Guardian Childcare & Education Camberwell (formerly Tiggers)

Fantastic daycare centre with excellent facilities and staff.

Having been at Tiggers for 3 years now, I honestly can not recommend it highly enough.The staff are absolutely amazing in their interactions with the kids and you can really tell that they love the children.The centre itself is clean and well kempt, the menu is nutritious (which is great if you have a fussy eater like I do) and overall the energy is just really homely and friendly.It’s never easy leaving your kids with strangers but honestly Tiggers made the transition so easy and has continued to do so through the years we’ve been here.

Steph and the tram are amazing and they have support our son journey since 8 months old. He is maturing into a well rounded toddler and is learning so much in life skills as well as education requirements. He loves the Japanese lessons especially in light of the Tokyo Olympics .

I’ve worked at Guardian Camberwell for some time now, since it was known as ‘Tiggers’ and it has continued to operate as one of the highest quality, warm, continuously improved to exceed changes in the early learning sector facilities in the business.Throughout covid, it was my favourite place to be, the happy, constantly optimistic team were my sanity throughout it all! My eldest started there at 7 months and continued right through until he left for school, he still has fond memories of the centre and often asks to visit. My daughter still attends and having been in the biz for as long as I have and seen many centres, I can honestly say there is nowhere I would rather her early learning journey be. There is good reason why the centre is almost constantly full and has remained so since it opened over 20 years ago, pioneering as one of the first Childcare centres in the area despite growing competition. ‘The hype’ is true, there really are no other centres around like it!

As a first time parent finding a good childcare was really important to us. After a lot of searching we decided on Camberwell Guardian.As soon as we walked in for our tour we had a great vibe and feel of the place. Everything was clean, calm and organized, with educators playing with the babies on the floor, reading books, playing with toys. My husband and I knew straight away that this was the place for us, we spent the walk home hoping that we could get in because places are limited. Thankfully, we were able to get our son in on our preferred days and didn’t have to split him between 2 childcares.The educators in the rooms are so kind and caring and always greet us with a smile and a hello in the morning. As both my husband and I are working fulltime, we are often one of the last parents to do pick up and the educators always have the time to debrief about the day have a chat, tell me what my son was up to that day and how he is progressing and who his friends are. Our son really does have a great bond with them, and his little face just lights up when he sees them.Being born in Covid times he didn’t have much of a chance to engage with others, so he did take a couple of weeks to adjust to his new daycare routine, the educators took the time to gain his trust and work with him. Our son wouldn’t eat a lot at daycare at the begin due to the stress of the new environment but the educators will always offer him his favourite things even if not on the menu for that day so he would have something. He is now eating everything at daycare and having second helpings!We look forward everyday to the Storypark updates and as soon as the notification pops up on our phones we drop everything to have a look at what our son has been up to. We love looking at the photos of him playing with the other babies and educators and can see that he is having a great day.Communication from Steph the Centre Manager is amazing. She knows every parent and child’s name and will always greet us in the morning. She is quick to respond and gives thorough updates, in fact I just wait for the email from Steph to find out what the latest Covid restrictions are instead of trying to figure out the everchanging restrictions. There have been a few occasions when I have had to put Dean in an additional day and Steph has been so accommodating.We really love everything about Guardian Camberwell and I tell everyone how much our son loves it and I honestly recommend it

Such a wonderful place to drop my children off in the morning. Always feels like I’m leaving them with people that care. The rooms are spacious and inviting and the kids have different activities each day. Highly recommend.

Me and my wife have been sending our child here for a year. The staff are always professional and friendly. The manager Steph is always happy and makes you feel at ease knowing your child is safe and being looked after in a friendly warm environment... the out door area is amazing in itself i couldn’t image sending my child anywhere else

Beautiful people working there, low staff turnover and they genuinely love and care for my child. Highly recommend!

As a casual staff member with Guardian I love working here. It's one of the kindest places I have worked and felt well and truly at home here. The center manager Stephanie has been so incredible allowing me the flexibility to do half day shifts when that's all I can do as well as allowing me to discuss concerns and give feedback based on what I've seen. The center has handled the current staff shortage within the childcare sector is amazing and efficient. As someone that has worked in the industry for seven years I can not recommend this service enough.

Avoid at all costs - and save money!As a new parent the learning curve is quite steep and we didn’t quite realise what to look for when we first toured child care centres. This review is one I would have liked to read before we made the fateful decision of enrolling our kid at Guardian Camberwell. I fully expect management to respond and try to excuse/twist or negate this review.StaffStaff changes with exceptional frequency which means that every time you leave your kid in the morning all information must be repeated. Even if said information is written down in their folder, this is not consulted. Due to the high number of babies and the leadership shortcomings every drop-off felt like utter chaos with babies crying everywhere.When time comes to pick your kid, no-one can provide any insight as to what transpired during the day as it’s always ‘their first day’ or ‘I’m usually in another room’. Adding to the obvious problem of lack of consistency and rapport with your offspring, this also translates to a raft of other issues outlined below.SecurityDue to staff’s transient nature and the lack of procedure around drop-off/pickup - anyone can walk off the street and claim your kid as their own with no questions asked. Parents of other kids can also walk freely around, take photos or your kid, and to post to social media without repercussions.HygieneTo meet legal ratios, staff is shuffled in between rooms so viral outbreaks in one room quickly spreads to the entire centre. Our kid was also always incredibly dirty at the end of the day.FoodUndoubtfully to keep costs low and margins high, food is exceptionally heavy on carbs. Every single dish is pasta, toast, rice or potato based. Food high in carbs have shown to lead to poor physical and mental development in children.EducationDespite claims to the contrary, children are largely left to their own device and minded rather than educated. Seeing photos of your kid alone with the same toy looking distraught over a period of months told us a much.The above explains why our kid always looked like they’d been through hell when picked up. Since changing to an order of magnitude better (& cheaper) centre, the change has been so incredibly positive it’s hard to comprehend how Guardian Camberwell can continue to operate.All this for only $165/day. Do yourself a favour and enrol your kid literally anywhere else.