Choosing the right childcare centre can be a daunting prospect. Obviously, tangible considerations such as costs, location and of course availability all come into play in your decision process. These are easier than some of the intangibles and we have listed these below having been through the process ourselves!
Things to consider:
The feeling of the centre when you walk in the door.... What is your gut instinct telling you?
Who shows you around (is it the Co-ordinator?) and what information are you given or told about the centre? Are you given brochures or pamphlets?
Are you told about the educational program and any incursions/ excursions the centre offers?
Ask questions like : " How many staff are allocated to my child's room?" , "What are their qualifications?" , "Are the staff consistent?" Eg: Are there full time staff in the room? Non consistent staff can make your child feel very unsettled.
What are the centres philosophy and goals?
Ask about the staff turnover, if staff turnover in a centre is high, this usually means the centre is restructuring or there is an underlying problem within the management. ( This you do not want).
Ask about the types of communication between staff and parent's and children. ( A good centre should have endless types of communication with families such as notice boards, communication books, newsletters and most important of all verbal, one to one communication ).
