Thrive Early Learning Centre

Our two children attend- the staff in the toddler and preschool rooms are warm, friendly and genuinely care

Sending my daughter to childcare for the very first time was an overwhelming experience. However, the educators at Thrive Merrylands made us feel welcomed and continue to do so with smiles on their faces. As a result my daughter enjoys going to childcare. She has become more independent, creates friendships and engages in a range of meaningful conversations and experiences. Thank you to all the staff at Thrive Merrylands.

Short version - The centre is great, educators are great, and location is perfect. (close to transport and right on top of the shopping centre.)Long version -As a parent of 4 (2 attend this child care, the other 2 are in high school now) i totally get the challenges faced with balancing work and life. Part of this is finding a child care centre that has friendly staff - people that both i myself and the kids felt comfortable with.The two children have been attending for about 18 months.I have found the staff to be very friendly, both of the kids love most of the educators and get quite excited to go to 'school'.I have also witnessed other children of various ages being dropped off or have seen then playing in the play areas outside when i come to pickup mine and they all seem very happy.When i have arrived at the centre early or during mealtimes (prior to COVID) i saw that the kids had good healthy meals and snacks.If i had any questions or concerns i have always found these to be answered in a timely manner.Over the time, if any my children got hurt or sick i was always called promptly and advised of the situation.I was trying to think of an opportunity for improvement to include in this review - but nothing comes to mind, as any feedback i have provided has been taken on board and/or the 'issue' has not arisen again, but i put this down to actively communicating with the educators each day, as well as using the Kinder8 app to download reports each day so i know what is happening.

The team at Thrive are absolutely amazing!!! They are passionate about your child’s learning. They go above and beyond to help in the development of your child. The team are professional and are always willing to lend a helping hand when needed. The Thrive team are fun-loving, are approachable and really connect with the kids which makes the whole place just a pleasure to be at. I highly recommend Thrive to anyone with children.May Kobeissi

I must say that they really looked after my child and were very accomodating with casual days whenever i needed them! My son was generally a difficult child and very clingy to begin with (im being honest) but the centre became his second home… The centre leader Maggie is a sweetheart and the teachers are wonderful. The centre itself is clean and has a great outdoor play space… Highly recommend!

We had a terrible experience with Thrive Marylands. I would not recommend this centre. Our son had been focused on feeding the food he did not like. He went two days a week for almost a month. In the beginning, he was very happy and excited. Later he was complaining that his teacher is always grumpy. One day I was about to drop off him. He even did not come out of the car he was very terrified and l asked one of the educators to come out and talk to him. When we backed into the car he opened his belt and went to the front seat. He did not listen to the educator and threw things that I was not expecting it at all. I immediately decided to not send him to this centre and did not take the two weeks' notice. Because he was so scared I did not want to force him to tell me what happened on the day that he hates this much. After a few days when he was calm down, I sat down to talk to him somehow to know why he was so terrified. He was saying yucky food someone fed him food that was not his favourite and then he ran to the toilet to spite that. Honestly, I ignored it and could not believe that but I am sure he does not make it himself and such things are unacceptable with children. The head office manager called me I told them everything he said to me. They head office manager said they complained to the department of education about it. One week later I called the centre to talk to the leader but the leader was not there and the assistant manager said that she was in the room and that had not to happened him and that is because he is shy. When a child is shy it means they need more attention from educators and we just started of course a child is shy and nervous.

My daughter has attended Thrive Merrylands for nearly two years now and I've observed a noticeably positive change in her learning and development. The staff is very supportive and cooperative and also the activities arranged for children are great.The facility itself is very spacious and clean with a large outdoor area for kids to explore and play.

I’ve been sending my daughter to thrive for months. Miss Jaclyn is very respectful and experienced. Also she always has so much patient with my questions! I’m so thankful for all the educators in the nursery room. They are absolutely kind and helpful!

The educators have been amazing with our kids, who take longer to adjust to new situations than others. Most kids we see each day are happy and settled with each other and running into their rooms to see their friends. We hear lots of stories from ours, which give us a good insight into the day to day happenings and the political intrigues of 3-5 year old preschoolers.

Based on our experience I would not recommend sending your child to this centre. We experienced our baby not being given his bottle all day and getting badly sunburnt. We noticed that there were always different staff coming in and out, there was a lack of leadership and our baby was very upset every time we picked him up. The staff are lovely but there didn’t seem to be anyone in charge of the nursery and often we asked questions the team couldn’t answer them. I was told the only way I could ensure my baby got his bottle was to message throughout the day via their app. We decided that it was not a safe environment for our child and pulled him out immediately when he got sunburnt.