Creche Giraffe Rathfarnham

DeclanSean1981

Hi
Just wondering if anyone has any experience of Giraffe crèches? Have they improved in the last couple of years and also in particular if anyone has used the one in Rathfarnham? Or would reccomend any others close to that area of Rathfarnham. Thanks

John Mason

Personally for me, Giraffe is an absolute no.

But at the end of the day it comes down to personal choice.

supersheeps

We use Rathfarnham Day care, no complaints at all, we're very happy and most importantly, my little girl is very comfortable there. The food offering is great and she's learning so much. Haven't heard anything about Giraffe but it seems busy enough. Lilypad in the village seems good too.

Millem

supersheeps wrote: »

We use Rathfarnham Day care, no complaints at all, we're very happy and most importantly, my little girl is very comfortable there. The food offering is great and she's learning so much. Haven't heard anything about Giraffe but it seems busy enough. Lilypad in the village seems good too.

I have heard great things about rathfarnham day care. Loads of parking too which is very handy for drop offs and pick ups!

sareer

John Mason wrote: »

Personally for me, Giraffe is an absolute no.

But at the end of the day it comes down to personal choice.

We are also looking at Giraffe. May I ask why you say it's an absolute no? We have not heard/read bad feedback so would be good to know.

lazygal

sareer wrote: »

We are also looking at Giraffe. May I ask why you say it's an absolute no? We have not heard/read bad feedback so would be good to know.

RTE did an undercover operation that exposed massive flaws in the chain of creches. I wouldn't touch any Giraffe creche with a bargepole.

http://www.thejournal.ie/a-breach-of-trust-prime-time-creches-929270-May2013/

Toots

Here's another article about a little girl who was left with a visible scar on her forehead after falling while being left unattended in a different branch of Giraffe http://www.thejournal.ie/giraffe-childcare-settlement-2609430-Feb2016/ also another incident in the Belarmine creche saw two toddlers wander off out of a gate that was left open. They were found beside a stream 170m away from the creche by someone who lived in the complex http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/creche-worker-cleared-of-neglect-after-toddlers-escape-293992.html

I don't know if they've cleaned up their act or not in the last year or so, but there's no way I'd feel comfortable leaving my child there.

Rua1

Have my little man in the giraffe in leopardstown. There is an absolutely lovely lady in the baby room there. He's now in the wobbler room there.
I chose giraffe as it was just over the road from where I worked, and I could drop in every lunchtime while my little one was in the baby room to visit.

LegacyUser

The staff at these places float from one creche to the next the same as barmen. Giraffe was caught out with the cameras, but no one really knows what goes on in these places.

A good friend of mine worked in this one in Rathfarnham and 4 others in D14/16. She has no children but said when she does, she would never put her child in a creche.

That is all the proof anyone needs.

sareer

Shocking indeed. We moved to Ireland from abroad and had no clue.

John Mason

They are also known for hiding children on fire escapes or whisking them away in mini-buses when the Tulsa inspectors turn up. :rolleyes:

lazygal

John Mason wrote: »

They are also known for hiding children on fire escapes or whisking them away in mini-buses when the Tulsa inspectors turn up. :rolleyes:

Another chain featured in the Prime Time show does the same.

John Mason

lazygal wrote: »

Another chain featured in the Prime Time show does the same.

sure they are all at it. Impossible to catch them out

tinkerbell

John Mason wrote: »

They are also known for hiding children on fire escapes or whisking them away in mini-buses when the Tulsa inspectors turn up. :rolleyes:

Huh?! :eek:

lazygal

tinkerbell wrote: »

Huh?! :eek:

Some creches, possibly those featured in Prime Time, have been known to spirit children away in minibuses on the days of inspections so the ratios are correct. I didn't know Giraffe did this but I've heard this about another chain in the programme for years.

cant26

John Mason wrote: »

They are also known for hiding children on fire escapes or whisking them away in mini-buses when the Tulsa inspectors turn up. :rolleyes:

That is actually insane:eek: How are places still in operation if this kind of thing is known to happen:mad:

John Mason

cant26 wrote: »

That is actually insane:eek: How are places still in operation if this kind of thing is known to happen:mad:

cant prove it, staff members are afraid to speak out. Even if they do speak out, it is impossible to catch them in the act.

They have a policy directing inspectors to a waiting area for 10-15 minutes. Offering them tea etc. while in the background all hell is breaking loose. All their doors are pin coded so you cant just walk in

FlowerPower1

John Mason wrote: »

cant prove it, staff members are afraid to speak out. Even if they do speak out, it is impossible to catch them in the act.

They have a policy directing inspectors to a waiting area for 10-15 minutes. Offering them tea etc. while in the background all hell is breaking loose. All their doors are pin coded so you cant just walk in

I'm sure this could be solved very simply. In school, we have to by law call the roll by 10a.m. I'm sure crèches and preschools should be doing the same. There should be a record of who is and is not present in the crèche that day. If they say, oh that group are away to the park or whatever, I'd be waiting for them to come back to tally up with the roll. It shouldn't be that easy for them to get away with tampering with staff ratios.

lazygal

FlowerPower1 wrote: »

I'm sure this could be solved very simply. In school, we have to by law call the roll by 10a.m. I'm sure crèches and preschools should be doing the same. There should be a record of who is and is not present in the crèche that day. If they say, oh that group are away to the park or whatever, I'd be waiting for them to come back to tally up with the roll. It shouldn't be that easy for them to get away with tampering with staff ratios.

Creches are known to fiddle all sorts of things. I've had friends who collected children early without warning and the baby's book had been filled out for the entire day until 6pm, even though they hadn't even had lunch. Same with the ECCE payments, they'll mark children as being on days so they don't have to do admin for losing payments.

Dobbit

I'm with Giraffe and haven't had a single problem with them so far, very happy with them.

John Mason

Places could have 30 children on their books but only 10 on any given day. Due to sessions, part-time, full-time. Very hard to verfy

Neyite

We did a lot of random pick-ups - the OH often took the notion to take a half day and spring junior from crèche. Or I'd have an appointment I forgot to tell them about so I'd return to pick him up. I always do a headcount in the rooms that my child was in and checked the ratios were in line with the regulations, so too did the OH.

Any room can buzz you in, or another parent could open the door from the inside so often I'd land in the classroom without the minders seeing me or knowing I was coming. I saw nothing untoward or anything that would give me cause for concern.

The one time I did have a concern, I was taken very seriously, it was investigated and I got frank feedback about it - they admitted an error and told me how they intended to correct it. No minimising or being fobbed off whatsoever.

A few of the minders had their own children in the crèche themselves (in different rooms, being minded by colleagues) so that was another indicator that it was a decent crèche.

I became friendly with a few other crèche mums, so if their child was unhappy or being mistreated or they had discovered something in the care that they were worried about, I'd know about it and vice versa.

So, not all crèches are bad, I think. But you do have to be vigilant with any childcare arrangement that its to the standards you expect.

sareer

So I put my son into Giraffe against advice shared by others on boards.ie and I am very happy with them. I have seen other creches and in the end decided Giraffe was the best fit. I have no complaints so far; they are caring and attentive and I would recommend them.

To add here - my office is opposite their creche and I randomly drop in (not to the extent that I qualify as helicopter parent...yet)