitled too.

When considering different early education and care settings for your child, I would look at the services national rating, read their philosophy and have a tour of the setting to get a feel for the centre.

Love this centre! Shameem (the owner) is a lovely lady who is kind and caring and is always there to welcome me and my daughter! Love this centre! People who are saying its a bad centre are just privite users from other child care centres who are jelous. come to the centre and find out yourself.

Cannot speak highly enough of all the staff at CELC. So sad to be leaving after 7 odd years of caring for my boys.

Facilities are a little old and outdated but the staff more than make up for it! This is one of three centres our son has now attended so i feel that i have a good point of comparison. We also found the cost to be comparable to most other centres.

As mentioned in some other reviews, yes the building is old and the rooms are a bit small and have seen better days, however what matters more to me is the fantastic care our son received.

I always felt that our boy was well looked after with the staff reporting back on his day, his high-lights, friendships and his activities each evening without prompting from us. I really felt that they knew him, and he was clearly fond of them as he would hug staff goodbye.

They have a fantastic program of activities, excursions, incursions, themed weeks, music lessons and we particularly liked the centre pets (our son loved the animals - fish, a turtle, a blue-tongue lizard, chickens and guinea pigs)

This is a wonderful, friendly centre to entrust your little ones to.

I did have a positive comment for the previous owners formally known as Croydon Early Learning, but have now removed it for the new owners.
I would not recommend this centre under the new management.
My daughter got covid from this school, they failed to advise other parents, upon investigating, I spoke to another parent who their son got covid, reported it but the school didn't transfer this information.
My child returned home with a grazed chin, she said a swing hit her, no report was done by staff nor was I notified.
You have multiple different student teachers coming and going so much so it's a little concerning for the children, more so the young ones.
You have the teacher to student ratios not being met, I know I hear the conversations between the staff.
One day 2 students were left in charge over the Christmas quite time, a lady comes in and asks how many do you have now? The male student was lost for words and couldn't answer, and the female student said "I'm not sure"
If you enter the foyer at the right time, you can hear about staff complaining about another staff member to the directors about how late another staff is from coming back from their lunch break, leaving the ratio unbalanced. Or you could be stepping over boxes trying to sign your child in or even down the hall.
I have witnessed 2 wonderful teachers trying to escort 15 kids 2 to 3 yrs up concrete stairs while trying to carry other infants in their arms and phones, sunblock hats, kids climbing each other trying to get up the stairs. One teacher trying to hold a heavy fire exit door open for the kids and leaving 1 teacher to manage the kids up the stairs. Not very safe.
School was given a verbal 2 week notice, and they were notified in writing they didn't not have permission to withdraw on my account, they acknowledged and gave me their bank account details to pay fees, now fees were being paid into their account by myself.
This week under isolation due to covid, I was unable to get to the bank to deposit my pay, they withdrawn money from my account without permission, and above the invoice amount.
The statement they provided was issued on the 3rd, they sent a you have till 12pm tomorrow text message, but the "Statement Period" finished on the 6th, so how is the statement over due?
Sorry but the staff here meaning the teaching staff are amazing teachers. But the new management and directors, are the reason I pulled my child out.