early childhood teacher

educational assistant

kindergarten teacher

shift leader

childcare provider

Niño Early Learning Adventures

I have never worked for a centre (or company) with such severe staffing issues. The staff turnover rate was the highest I’ve ever seen and it’s completely due to the company culture. Most Nino centres are run on skeleton staff and agency workers. Permanent staff are rare and do not last long. Nino is simply not interested in investing in their staff and you are just seen as a means to fill ratio for them. You will not be supported and will be expected to get on with the job and work most things out for yourself. 

Upper management may occasionally visit centres but they will not talk to anyone who isn’t a part of the management team. Upping enrolment and making more money is their biggest priority - irregardless of whether or not there are staff to look after these new children. Nino is very much about appearance and looking appealing to parents. A lot of money is spent on making the environments look nice (including payrolling multiple interior designers for the company) but the majority of staff are paid the minimum award rate. 

The centre I was at had a particularly toxic culture and some staff were openly rude, unhelpful and would enjoy belittling others. The staff that have been there the longest have a strong aversion to newcomers and seemed to see us as threats to eliminate. They were not interested in working together to improve the centre and were not open to new ideas. Most of the staff that were nice and cared about the children have since resigned - says it all really! 
There is so much more I can say about my experience with Nino but to keep short the other key issues:
- There’s no planning time because there’s no staff. Everything needs to be hand written or on a computer. You are not allowed to use computers in the room or do paperwork when children are awake. You will still be expected to keep up with your paperwork.
- You will likely be waiting weeks for an induction if you even get one at all. You will be spoken to if you do things the wrong way, even if you have never been told how to do it. You will not be spoken to, however, for anything you have accomplished or done well. 
- Policies are vague and not used or haven’t even been read by most staff members. There is no policy for children with additional needs and the behaviour policy simply tells you to send a child home or expel them if they are exhibiting unwanted behaviour. 
- Safeguarding levels are not up to standard: at pick ups, no one is really checking or noticing who is taking children from the centre and new people are just accepted at face value without having to give proof of their identity. 

I have worked for 5 childcare companies over the years; Nino is by far the worst and I don’t expect them to last much longer in the sector. Don’t waste your time and go and find a job elsewhere! 

Hardly finishing on time most of the time. Around from 15 mins you can write the overtime chart. You can rarely go home on time. You will need to figure out the ratio, counting all the numbers of children and educator and let the person in charge know, and she will count the numbers again while she is talking to parents and doing other things, and it will take at least 5 - 10 more minutes. There is a lack of resources for children, especially outside. Always feels like the management just tries to save money as much as they can, and they don't care about the quality. The educators are working hard. There is no break cover, no planning cover. If you are lucky to have fewer children on the day, you might be able to have some planning time. The management would ask to use children's sleep time to do those. You need to clean up the room, sanitize the toys, refill the materials, do the laundry, organize the outdoor area and if there are some children awake you need to be with them, but you also need to deal with lots of paperworks. The ratio often doesn't meet, and they don't care. Even though management checks the ratio and it doesn't meet, they don't have staffs to place in the room. Educators need to take the paperwork home to finish. Management doesn't appreciate educators' hard work. No support, No appreciation, No resources, No enough staff, No communication, No respect. 

I could not recommend working for Niño more highly! From the moment I met with management at my interview to starting my first week here as an educator the whole team is so friendly and welcoming.
It is clear to see the passion that the educators have for the care and well being of each child, supporting their leaning, providing a warm and welcoming atmosphere for families and having fun through lots of enhancement programs.
Management genuinely care about each educator and are always checking in and supporting on the floor.
Positive education is evident throughout the Centre with learning opportunities available for each educator to progress in their career.
The educators are all friends, always having laughs in the staff room and I really enjoy coming to work to spend time with them. Nino Ashburton is by far the best childcare company I have worked for yet!

Ashburton is a great lace to work, management care for the staff and ensure that their wellbeing and health is cared for. Management continuously check ratio to ensure ratio is met and communicate to staff on what will happen on that day so that you feel involved in every day processes. Management gives educators goals to work towards and supports us if we want to achieve higher in our career. Our room leaders get planning every week and management will even jump on the floor to assist in covering this. Management also make sure us educators get some planning time to complete learning stories and support us with our day to day tasks. Management help with cleaning and laundry and res-setting of the room to make sure we feel supported and not overwhelmed. 
The team is a great team to work with and is a great centre to be a part of, your voice is heard and you feel part of the team and valued. 

- Never trained or inducted into the service or operations after months of being part of the team. 
- Horrible work environment and toxic team relationships. 
- Management caught talking negative about team members more then once - with no care. 
- Constantly expected to work over time and not be paid for it. 
- management not supported, constantly brushed off and made to feel like an inconvenience. 
- I have since resigned due to personal reasons which the manager has understood and offered support. Team members were rude and made nasty comments about my resignation which were speculation and rumours. 
- The work environment is disgusting.
Overall very unprofessional and not a workplace I’d recommend for anyone. If you’re a friendly person who loves to chat and work as a team and collaborate. This place is not for you. They are money driven and continue to enrol children when they can even staff the service properly. 


Since starting in January at Blackburn North, I have been delighted with the team here—they were welcoming and appreciative from the start. Now, we feel more like a family. Everyone collaborates effectively, and upper management is supportive, often visiting our center to provide ongoing reflection and feedback. The families are wonderful, and we rarely encounter any issues. Nino places a strong emphasis on events and celebrations, making each day enjoyable. They also offer referral incentives for educators, which has been invaluable as I transitioned from living at home to my own apartment. There are in-house training opportunities for professional growth, and our Director is fair and accommodating, supporting a healthy work-life balance. <3 I would highly recommend joining! 

I highly recommend working within the Nino ELA team. We have great staff who support each other like family. We have our fair share of fun and laughter whilst working hard to maintain a high standard of satisfaction to all children and parents enrolled here at the centre. The management team we have is extremely friendly, approachable and will support and work with you in all aspects. We have a mixture of cultural diversity as we cater to all staffing needs and show respect to all workers no matter the difference in cultural backgrounds. 
Working close with the children and seeing all their achievements as time goes on is such a satisfying accomplishment as an educator and overlooking staff member. 
Definitely a job you will regret turning down if you are ever priveledged to be offered a position here. 

Very bad experience. Have joined to seek learning and training. Not much training provided and hence, expected to do everything without proper communication. No support at all from the management and kicked out without being communicated or resolving any issues at work.
Felt betrayed and pathetic after joining NINO Footscray. Could be no support from the Centre Manager or Assistant Manager.
Got huge support and training and mentoring from the Accounts Manager though while working as an Admin assistant So learnt a lot from her.
In short, please be prepared there is no Employee's value there, but more politics.

encountered some challenges related to the management style and work environment that impacted my overall experience. It is important to note that this review is based on my personal perspective and others may have had different experiences.

One aspect that posed difficulties was the emphasis placed on pleasing the management. It appeared that those who were able to effectively navigate the preferences of the management team had a higher chance of advancement within the company. This created a competitive atmosphere where employees were motivated to seek recognition from their superiors rather than solely focusing on their job responsibilities.

Not very supportive management they don't understand the importance of hiring people with disabilities and they hired and fired employees after the probationary and before it. they don't give employees a chance to work with them. alway looking for smart EDUCATOR QUALIFIED WITH HIGHER DEGREES.some of the Staff very rude and backbite of another staff. management very selfish and alway put pressure on employees. they never happy with EDUCATOR hard work.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Early childhood teacher 1 salary reported	$30.00 per hour
Educational assistant 1 salary reported	$32.50 per hour
Kindergarten teacher 4 salaries reported	$44.21 per hour
Shift leader 3 salaries reported	$35.53 per hour
Childcare provider 2 salaries reported	$80,000 per year

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