educator

early childhood teacher

center manager

shift leader

chef

Guardian Childcare & Education

Unfortunately, it has come to my attention that there is a culture of mis-treatment, accountability, and lack of regulatory complaince in the Chapel St Guardian childcare education center. 

This came to my attention after working in this center for a period of time, during which i experienced systematic bullying from center upper management, staff leadership members, and a concerning lack of center regulatory compliance, relating to staff numbers meeting legal room ratios, due to the overarching method of calculation, which differs from other centers. 

I also hold concerns relating to the lack of insight certain members of the leadership team have in regards to general operation of the staff on the day to day level, including site cleanliness, negative staff interactions, lack of further training for existing staff, lax handling of internal staffing conflicts  in upper management, incompetent or poorly trained management staff, a complete failure of the management to ensure correct training of 'Responsible' persons, leaving gaping holes in the legal abilities of the center to deal with a lawsuit, should one ever arrise, and poor handling of parental concerns, especially during the onset of the changes relating to Corona virus lock downs.

Due to this, i hold grave concerns regarding the leadership at the Chapel st center, and would recommend against any of my fellow early education teachers from taking a position at this center until these gross negligence issues are rectified.

I choose to remain anonymous for the protection of my fellow staff members and myself.

Worked at Guardian Richmond for a few months. At first i was overwhelmed by the centre with it's library, pottery classes for staff, and collection of recycled materials from local businesses. However my eyes were opened to how they could afford all this as they weren't paying me for my time, always coming up with excuses and blaming pay role. This was a very frustrating time however i was understanding and gave them time to pay me. During this time i found out from other staff members that they had, had similar issues and one team member was even owed over $3000, it was at this time i decided to cut my losses I threatened to quit if they didn't pay me and the didn't so I quit, only then did they give me what i was owed. 

I was happy in the end to leave as the centre itself turned out to be a chaotic hot mess. Staff were constantly falling alseep in the staff room, the layout of the centre is open planned for 150 children with unders and over separated and their is very little connections between educators and children because of this. 

I have worked at many centres in my time, and whilst i met some lovely dedicated educators in my time hear i would NEVER return. In professional terms it was cray cray. My heart goes out to the children and staff still there.

Guardian as a company is great with fantastic philosophy of early childhood education. The training and professional development provides for employees is wonderful if you like to learn and grow. The company invest lots of money to train their employees and all new employees get a proper in service  training at the start and Laos during the year. Also every employee equally receive this training which is a great inclusive practice
However management and the job culture is depending on which individual service management. I met some managers who are really great but some managed the team  terribly and unfairly. The managers have own political groups and when it comes to best practice and service quality they had biases towards their favourite employees. This a toxic work environment as employees who are quietly working don’t get the attention from managers .
But I have heard positive stories from some other centres of Guardian. If the top management is now to be consistent with management , practices and values this is a great place to work

I have found both the centre I work in and the wider Guardian Early Learning Group to be a fantastic place to work, particularly around opportunities to develop a culture of educational thinking. 
I have participated in such an array of stimulating professional conversations as part of my role as kindergarten teacher and educational leader. These opportunities include everyday conversations with colleagues and staff meetings with a focus on all educators contributing to the development of each other's educational learning. The centre I work in is full of lively discussion with 7 ECTs on the team along with many dedicated and enthusiastic diploma and cert 3 qualified colleagues, all eager to further develop education practice and thinking together. 
In addition to in centre professional development we are frequently invited to Guardian Early Learning Group provided professional development, ed leader meetings, conference style days and even trips to Reggio Emilia!

This is a private owned company completely driven on financial gain, which is shown in their salaries and practices, as well as the value for their educators. Many managers are hired because they have friends in higher positions rather than skills, management skills and most importantly regard for people. Educators are not given programming time to implement learning and support development. They are asked to go home and use their holidays if numbers in centres are low and staff to child ratio is over, instead of using this time effectively for the benefit of children. 

Also - ISS support for children with special needs is not used effectively for the benefit of the child/ children or staff.  

Children are moved between rooms frequently to cover ratio requirements. 

Centre's look beautiful, but operations make it difficult for teachers to do their job.

I had a great start working in the Guardian.  I was warmly welcomed by everyone and immediately immersed in the world of childcare.  I came in thinking I'm armed with my personal experience however each person in the center had contributed to my learning like on how to effectively communicate children, working efficiently on routines, and delivering summer programs that excite the children.  I observed that if an educator performs well on his job, Guardian opens up opportunities for them to further career growth.  I found that the permanent staff from top to bottom are all professionals and experts in their field while at the same time and the most important of all is that the children clearly trust them and enjoy being with them.  I believe this company is true to its ethos and exceeds what Australia standards had set to the industry.  Excited to see the growth of this center and learn more about my role in the next year.

I only lasted at Guardian for about five months and everyday I came home stressed and unhappy. They require you to do extensive programming ON THE FLOOR. They gave so little programming and observation time at work so I had to bring paperwork home. It was awful. The management was a mess. Prideful and biased. Yes they can have a say on how to run a room of course but everyday they would come in and criticise routines and every other tasks that you’re doing (then change their minds the next day) e.g they didn’t allow the children to go outside when UV was 8 but when one of the management had to be on the floor, all of a sudden the children can go outside even when the UV was 11. It seems that they do not realise what the workers go through. They also have a lot of favourites- only a few can leave early, take in their suggestions but decline others or prioritise them for early shifts etc. 

More focus on occupancy levels being more than 100% and less on performance acknowledgement in some centres. The idea of rotating rosters is based primarily on the needs of the company, and not fully rotational as some employees have fixed hours. Not flexible with work-life balance and is not set fairly for everyone else. 
Management can only do so much with the consideration of the operational/concierge team at HQ. 
Too many children and not enough opportunities to be able to have meaningful interactions and relationships with children, and makes supervision challenging. 
High turnover of the management and employee team. 
Programming time is not adequate for the amount of documentation that’s required. 

I have worked for Guardian for 6 years and have found the company to be one of the most professional and dedicated companies when it comes to early childhood education. The supportive team environments make coming to work every day a pleasure. Professional development and multiple training opportunities are readily available, supporting us to grow and challenge ourselves as educators.
Guardian was also very supportive and I was able to  easily transfer from a Qld centre to a Vic one - making a potentially stressful move much easier! Having recently made the move from ECT to Assistant Manager, I found the company to be encouraging of my career progression and am looking forward to my new role!

A typical day for Guardian is exciting, fun, challenging and always something new. I have been able to progress within my career in a short time working for Guardian, being recognised for educators hard work for them to be able to progress. There is such a range of opportunities to continue in the Early Learning sector through a range of jobs within Guardian. 
The culture of Guardian is fantastic and they provide their staff with so many resources to help support their jobs and make it as easy as possible to continue in with their busy days. Professional development for educators is of high priority and they provide their staff with a range of opportunities including professional development as well as meetings to help support them. 

Staff are recognised for their hard work and commitment to Guardian.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Educator 91 salaries reported	$34.62 per hour
Early childhood teacher 19 salaries reported	$44.26 per hour
Center manager 4 salaries reported	$41.25 per hour
Shift leader 19 salaries reported	$38.05 per hour
Chef 6 salaries reported	$30.83 per hour

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