Choosing where your child spends most of their week isn’t something you can judge from a website. Photos of bright playrooms and smiling toddlers tell you almost nothing about how a centre actually runs on a Tuesday afternoon when three kids are having a meltdown and lunch is running late. Raising Children Network, the government-funded parenting resource, recommends visiting more than one service in person and using the same checklist at each so you’re comparing like for like rather than going on gut feel alone.

If you’ve started calling around Doncaster East and the surrounding suburbs, you’ve probably noticed every centre says roughly the same thing: qualified educators, safe environment, play-based learning. Fair enough, it’s mostly true. But the tour is where you find out whether it’s true at the centre you’re actually looking at, not just true in general. Below is what’s worth asking, grouped by what actually affects your child day to day, not what looks good in a brochure.

Why the Tour Tells You More Than the Website Ever Will

A phone call or an enquiry form will get you the basics vacancy, fees, opening hours. It won’t tell you whether the toddler room smells like nappy cream and desperation, or whether the educators are crouched down talking to kids at eye level instead of hovering near the door checking phones. Book the tour during operating hours, not after closing when the rooms are empty and staged. You want to see the place mid-chaos, because mid-chaos is what your child will actually experience.

Questions About Ratios, Educators and Staff Turnover

This is the section that matters most and gets skipped most often. Ratios determine how much individual attention your child realistically gets on a normal day.

• What’s the educator-to-child ratio in the room my child would be in, and does that change at pick-up and drop-off peak times?
• Are your educators diploma-qualified, and is there a qualified Early Childhood Teacher in the room?
• How long has your longest-serving educator been with you? What’s the average staff tenure?
• How do you handle ratios when an educator calls in sick, do you bring in casual relief staff, or move children between rooms?
• Are working with children checks and background screening done for every staff member and volunteer?

Long staff tenure is one of the more honest signals of a good centre. A high turnover room means your child is constantly re-forming attachments with new adults, which is unsettling even if nobody says so out loud. You can read more about our educators and philosophy on our About Us page.

Questions About Safety, Health and Hygiene

Ask specific questions here, not general ones. “Is it safe?” gets you a reassuring nod. “What happens if my child spikes a fever at 2pm?” gets you an actual procedure.

• What’s your process if a child is sick or injured during the day, who calls me, and how quickly?
• How often are toys, high-touch surfaces and bathrooms cleaned and disinfected?
• What’s your policy on immunisation and excluding unwell children from care?
• How do you manage medication, do you document every dose given?
• What’s the sign-in and sign-out process, and who’s authorised to collect my child?

We’ve written a longer breakdown of this exact topic, covering everything from playground supervision to bedtime routines at home, in our guide to child safety tips for parents.

Questions About Daily Routine and Curriculum

A daycare without any structure isn’t really educating your child, it’s minding them. That’s fine if minding is all you need, but most parents want more, especially once a child is approaching kinder age.

• Can I see a sample daily schedule for my child’s age group?
• How is the curriculum designed — is it play-based, and how does it link to the Early Years Learning Framework?
• How do you support children moving from daycare into kindergarten?
• Do you offer the funded 3- and 4-year-old kindergarten program on-site?
• How much outdoor time is built into a typical day, in all seasons?

If your child is getting close to school age, it’s also worth asking how the centre specifically prepares kids for that transition — we cover this in detail in how daycare prepares your child for kindergarten success, and you can see the structure of our own program on the Funded Kindergarten Program page.

Questions About Food, Allergies and Dietary Needs

• Do you provide meals, or do I need to pack food?
• How do you cater for allergies, intolerances and cultural or religious dietary requirements?
• Can I see a sample weekly menu?
• How do you communicate what my child actually ate that day, versus what was offered?

Nutrition questions matter more than most parents expect going in. A centre that takes food seriously — proper meals, real communication about what was eaten, flexibility for dietary needs — is usually just as careful about everything else.

Questions About Fees, Enrolment and the Child Care Subsidy

This is the least fun part of the tour and the easiest to forget until the invoice arrives.

• What are your daily and weekly fees, and are they the same during school holidays and public holidays?
• Is there a bond or enrolment fee, and is it refundable?
• How does the Child Care Subsidy apply here, and what will my out-of-pocket cost actually be?
• Do you offer casual or flexible days if I don’t need full-time care?
• What’s your policy on absences, illness days and the 3-day CCS guarantee?

We’ve broken down actual fee ranges in our daycare cost guide for Doncaster East, and if your family works irregular hours, our casual care option is worth asking about directly on the tour. If you’re unsure how the subsidy affects your fees, our explainer on the 3 Day CCS Guarantee is a good place to start before you go in.

Is Daycare Even the Right Fit? Questions to Weigh Up Your Options

Some families touring daycares are actually trying to decide between daycare and preschool, or between a centre and family day care. It’s worth asking the centre directly how they see themselves fitting into that picture — do they position themselves as long day care with an embedded kinder program, or purely occasional care? We’ve laid out the practical differences in Daycare vs. Preschool: Key Differences, Benefits & Best Age to Start, which is worth a read before you commit to any single option.

Quick Reference: What to Ask, By Category

What to Notice Beyond the Answers

The questions get you facts. Your own eyes get you the rest. Watch how educators talk to children — crouched down, using names, genuinely listening — versus talking over their heads to you. Notice the noise level: constant screaming is one thing, constant silence is another, and neither is necessarily good or bad without context. Look at the art on the walls — is it identical cookie-cutter craft, or does it look like actual kids made actual choices? Small details like these usually tell you more than any answer to a scripted question.

Common Questions Parents Ask Before a Tour

How many daycares should I tour before deciding?

Two or three is generally enough to give you a real basis for comparison, without dragging the process out for months. Any more than that and the answers start blurring together anyway — you’re better off doing a shorter, sharper shortlist and asking the same questions at each one.

Should I bring my child along to the tour?

It depends on your child. Some parents prefer a first look without their toddler underfoot so they can concentrate on the questions, then bring them back for a second, shorter visit once they’re seriously considering the centre. Either approach is fine — ask the centre if a follow-up visit with your child is possible.

What’s a red flag on a daycare tour?

Vague, deflecting answers to direct questions are the biggest one. If you ask about ratios or staff turnover and get a general reassurance instead of a number, that’s worth noting. Locked-off areas you’re not shown, educators who don’t interact with children during the tour, and a strong smell of cleaning product masking something else are also worth paying attention to.