The CubbyHouse Early Childhood Centre Palmerston North

Oct 18th, 2022

Review Part 2 of 2. -Seemingly no rules in their rooms. My infant picked up the habit of throwing toys around our house, and biting his sister, from his time here. Even on our introduction in the preschool section we saw an older boy throwing objects around (roughly 10 meters away) and kicking things about in rage. He was even starting to kick other children. The teacher giving us the tour made the excuse of 'I don't know this boy'. Talking of which, on a different instance a teacher from one room didn't know the rules of the other adjacent room, as a child had taken a toy outside into the garden. The teacher had to query this with another teacher from that room. Do they not communicate with one another? Why are there different "rules" (if you can say this word at all) for each room? As long as you are a teacher in the preschool/nursery, you have got the responsibility of looking after children and it does not matter in which room or house you are officially working at! -I never got any photos from my infant's first day in nursery, despite them promising it on the first day. No link to their Storytime-web-link at all. When we asked, their excuse was "We have not had the time yet". Not to mention we only received photos of our eldest from her first day, after the promise of it being more frequent than that for both children. -No pen at reception on one morning. No staff around to help. Even when trying to phone someone during the day, no one would pick up and no one would be in the office. Teachers always gave the impression as if they cannot be bothered to talk to you. -No communication with the parents. I had to sign the so-called accident book which was for an incident which happened 2 weeks in. There was only a note in the sign-out sheet at the front entrance saying "sign accident book". The teacher just read out the quick note in this accident book without having a clue about it herself, making no sense of it to her nor me. At the same time, no one really told me if my children ran out of nappies. -For clarification both my kids went to preschool in Christchurch and did not want to leave by the end of each day. They loved the teachers and their time there. Compared to CubbyHouse, my preschooler did not want to enter in the morning and my infant could not wait to leave. -In conclusion, this daycare is far way too big with too many children and incompetent teachers who are unable to take care of them all. If you love your children, please look for somewhere else.
Sep 23rd, 2022

I have 4 children currently enrolled at The Cubby House pioneer highway and would recommend in a heartbeat. Very welcoming and professional staff. The children to teacher ratio is perfect what reflects in the teachers relationship to there key children. The menu is superb and the children love it. Always have different activities set up for children everyday to encourage there development. Amazing communication from the staff.
Nov 12th, 2021

We'd been looking for a quality childcare centre in Palmerston North for a while and we're absolutely delighted to have found The CubbyHouse Palmerston North. Their focus on natural resources, dietitian-designed food and menu and separation of rooms for Preschool and Nursery are all things that make this centre so great for our child's well-being and development.
May 12th, 2021

Review Part 1 of 2. This is unapologetically a long post, broken down into bullet points into two parts due to exceeding the character length on Google, written by both parents. We had a child in the nursery section and a child in the pre school section, both of which for less than a month. We wanted them out ASAP, but Cubbyhouse was one of the only places taking on both children simultaneously and immediately. -Dirty throughout the complex. It seems as if the carpets have never seen a deep-clean. -Very dirty children at the end of each day. Dirty clothes and shoes too. We started out by over-providing clothes in their bag, but ALL the spare clothes would be used up every day. Towards the end we decided it best to not provide any spares at all. We do not have the money to constantly buy new clothes. -Children full of snot on their faces on a daily basis, including in the eyes. Both children caught conjunctivitis because of which and were suffering from it for 3 weeks continuously. -Two teachers didn't know what form was needed for being able to administer my infant's eye drops. Neither did they know if they were allowed to administer it at all. They had to phone next door for clarification. -Talking of paperwork on another day the preschool section couldn't find where the paperwork was in order to cancel the contracts. -We provided our infant with Sudocrem. We even signed paperwork to allow the daycare to administer it when NECESSARY. However, when our infant developed a rash, they did not administer it but rather phoned us to pick our infant up and to make an appointment with the GP. Once Sudocrem was administered at home, the rash disappeared. -One early morning a child was pressing down the water cooler tap -unsupervised, causing a huge flood on the floor. I got a teacher and she just laughed it off saying it was a near daily occurrence. Why is there a water cooler in the kids section anyway? Why was the child not being looked after either? -Nappy cubby hole was never set up for my infant. Constantly wearing different nappies despite us providing them. -Lost clothes on a daily basis, even though we clearly name tagged them. Children are allowed to take off their own shoes, socks and clothes at will, and place them anywhere they like without the teachers caring one bit. -The teachers would pick up my screaming infant to calm them down just as I leave each morning. However, they would not do this on their own will, and had to ask us beforehand. Oftentimes I had to specifically ask them to calm our children down! It is a long straight corridor to the exit, and when I approached it my infant would be heard and seen at the other end, through the door window standing there crying, without any teacher holding him. This was on a daily basis. In fact nearly every time I was on site to drop off or pick up, teachers would be standing around not doing much. Nobody smiling. Even if it's a fake smile it would have helped lighten the atmosphere. -Teachers are not allowed to say 'No' to the kids when they are doing something wrong. They make up the excuse that it's not progressive teaching. Within 1 week of being in CubbyHouse my children showed unacceptable behaviour at home. -Food is provided, which is a plus, but during the introduction they said they wouldn't be providing the children with sugar. This is a lie. Cakes and brownies were often seen, usually on my eldest child's hands or face upon pickup.
Sep 29th, 2022