Finding the right pre-school for our child was very important for us, as I imagine it would be for most parents. My husband and I spent a great deal of time talking to other people, mostly parents and child carers, searching the internet, pouring over magazines about children and visiting various child care centres within and outside the Parramatta area searching for what we wanted to be the "right" centre for our daughter. I wanted a safe, clean and "nurturing" environment where the staff seemed genuinely interested in what they were doing: caring for my child and other children. My husband wanted something safe, reasonably affordable and flexible hours to fit in with our demanding work schedules. We found all this and much more at the Parramatta East Pre-School. The staff are intelligent, experienced and really down to earth women who seem passionate about their work with the children. They are friendly and approachable yet they seem to take their work quite seriously. They always had time for my endless questions and the kids seem genuinely happy and secure in their care. At the outset my husband was not excited about the $75.00 a day fees but now (almost a year later) he is more than happy to enrol our other 2 children (and 1 more on the way) with the same centre once they turn 3. We used to feel guilty about being career parents and leaving our children in the hands of "strangers" but the women at this centre foster something quite special with the children which makes me feel that my daughter is lucky to have that kind of experience. We as parents have learnt a lot from this experience. For one thing, I am confident that our daughter will be a lot more "ready" for primary school in terms of adopting/following a routine, and not being overwhelmed by a very large group of students she hasn't seen before - this is aside from other things she has learnt, such as identifying and writing letters of the alphabet, writing her name etc. It also keeps my husband and I on our toes in terms of doing things which keeps her and our other children interested during the weekends and pre-school holidays - it can be quite disheartening to see your child's disappointed face when she is told "there is no pre-school today" or that "it's mum's or dad's day today!" We are wholly satisfied with Parramatta East Pre-School and its staff and can't recommend it enough. If you are a bit of a "fuss-pot" mum (like me) who is prepared to search high and low for that "ideal" pre-school you really should give this pre-school a call. If you have questions, then ask for an interview and attend with a whole list of questions (if that gives you a peace of mind, as it did me :)) and discuss them with Cathy at the Centre. I am sure you will not be disappointed. In my experience you will be given honest and forthright answers rather than, "salesmen" or "let's hurry up and get this over with" type answers to your questions. In any event, good luck with your search. I hope this review has helped you in some small way. I felt this review was important to at least give some guidance to those working parents/carers searching for child care/pre-schools in the Parramatta District. I certainly would've appreciated such a review during those times my husband and I were looking!