Great place for my kids like its their second home

On our first day (5th May) , the educator in charge, Marion, was extremely rude. I didn’t know the PIN to enter the building. This was provided in my enrolment email, which I received on 21st January. Marion came to meet me at the door and when I gave his name, Marion snapped at me asking, "No, his name" - it was clear the name didn’t register with her. I wasn’t confident that staff were even aware he was starting. The handover left me feeling very uneasy; I left in tears and called my husband, deeply unsettled. As a first-time parent, I was already feeling quite anxious leaving my 7-month-old for the day. When my husband contacted the centre for clarification, the explanation given was staff sickness, which we felt was an inadequate excuse - any professional childcare facility should have contingencies in place for such situations. Despite my discomfort, I tried to give the benefit of the doubt and continued with day care, attributing my concerns to possible first-time parent anxiety. However, on Monday the 19th May, I asked staff to try to give my son three bottles during the day - this request was not followed. Then on Friday the 23rd, after giving baby a bottle at 5:45am and dropping him off at around 7:15am, I noticed on the app that he had only been fed 90ml at 11:08am, and by 3:45pm, still hadn’t received another bottle. In the space of 10 hours, he had only been fed 90ml. At 7 months old, formula is his main source of nutrition, and feeding should have been a priority. That evening, he was clearly hungrier than usual and drank over 240ml as soon as we got home. In addition, I noticed that he was consistently coming home unclean. While I understand that babies get messy, I was not comfortable seeing him with a constant runny nose, crawling around and touching his face and toys - particularly given the risk of spreading illness among the children. On his second week, his third day, I had to collect him from daycare early as he had suspected Hand, Foot and Mouth. I visited a medical centre, which then confirmed the diagnosis. Only last weekend, I had to call Health Direct, who advised that he has a respiratory viral infection, which comes with (but is not limited to) conjunctivitis, cold and flu symptoms, and a 40-degree fever. He then had to have the following week off, which we had paid for. Again, I would like to reiterate that I am not naïve to children catching illnesses when they start daycare - I have friends who have attested to this. However, considering the state in which my child was coming home, it’s clear that germs are circulating heavily within the centre. I can confidently say that I was not comfortable with my son being in this daycare and it was only four weeks. We withdrew him immediately, following the day he was only fed 90ml. This is basically the email I sent with a few tweaks. It was sent on 30th May and we requested the bond back, which they agreed to and also offered to refund the week we paid where he did not attend. It's 11th July and, after many pestering emails and stern words (from myself and Chat GPT haha), we only received our refund this morning… Totally appreciate if your kid goes there and has a wonderful time. This was my experience and, like I said, I was at war with myself over posting and sounding like such a bore, but I wanted to share my story.

Great Centre! My daughter has been going to Orchid ELC Kirrawee for 4 months now and absolutely adores the staff and always has so much fun learning and playing! It's centrally located so we often walk to daycare. They have such a great curriculum for the littler kids and the chefs prepare a rotation of exciting and nutritious foods with the 'farm to plate' method. My child has learned so much in such a short period of time both socially and developmentally and her character has really shone since being at daycare. The staff are always super friendly and very professional. Would recommend Orchid ELC Kirrawee to any parent!

Such an awesome school with lots of natural light, open spaces and great outdoor play area with an orchard/garden that everyone maintains together and a Lego room. The teachers are very thoughtful and take great pride in preparing fun and educational activities for the kids. Food is really great too! My Son is really enjoying his time there! Highly recommend

We have had a great experience settling our little one into Orchards this past year. The care from the team shines through every day, we always get detailed updates and responses when needed and a real sense of care from everyone we encounter

Great centre with amazing staff. My child has made lots of great connections and friends. The centre offers long hours and causal day, which is really helpful. On-site chef is awesome, with plenty of fresh and healthy food provided. Great outdoor play area’s which is always clean and fresh. Child focused learning with my children coming home regularly with new skills and words. Overall very happy.

Amazing centre. My son amazes me all the time with things he’s learnt whilst there. It’s great to see the connections he’s made with other children aswell as how beneficial the centre has been for his speech and learning not to mention the beautiful staff

As a former educator at orchard kirrawee, and having enrolled my daughter after a wonderful experience we had with my son who attended orchard early learning kirrawee from nursery to preschool, I can confidently say that it’s an amazing centre. During my son’s time we met some of the kindest, sweetest educators who put my heart at ease when dropping him off. He was always happy going there, no crying at drop off. Looking forward to my daughter enjoying her time as much, if not more. Thank you Orchard team 🙏🏻

My son went to Orchard Early Learning when he turned 1 and was there all the way till he went to school. He loved the centre and enjoyed his time there. The best thing about orchard was the teachers - very kind and caring, always concerned and helpful. The kitchen - paddock to plate policy, the menu and the food was simply amazing. My son actually loved the food despite the fact he was a picky eater. We have great memories from there. So now we enrolled our second kid there too. That’s how you know a centre is great. You’re going back to it! Thanks orchard Kirrawee team! Appreciate all that you do!

Fantastic daycare centre, larger centre but great purpose built building. Lovey educators and awesome outdoor area and garden