Families are out-of-pocket and childcare workers are owed thousands of dollars after a popular day care centre in Sydney’s northern beaches abruptly closed.
An eviction notice tacked to the front door of the Inspire Early Learning centre at Warriewood was the only message parents received indicating their child no longer had a preschool to attend.
The letter stated the childcare centre owed a significant amount of rent, which a staff member told A Current Affair was “well over $200,000”.
While parents allegedly received an email penned by Inspire’s founder Sophie May on January 30 explaining there were rent issues and the play centre would have to close for a week to resolve the matter, they never anticipated an outcome like this.
The message stated the centre was “working through (a) recent dispute with our landlord” which “stemmed from the pandemic rent relief/ waiver/ deferral,” The Daily Telegraph reports.
“The matter is complex and requires extensive legal advice, thus we are fumbling our way through with the agent.”
The email concluded with Ms May stating she had “no intention of shying away from (her) responsibilities” and the centre was now in the “clean up” stage of pandemic recovery.
She told the paper the business had received a rent arrears notice in early December and paid an instalment, before another notice was sent which she failed to respond to.
Staff and family were consequently “locked out” of the building on January 27, with the manager stating the “majority” of families cancelled their children’s enrolment as a result.
She went on to state the rest of the families had been informed about the closure, however further media inquiries suggest that hasn’t been the case.
Staff claim they have been left with little explanation and thousands of dollars worth of unpaid entitlements.
Six workers at the Warriewood centre claim they’re owed a combined $53,000 in superannuation and wages but have little hope they’ll ever receive it.
“We’re lost because we‘ve gone to fair work and are spending hours and hours on the phone, but are getting nowhere,” one of the employees told A Current Affair.
Meanwhile other parents told the program they too are owed two weeks’ worth of fees.
The centre’s rates are $127 per day for each child.
There are also fears for the fate of at least three other Inspire Early Learning centres that are still open, with parents hoping those families don’t have to go through their experience.
As for the Warriewood centre, there is no other information aside from the eviction letter to suggest it has shut, with its website still active and inviting parents to book a centre tour.
Posts to the early learning centre’s social media pages were frequent up until the end of last year with the last Instagram post featuring children enjoying a Christmas party.
“Another year, another awesome Christmas party at Inspire,” read the post’s caption.
“What an awesome turnout yesterday was and thank you to all our amazing staff that pulled off such a great day! We wish all our families a very Merry Christmas.”
The childcare centre which cares for children from “birth to five” boasts it delivers a “holistic learning environment” with a “range of unique learning experiences”.
Testimonials on the site indicate children generally had a happy experience at the centre, with many parents stating their children were “excited” to attend and wouldn’t want to send their children anywhere else.
The same can’t be said now with families left scrambling to enrol their child elsewhere.
News.com.au has contacted Inspire Early Learning Warriewood for comment.
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