Daycare centre has licence suspended
A Wellington early childhood centre operated by Evolve Education Group, the country’s secondlargest private early learning provider, has had its licence suspended over compliance breaches.
The Ministry of Education suspended Grenada Village’s Active Explorers licence last week, after parents raised concerns about unsafe staffing levels, high staff turnover, deteriorating learning conditions and rising fees.
The abrupt closure and uncertain future has left parents ‘‘heartbroken’’ about the possibility of having to take their children away from their friends at the centre.
One mother, who Stuff agreed not to name, said it was upsetting, communication had been poor and there was ‘‘zero ownership’’ of what had happened. With ‘‘such a skeleton staff’’, she feared the damage had already been done.
‘‘You put a lot of trust in them because you’re at work and can’t be there . . . you just have to trust they’re doing what they said they will provide, but you have no way of knowing,’’ she said.
Another parent, who also asked not to be named, said his biggest concern was the loss of his child’s current social circle from leaving the centre.
‘‘They’ve been yanked away from some of their favourite people in the world – teachers that have been really dedicated to them and their friend group.’’
He praised staff who had worked through the trying conditions and said it was management’s responsibility to ensure there had been adequate staffing ratios and working conditions.
A letter from a group of about 35 concerned parents shown to Stuff voiced unease about management and staffing, rising fees and the centre’s environment.
The letter stated complaints had been raised with four centre managers over the last 18 months and the area manager, ‘‘with little to no action’’. In it, parents said the centre was just meeting minimum permanent staffing numbers and because of staffing issues, calls from parents to the centre went unanswered.
Despite this, parents said there had been a more than 25% fee increase over the past eight months, in part due to rising operating costs and the centre opting into the Early Learning Extended Pay Parity scheme.
Ministry of Education hautū (leader) Te Tai Runga (south) Nancy Bell said the centre’s licence has been suspended due to a ‘‘number of compliance breaches’’.
Changing to a provisional or suspended licence gave services time to address areas of noncompliance with the regulations within a set time-period, while making sure children were safe, Bell said. However, if compliance was not met within the time-period the ministry may cancel the licence.
‘‘We are communicating regularly with management of the service as they work to address the compliance breaches,’’ Bell said.
‘‘We have provided information to parents via the service, to support them to find alternative early learning provision, if required.’’
Evolve Education Group chief operating officer Shane Dann said via a statement the company was taking the situation ‘‘extremely seriously’’.
‘‘We look forward to being able to re-open the centre and welcome families back as soon as possible.’’