Futuro Childcare & Education - Gledswood Hills

It has taken us a long time to work through the negative impact this centre has had on our family. I honestly feel like management were not interested in working with us when concerns were raised — it felt more like we were being dismissed or blamed for even asking questions. There were several issues raised during the 13 months our children were enrolled, and unfortunately, rather than any real effort being made to improve things, we felt that we were met with pushback or silence. Some examples include: The centre not following their own hat policy on really hot days (over 32 degrees). When I asked about this after noticing my child was without a hat (again), I was told they did not know where it was — even though it was always in their bag. When I asked one of the educators about the policy directly, I was later accused by management of harassing staff. It felt like simply asking a fair question led to being shut down. Our youngest was found drinking milk from his sippy cup that had been left out for hours (roughly five). When I opened the cup, the milk had spoiled. When I raised this, the educator tried to say it was not theirs— even though it clearly was. When I brought it up with the manager, I felt like the response was cold and dismissive. No apology, and no explanation of what they would do to stop it happening again. In the baby room, I often saw the space split in half using furniture, separating some of the children from the others. I was told this was based on behaviour, but it did not sit right with me — it seemed like some children were being isolated. My 2-year-old was placed in a room with 4 & 5-year-olds when they first started, even though there were supposed to be seven separate rooms. I felt like the age groups were not being managed properly. Multiple rooms were combined into one big room part way through the year - with up to 40 kids. I do not feel the space was adequate for the number of children, as they were split each day into smaller groups. Some children clearly needed more support, but I do not believe the centre had the right resources to give them that support — which meant the educators were stretched thin and other children missed out on attention. There were five different room leaders in the preschool room over the course of a year, which made it hard for the kids to have any sense of consistency. My child’s preschool portfolio for the year included just two paintings. That is it. At drop off one day, I witnessed one of the educators asking the kids to rank one another on a rainbow wall, based on how they behaved. The top-ranked child would get a “present”. I felt like this was inappropriate — essentially bribing kids with rewards to get them to behave. On my child’s final day, the lead educator could not find their Ventolin puffer initially, when asking for it at pick-up. I saw an educator hold my child tightly by the wrist and pull them when they were distraught. It did not look okay, and I felt it was inappropriate behaviour. After a year at the centre, my child was showing signs of anxiety and did not want to go anymore. They did not feel safe there, and we listened to them. In 2024, my child was injured by a toy. This centre claims no liability nor has their insurance company. They claim, "A toy inspection was completed". The injury, at initial assessment was deemed a partial amputation. Within 24hours I was holding my child while they were being put under for surgery!! My partner and I felt that after this incident the owner and management harassed us at drop off and pick up regularly to sign a Deed with a confidentiality clause. Overall, we had some positive experiences with a few individual educators, but they were in the minority. Our overall experience was that the centre was poorly managed and not the safe, supportive environment we were hoping for. I do not recommend this centre to any family.