Extremely disappointing experience at Nino Early Learning Adventures – Ashburton. The attitude and treatment of families before vs after enrolment is night and day. Prior to enrolment, Emily was very persuasive and painted a picture of a highly communicative, caring centre. That promise was not delivered. Communication and administration are shockingly poor. Updates are inconsistent, follow-ups are non-existent, and internal staff don’t even seem to communicate with each other. Today was the final straw. When I attended the centre to finalise the withdrawal of my daughter, before her withdrawal had even been confirmed, I was locked out of the centre because my passcode had been cancelled — while my child was technically still enrolled. When I questioned Janine (Centre Manager) about this extremely inappropriate action, her response was dismissive and sarcastic. She actually said, “How do you know I cancelled it?” SUPER RUDE!!!!! The answer was obvious — because I couldn’t get in. The tone was condescending and completely unprofessional. Janine repeatedly gaslights parents when issues are raised, changes explanations when challenged, and avoids taking responsibility when the centre is clearly at fault. This behaviour is unacceptable in early childhood education. To make matters worse, I was never provided with or asked to sign a consent form allowing photographs of my child. Despite this, photos were taken and sent. This is a serious breach of trust and basic process. This centre is disorganised, poorly managed, and misleading in how it markets itself. What is guaranteed and promised during enrolment is not what families actually receive. If you value transparency, professionalism, and respectful treatment — think very carefully before enrolling your child here.

Classroom supervisor (Trang) is unbelievably amazing. Not only with communicating with us through Xplor, or updating us at pick up/drop off but we’ve sometimes come to pick up our son, sat back and watched the classroom dynamics and she’s thorough and coordinating everything well. Centre Management (Janine and Emily) could not be more welcoming. They’re genuinely what hooked us in initially with sending our child to Nino Ashburton. They’re accommodating to our needs and what we expect with treatment of our child. Example of why we are grateful to have Nino Ashburton look after our child. Sometimes on a Monday our child will throw the biggest tantrum at drop off (especially if Dads dropping off). So they’ll take our child off Dads hands and say “don’t worry, we’ve got it”. Dad would obviously leave but be anxious and worried. Bam! 5 mins later Dad receives a notification on Xplore with a photo of our child smiling and playing with a comment “I’m fine daddy! I settled very quickly this morning and started playing in small group. Please do not worry about me I am ok now.“ Small things like this show the centre cares for not only the child but also consider how the parents are feeling about being away from their child. A very small but delicate thing that will reassure parents’ their child is in the right hands. TLDR ~ send your kid to Nino Ashburton. They know what they’re doing.

We love all the team at Nino Ashburton :) having been to several centres in the area, we definitely feel like Nino wins at making kids and families feel connected and a sense of belonging at the centre.

I urged to write a review and share my thoughts and experiences as hearing more and more shocking and horrifying news around daycare these days. Nino Ashburton is our second home , Loving and caring team taking care of our girls. The educators are such wonderful people , I get to know almost all of them for the past 3.5 years. My heart is at ease knowing my girls are in safe, loving hands . The management team (Janine and Emily) are incredible. Janine is a kind soul who makes the centre a better place and Emily makes sure everything runs smoothly and always accomodating parents and super responsive with emails and phone calls. I can't recommend it enough, we are so happy to send our both girls to Nino

My daughter has been in Nino for four years and she has grown up to a very confident little girl. Educators and all other staffs are very supportive and caring. Highly recommended!

Lovely staff and very accommodating. My daughter loves it there and has bonded very well with the educators. They do excursions for young toddlers which can be difficult to manage given their age and nature but they do it safely and the toddlers love it. As a bonus, there's usually some hot muffins or snacks for parents who might have missed brekkie. Opens everyday except public holidays which works well for parents who can't take weeks off during school holidays or Christmas/new year period.

The staff at Nino are incredible. They made it feel like a 2nd home the moment we started here. Our son spent just under 2yrs here and loved every bit. The carers are all so nurturing and inclusive, whenever we pick up, they always provide a detail update of what our son's been up to and how he's developing. Thank you and we're super grateful for the love from your team.

I'm grateful to have been part of the Nino Ashburton team for a year now,and I appreciate all my colleagues for everyday support. Janine and Emily's dedication to the children and families consistently support them,and value our needs with professionalism is Amazing. Thank you!😊