Ngala Early Learning and Development Service - Perth Airport

I rarely write reviews, but felt compelled to share our experience with prospective parents. We were so disappointed with our time here, particularly as it’s Ngala. Given their reputation for supporting families, we expected a really warm, nurturing environment, but unfortunately that wasn’t our experience at all.<br><br>When our son was crying on his first few visits, I had to look around each time for someone to take him. This would be completely understandable if staff were under the pump, but they weren't. I eventually had to literally hand my child over to the closest unoccupied person. Anyone with young kids knows how hard it is leaving them upset, and having staff recognise that cue and come and comfort them makes an enormous difference.<br><br>Our previous daycare had unexpectedly closed, and we were so sad to leave because it’d felt like family. The educators were supportive, affectionate and genuinely interested in our kids. It was such a contrast to this place, and honestly, we'd have left much sooner, but we didn’t want to put our eldest through yet another transition so quickly.<br><br>Overall, we rarely felt the educators were particularly interested in our children. Many afternoons we’d arrive to find staff sitting around rather than engaging with the children. We were told there was an emphasis on independent play, which we understand, but there seemed to be very few organised activities compared with our old centre. Combined with what we regularly saw at pick-up, it sometimes felt less like a philosophy around independent play and more like a generally hands-off approach.<br><br>When I told the manager we'd be leaving, there were no follow ups, no “we’ll be sorry to see you go” or “we’ll miss the kids”, or even asking why we were leaving after only a few months. It just reinforced the lack of interest or care we’d felt throughout our time there.<br><br>I do want to add — and this is the only reason I’ve given two stars rather than one — that there were staff this review absolutely DOES NOT apply to. We had some genuinely amazing educators, especially in our youngest child’s room, who were warm, caring and just wonderful - we'll really miss them.<br><br>The new daycare we've found is beautiful - it's so well run and from the first day, it just felt like coming home. Apart from being relieved we've found somewhere we can happily send our boys, it's just highlighted how much is wrong with the culture at this daycare. Based on our experience, I’d strongly encourage prospective parents to look at other options.