Listed: Inside Adelaide’s most luxurious childcare centres
From yoga classes, gourmet chefs, take-home dinners and even parent lounges offering barista-made coffee, Adelaide has some very upmarket childcare centres. Take a look inside.
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When it comes to children’s daycare, usually bright colours, noise and playtime come to mind.
But what about parent lounges with barista-made coffee and freshly baked treats, rooftop bar-style outdoor areas, qualified chefs and swimming pools?
Some daycare centres in the state are offering state-of-the-art facilities for their little learners and their parents.
Here’s a look inside some of the more up-market daycare centres across Adelaide and beyond.
Woodville Little Learners
Fees: $122.50 per day.
Woodville Little Learners popped up on the Adelaide daycare scene just 10 months ago.
Emily Matthews, the centre’s director, said the centre has a vast outdoor area, reminiscent of the feel of a rooftop bar.
“We have a large outdoor space, it’s quite deceiving how big our yard is,” Ms Matthews said.
“When we first took over, we were like, if we put a barstool up here it would look like an outdoor bar. There’s big white bench beams, like in an outdoor mall or shopping centre.”
There’s a chef on-site every day at Woodville Little Learners who provides breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and a light snack for 5pm for the kids. The centre also has a vegetable and herb garden used in the daily menu.
“We also have a weekly dance and yoga program that alternates between doing dance one week and yoga the next, or both together,” Ms Matthews said.
“Yoga is getting really popular, it brings the kids’ energy levels down and restarts them a bit. It teaches them breathing techniques and how to calm their feelings.”
Eden Academy
Fees: Variable fees for each centre. Christies Beach $135 per day, Newton $140 per day.
The first Eden Academy opened in SA in June 2021 at Newton. Since then, four centres have opened with more on the way this year.
Head of operations at Eden Academy Brooke Bowyer said the vision behind Eden is making the kids feel like they’re at home.
“We want the children to go into the services and feel like they are at home and that’s the feel we have with the soft furnishings, the whites, the greys, stepping away from the dark wood colours and bright plastic colours,” Ms Bowyer said.
“We have speakers throughout the whole centre so depending on what time of day it is there is soft music playing or fun music playing to set the vibe from the get-go.”
The four centres offer little luxuries such as homely settings, bike tracks, unique climbing equipment, pet chickens and even complimentary morning tea for parents when dropping off their child in the morning rush.
An added bonus for parents, take-home meals are provided by the academy made by the chefs twice a week, free of charge.
Two more Eden Academy locations — Seaview Downs and Aldinga — will be the next centres. Ms Bowyer said Eden Academy would open another seven or eight centres around Adelaide before the end of the year.
Precious Cargo
Fees: $129.75 per day
Precious Cargo started in 2006 and owner Cheryl Shigrov said it was the first in the state to offer Montessouri.
Montessouri is a teaching method founded in Italy more than 100 years ago by Dr Maria Montessori. Dr Montessouri found that children need a very specific environment to learn, absorb information and develop their potential. Montessouri education teachers require specific training in order to understand the curriculum and each child’s needs.
“There was a two-year waiting list when we started, and we are very proud of the standards we have set in South Australia,” Ms Shigrov said.
“From 2006 we have always had a cooked dinner for the kids, and we were the only centre providing that back then.”
Precious Cargo also offers music rooms, vegetable gardens, pets, a head chef and multiple chefs creating seasonal menus for the kids each day. Each centre has a dedicated music room as well as tennis lessons, dancing and yoga.
The Learning Sanctuary Norwood
Fees: $152 per day
The boutique childcare centre The Learning Sanctuary has one location in Adelaide at Norwood.
The centre offers a high-quality Montessori educational program as well as two large outdoor areas, a courtyard, several play structures, a water play area, two vegetable gardens and multiple pets including chickens, worms, rabbits, birds, fish and a bearded dragon named Chase. The centre holds an “exceeding” rating from the National Quality Standard.
Centre manager Brittany Bald said the centre practices mindfulness daily to help children with their self-regulation involving yoga, breathing exercises and meditation.
“We believe in empowering our children to be independent and support this by scaffolding their learning to set them up for success,” she said.
Ms Bald said the centre also regularly visit local op shops and teach the children about sustainable shopping.
Green Leaves Early Learning
Fees: Variable fees between each centre. Seaford Heights $152 per day, Seaford House $151 per day, Seaford Meadows $152 per day, Pasadena $150.50 per day, Bowden $150.50 per day, Glynde $149.50 per day, Newton $153 per day, Valley View $153 per day, Mawson Lakes $149 per day, Mawson Cascade $149 per day, West Lakes $148 per day
Green Leaves Early Learning “do things differently”. According to their website, the privately-owned company aim to “provide early education and care that exceeds traditional care and education standards”.
With nine centres open across Adelaide and two opening in the near future, the Green Leaves up-market touch is on the rise. Locations in Glynde and Mawson Lakes are set to open this month.
Some centres also include a state-of-the-art chef’s kitchens for culinary lessons, bike tracks, yoga, music classes, sensory gardens, recycled water pumps that flow into rock beds and sports programs.
Green Leaves Early Learning even has something for the parents. Their parent lounge offers barista-made coffee and cakes made by the in-house chef for parents to sit and have a breather.
Emali Early Learning Centre
Fees: Variable fees. Morphett Vale $129 per day, Brighton $131 per day, Underdale $131 per day, Findon $131 per day, Hectorville $131 per day, Prospect $129 per day, Athol Park $114 per day, Broadview $129 per day, Hectorville $131 per day, Salisbury $109 per day, Littlehampton $130 per day.
Emali has nine centres across Adelaide including Underdale, Salisbury, Prospect, Morphett Vale, Littlehampton, Hectorville, Findon, Broadview and Brighton.
Some centres have language learning such as Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Kaurna and some Indigenous practices.
The Emali website says the centres have in-house cooks that prepare mostly organic meals for the children five times a day using mostly local ingredients. The bread at Emali is specifically made “to help reduce inflammation and harmful ingredients for our little ones”.
Emali even go the extra mile and ensure no harsh chemicals are used in the paint for their centres and to use PH neutral cleaning products.
The Salisbury location was the first centre at Emali to have a swimming pool with a qualified instructor and a sensory space.
Nido Early School
Fees: Variable fees. Kensington Park $143.50 per day, Golden Grove $144 per day, Salisbury Downs $134 per day, Blakeview $137.50 per day.
Most of Nido’s early schools have an Atelier, a dedicated arts workshop, as well as yoga classes for the kids.
Nido, Italian for ‘nest’, offer cooking, dance, language, music, sports and even yoga to their students. The centres have an onsite Kitchen Cucina with menus developed by Nourished Beginnings, featuring the highest-quality ingredients.
The centre take inspiration from the Reggio Emilia philosophy – an approach by a teacher in Italy to rebuild the community after World War II – which has a key focus on collaborative and project-based learning.
The centres have Scandinavian-inspired decor with light, bright natural tones and textures and also boasts tailor-made playgrounds, nature-inspired learning spaces and gardening.
Nido has 14 locations across South Australia and will welcome two more at Taperoo and Para Hills in mid-2023.
HEI Schools
Fees: Based on fees in Victoria, HEI costs between $120 to $138 per day.
Finnish-style childcare operator HEI Schools will open in Adelaide in 2025 as part of the $400m Market Square redevelopment.
The centre, to be the first one in SA, will cater to about 66 children and was co-developed by experts at the University of Helsinki and centres around creative plan, health and emotional wellbeing.
HEI Schools believe less visual stimulation leads to better learning, and adopt Finnish-style decor and neutral tones in their centres.
“Most kindergartens have an overwhelming amount of visual stimulation, from posters to all sorts of learning materials on shelves and colourful decoration,” HEI School’s website states.
“It often feels like visual overload. Despite popular belief, this sort of set up does not aid children’s learning processes. Rather, it tends to harm them.”
HEI School spaces are designed to be quieter and more of a natural environment, promoting focus and wellbeing for students.
*Fees sourced from KindiCare
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