Little Scholars School of Early Learning - Stapylton

I want to start by saying how grateful I am for the amazing educators my son had at Little Scholars—unfortunately, many have since left. When we first started, I couldn’t fault Little Scholars. The educators were wonderful, and communication was excellent. However, the last 5 months we were there, the quality of care and transparency declined significantly. Updates became inconsistent, sometimes nonexistent—we once went two weeks without a single daily update. What concerned me most was the lack of transparency about health risks. Cases of whooping cough, RSV, and hand, foot, and mouth disease were present in the nursery, yet parents weren’t informed. Educators were even told not to notify parents. The same happened with staffing changes—educators left or moved rooms without notice, and staff were instructed not to say anything. Staff morale seemed at an all-time low. Educators were burnt out and undervalued. I was especially concerned that untrained staff were counted in ratio from day one, which educators themselves confirmed. This had real consequences—my son once came home with dried feces on his back after a change by a new educator. Another time, he had a grab mark on his arm. When I raised this with the director, she reassured me that all educators would redo safe handling training. That never happened. Despite staffing shortages, the centre continued pushing for more bookings, offering coffee vouchers for booking extra casual days. While a great business strategy, it only works if there are enough staff to provide proper care. Instead, at times, the centre was out of ratio, impacting children’s care. Little Scholars promotes community involvement—giving hampers to businesses, flowers to strangers, and lunch to tradies. While nice, it’s frustrating to see money spent on promotions instead of staff training, appreciation, or resources. The centre itself is beautiful, and some educators made a real difference in my child’s life. But the red flags became too great for me to feel confident leaving my son there any longer. One final note: many five-star reviews were written by staff and others were made during giveaways where parents were asked to leave a review in exchange for a prize entry. That alone speaks volumes.