Explore & Develop Waitara - Early Learning Centre - Waitara, New South Wales

Kerrie Song

I strongly do not recommend this childcare. The principal is forceful, rude, and unreasonable, shirking responsibility and distorting facts. My child went to this childcare for the first time, and within just two days, was pushed twice by other children, causing her to cry loudly. Now my child does not want to go to childcare and has suffered serious emotional trauma. The principal even justified their actions by referring to their family rules, saying that we violated their principle of teaching other people's children. We only intervened because, at the time, all the teachers saw my child being pushed and no one did anything. If it weren't for the negligence of the educators, we parents wouldn't have interfered. Their rules are not the law. As parents, we have the right to protect our children, regardless of the environment, as long as we are not violating the law. This is our fundamental right. This kindergarten is currently under a two-week investigation by the NSW Department of Education. I advise everyone not to send their children to such an irresponsible kindergarten that can cause physical and emotional harm.

Wendy Wang

We had our son in E&D since 2019 and just before Christmas, he graduated from this lovely place.
We had so much positive experience here, not only for the kids but also for us as parents.
The most loving part I wanted to emphasise is this whole service is trying their best to delay kids access to digital devices.
Jo might be not the best director to parents( she is really strict and bring my memories back to high school with my discipline teacher). However, she is definitely a good director to all the kids. Kids are all loving her, as far as I know.
The program is really good. My son developed all necessary skills to be ready to school. Educators are professionals and supporting. We always talked to each other to share information or concerns on my boy which helped us a lot.

Thank you for the exceptional service, support, and genuine care provided to our family and my son. We will always cherish the time Alfred stayed at E&D.

Wei Zhou

My son has been with the centre for half a year. We can't be happier with the centre. All the staff are caring and friendly. My son is thrived in that environment. He always walks into the room with confidence, the educators always give him a big cuddle in the morning. Such a loving and caring env!
Kids are also involved in many activities to learn and appreciate different cultures. Amazing!

jun ai

We have complaint you to relevant department，as everyone can see ,there so many bad comments ，and they never changed their school these years，even threatening victims，this event makes my family upset，and influenced our work and life，we have attempted to contact other childcare，my baby cried so long time yesterday ，she used to like to go to childcare when she was in AMEP，but now she is upset for going to school

Wendy Berrill

Both of our children have gone through E&D over the course of nearly 8 years and through this time there are still a lot of the staff who were there from Day 1. They even remember our eldest child.

The food that they provide the children is cooked daily and they take on ideas from families for other menu items that can be served.

The educators are wonderful and caring and they all know the kids names throughout the centre. They also have a large backyard for the kids to play in which is a lot larger compared to others that I viewed in the area.

Natasha Rizvi

Let me start by saying that when I was finally ready to send my daughter to Explore and Develop Waitara she was 2 years old and I was the one with separation anxiety not her. However just walking through the center talking with Jo that first time and seeing how it was run with the emphasis being on keeping my daughter safe, happy and encouraged her development I knew I had made the right choice. Jo’s dedication to keeping all aspects of her children’s and employees welfare top of mind was completely evident from her constant involvement in all aspects of the center. During the lockdowns her high standard of care allowed me to be completely at ease with the health and safety of my daughter.
All the educators are amazing!!!!! They take the time to get to know your child to work with them towards developmental goals and they are so easy to talk to about any issues or questions you may have about your child that I was completely reliant on their advice and suggestions when it came to the constantly changing requirements of my daughter as she grew up.
Thanks to Jo, the educators and the support staff my daughter is a confident, empathetic, mischievous ball of energy who has thrived during the 4 years she has spent at EDW. Both she and I were extremely sad to leave as she started kindergarten this year but with everyone at EDW support she has transitioned beautifully to “big school”.
Thank you Jo for the amazing 4 years at EDW.

Natasha

Kirsten Hasler

Our family attended this centre for 3 years with both of our kids having such a positive experience. The Director has always taken health and safety seriously, with all kids needing to wash their hands before entering (even before COVID) and there being strict protocols around being sent home when sick. She is also extremely organised, with rules and routines in place that we would also enforce at home.

We loved all the educators that looked after our kids. They were genuinely caring, friendly and communicative with us. The indoor and outdoor facilities were both great, with a strong focus on nature, sustainability and recycling.

Both our kids learnt so much there and it was a joy seeing them be part of this lovely community. Unfortunately we moved to another suburb and for convenience sake, moved our kids to a centre closer to home. We will always be grateful for care they received there.

I would highly recommend Jo and the team at Explore and Develop Waitara to anyone.

Anmol Gaurav Malhotra

One of the best childcare in Hornsby/Waitara area. Two of my children have attended this child care for more than 2 years and they absolutely loved it. The menu is amazing, the staff is great, good hygeine & regulatory policies to protect our children. I would definitely recommend this childcare centre to anyone looking for one in Hornsby or Waitra.