Our experience at Wonderland Educare Sunningdale

Item: Wonderland Educare
Rating: 1
Author: Diane B

What started off as a very good experience at Wonderland turned into something quite unimaginable and having read the other review, I also feel compelled to also share my experience. We also enrolled our son at 4 months and at the start there were only 13 babies in the baby class. Appealing, especially with the school being conveniently 800m from our home. Being a marketing consultant, I have the freedom to collect my son at various times of the day. This being said, the carers are also the only people I see every day and I grew very fond of them and we developed what I believed one could call a “friendship”. I often gave them and other staff a lift to the bus station and one even a lift to her home in Gie Road. I also gave them each a Christmas gift as a thank you for everything they did for my son. Trust…a word that in todays world, only leads to hard lessons for one to learn. Rewind a couple of months: One afternoon, after the 16:30 staff had already left for the day and I came to fetch my son from Wonderland. With one carer left to mind all the remaining children, she found her hands full and I literally had to step in and assist and help calm a crying baby. On my way out I addressed this with the Head mistress that there were too many babies for the carers to look after. She very quickly pointed out that legally she was allowed to have 16 babies in her class. When I rep**** that is that what her school was about? To maximise the amount of babies allowed for income purposes? Clearly offended, she rep**** “But that wasn’t very nice”. There was apparently a staff member who was supposed to assist the single carer in the baby class and my complaint lead to a disciplinary actions against her because the head mistress was so embarrassed that a parent had to step in. The months that followed the Head mistress greeted me with the same “friendliness” when I dropped off my son in the morning. Fast forward to end February – the same time as the other review: I arrived at class one morning with parents leaving and the teachers turning to each other saying “They are going to complain at the office now”. I asked what was going on and they explained that the parents that left wasn’t happy that there were so many (16) babies in the class. That same morning (11:11) we received the following email: Dear ***X and *** Hope this mail finds you well. They say time flies when you are having fun and i can surely agree with that. Just the other day you came to inquire for space for your baby and now he is a big boy ready for new adventures. Having said that, when our babies start getting busy and bored in the baby class we move them to the yellow class which is our toddler class. In the yellow class they get lots of stimulation, we do potty training and they get to play outside(weather permitting). So as from the 1st of March we would like to move *** up to the yellow class. We have 3 teachers in the yellow class and their names are Gladys, Norah and Millicent. As from tomorrow, one of the teachers from the baby class will take him to the yellow class so that he can start to fami****ize himself with the teachers and the children from the yellow class. Two more babies are moving up with him. If you have any queries please feel free to come speak to us in the office. Kind Regards I was immediately uncomfortable as my son had JUST turned 13 months so I my mind the developmental difference between a 13 and a 16 month old was just a little too big. When I fetched my son that afternoon I was approached by the Office Assistant and was called into a completely unrelated classroom, in front of all the other carers sitting with the older kids waiting to be collected, to discuss the email. Having not had the opportunity to discuss it with my husband, I hardly felt that this impromptu “meeting” was a professional manner to approach the topic further. I echo’d my sentiments to her and left to go to the baby classroom. I bumped into another mother and father that had also received the same email and took off work early to come and see what was going on. I told them about the incident that happened earlier that day with the parents complaining about the size of the class and that it was my suspicion that is why we were being asked to move the older class. That evening I had the opportunity to discuss the matter with my husband and we wrote the following in response to their email the next morning at 7:19:45 AM. Dear ***, Thank you for your email. I have included my husband’s correct email. Apologies this was my error. So in essence he only found out about this when I got home. We understand that *** is bigger and busier than the smaller babies, but our main concern is the next class is from 16 month onwards. Why the early move? We agree that he will enjoy the extra stimulation, but we are worried about things like the fact that he does not eat on his own yet, will his nappy be changed as frequently or will he be offered water. Is he not too small with too many “needs” for the teachers? The babies that are moving over have all just barely turned one and we wonder if it isn’t the size of the class which is actually the problem. I was there yesterday when the other parents went to see you about the number of babies and this email is a directly result of their complaint. Yesterday I was called into a classroom to discuss this email, which I don’t feel was the right time or place to discuss this matter. I will talk to the teachers in the yellow class about my concerns. Regards ***X & ***X That morning I went to the next class room and spoke to the teachers. One admitted that the children coming from the baby class were too young, but unfortunately they as teachers don’t have a say in the matter and they just have to do as they are instructed. Hearing this obviously made me more uncomfortable. What was more concerning was that IF the three babies moved up from the baby class to the older class, there would still be a problem of having too many children in the older class. There was already 19 babies/toddlers in the next class and with the new additions there would be 22 for three carers. After receiving a call from the Head mistress to come and see her the next morning, I later decided to rather keep records of all correspondence and maintain communication via email: Dear ***, Further to my email, I paid a visit to the yellow class this morning. To be honest, it didn't really give me a sense of relief that the move is being done in the best interest of my child. I would prefer if you could communicate with us via email and highlight the points you wish to make. *** is our priority and we don't want to cause any waves. Our main concerns are that he doesn't self feed and needs to be offered water. I tend to get quite emotional which is why I prefer emails. Kind regards ________________ This playing on one’s mind all day, I came to collect my son that afternoon and as I have on many occasions, I plonked myself down in the middle of the class where the kids can come and say hallo, play with my keys and have my son clamber all over me and have a little catch up session with how the carers day went. Feeling quite distressed I said in passing and to no one in particular “I actually don’t feel like come to fetch (my son), with all the drama that’s happening”. I decided that perhaps I was being too protective and thought let me give them the benefit of the doubt. I took my son to the next class who were playing outside. The outside area is shared with an even older group of children from the next class. I let him go to observe if there was really anything to be concerned about. Needless to say we didn’t stay very long as he got bumped over by the older kids and whatever he picked up, was quickly snatched away. To me, my concerns had some substantiation now. This was a very stressful time for me and I decided to let my husband rather deal with the situation further. I also received a frantic whatsapp from one of the carers that I must please never say she spoke to me because her job was at stake. Expecting my husband to call the school that morning, but as murphy would have it his morning also didn’t work out as planned and I received the following email at 10:20 AM ______________ Dear***X Without Prejudice It has been brought to my attention that yesterday when you collected *** you indicated to one of my staff members that you, I quote “ I don’t even want to come to this F...ing place to collect my child”. Unfortunately there is clearly a break down in trust between yourself and our institution and therefore we request that you find alternative caregivers who can satisfy your needs more fully. We hereby advise that you are given notice with immediate effect and your position for *** at Wonderland Educare is no longer available. Today the 23rd February being your last day.Please advise your banking details so that we can make a pro rata refund payment to you account tomorrow. Payment will be refunded to you for Friday 24th February , Monday 27th February and Tuesday the 28th February 2017.(3 days) Yours sincerely ________________ I immediately phoned the school in tears and said that it was an absolute lie! Where would I for one swear at the only people I see every day, two swear in front other people’s children, let alone my own. I even told her that I went to sit with him at the older group – her response “O I know”. She further responded that she has heard all sorts of stories and she actually doesn’t need this. She told me that our spot was being terminated and also another child’s (who I presume is the other “review”). She even went as far as saying to me “I am showing you now, that I don’t need your money”. So the incident that happened a few months earlier was never forgotten and a grudge was held – and the seemingly “friendly” morning greetings were only a farce. She even had to say to me that her husband was there and he also feels that this is perfectly in order. I was at Bayside and came to collect my son within 20 min of receiving the email. His cot was already cleared out, his bag was already packed. What was to happen to him if I could only fetch him at the usual 16:30 time? Lucky for us I was visiting clients in the surrounding area. The immediate dismissal and the way that they were ready to “clear out” my son because I had the nerve to question the head mistress is a clear indication that my son’s best interest was never the primary goal for this crèche. So the simplest thing for them was to fabricate stories, which were the basis of terminating our position with the school and a simple solution to their overcrowding problem in the baby and following class. Perhaps some have experiences completely different and I am extremely happy for them. But for us a very vital trust has been broken, by the staff that had **** about what I had said and absolute disregard for the well being of a seemingly insignificant little boy who suddenly was kicked out from a place he had been since 4 months old. Quoting the other hallo peter review “ In the entry form one completes when enrolling a child it states that the school has the right to cancel a child’s enrolment under 7 conditions, one of which is being bringing the school or principal’s name in disrepute” … One only has to wonder why that specific clause had to be put into their conduct rules.

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