We had a really horrible experience with PORSE and the PORSE educator - our 10 month old boy was in her care for 4 weeks, and it was going really well (or we thought it was), until we asked her one morning that I see he hasn't been eating his fingerfoods (I supply his food on a daily basis) and she said that he refused, and that it is too much of an effort for her to try again. We asked her to please be patient and try, even if he doesn't take it - otherwise how will he learn.

The saddest thing was that when we went to her house before we made our decision to place him with her,we explained to her that he is still learning to eat the fingerfoods, and that he also is a active little baby boy. I also shared with her, that I was in an induced coma last year, when we found out I was 8 weeks pregnant, I had swine flu, and almost died, the doctors told my husband that their priority is to save my life, and they did not even think of the baby. However he turned out to be my miracle baby, because with all the steriods, and drugs, lack of oxygen, he is just perfect, and if the only negative thing about the whole experience is that he is a bit active, and wants to just know you are there while he is playing, why would we complain. 

I remember her saying that she will persevere, and that she will be his second mommy. I remember also saying to my husband when we left, that she seemed to be over selling herself, however she seemed a good person, and that she would have the patience to look after our little boy. PORSE are really good in marketing that you can say how your child will be raised by the educator, by completing a book that the educator will see as the "bible" when it comes to routines, etc. 

However these are empty promises, as the moment we questioned the educator why the routines were not followed out of concern for our baby boy, she got defensive, and started writing negative comments in his daily journal (which we haven't been receiving on a daily basis anyway) - such as he is a very emotional boy, and that he needs one on one care, and that she unfortunately does not just have him to look after. I was in tears when I read this, as this is a book for him to read when he is older - suppose to be good memories. I would have thought that if there was any behavioural issues that she (the educator)/programme trainer/supervisor could have at least discussed this with the parents before nasty insensitive remarks are made in a book. The funny thing was the first week, she did not write anything about him being too difficult to handle, but the moment we questioned her about the food-issue, she made it clear that he was too difficult for her to look after.

You would think that a person priding herself in looking after children would have experience/understanding that two infants born at the same time may be very different. Some infants are very quiet and sleep a lot. Other infants are very active. Accepting these differences will make it easier to take care of infants and help them grow and develop. Also, there is no perfect infant. Infants are human. They have needs and feelings. Infants look and act differently. Some babies are born quiet. They may want to sleep all the time. Some babies are demanding and very active. Let each infant be himself or herself. I would have thought she would have been able to adapt to each infant's behavior instead of pushing the infant to be more like other infants. 

We discussed this with the PORSE supervisor that visits the educator on a monthly basis, however did not receive any feedback from them about the fact that she never sends the daily journal (like was promised to us), she doesn't follow our instructions, etc. She definitely did not create a stresless friendly environment, and clearly was in breach of the contract. PORSE did nothing to remedy the situation, and we gave our 10 working days notice. 

During the first two days of the notice period, she gave my husband back the carseat, which was funny as how would she be able to transport my boy if she doesn't have the seat... as she had to go and pick up her older children from school on a daily basis, she did not inform us that he didn't have any nappies left, or formula milk, and only informed us by a note the evening saying that he did not have any formula. I didn't even know if he had anything to drink for the whole day. I became concerned for the wellbeing of my child, and therefore we refused to pay her the 10 working days notice period, as she has made it clear that she cannot be trusted, and does not want to look after him. PORSE still says that they haven't breached any contract. 

As I said they have a wonderful marketing campaign, in the handbook/and website it actually does say that it promises one on one care/interation,but it is empty promises. "The education, care, health and home management programme delivered by a PORSE Educator offers families:

• Stress-free childcare arrangements - not delivered to us

• One-on-one interaction with a consistent and responsive educator - not delivered Unrivalled flexibility and convenience - not delivered

• Social interaction outings for children and regular PORSE PlaySchools - do not know, as no daily feedback was given to us by her, if we didn't ask, she wouldn't tell us what our baby boy did for the day.

Appreciation of personal health needs and conditions - My boy is allergic to harsh chemicals, vegemite, fish, etc, and get's a rash, after writing in the book that she is not allowed to wash his sheets, I supplied my own sheets, she still continued to ignore our requests, and his rash did not improve.

Support with challenging or concerning behaviours - not delivered, only nasty comments written in the daily journal, never discussed with us, the parents.

Personal selection of a PORSE Educator - We made the decision after we had a chat with her at her house,would however have done more checks, etc
Affirmation and support of a family's values, beliefs and culture - don't know, Direct daily feedback of children's play experiences, learning opportunities and progress - never received any feedback ever from the educator.

The benefits of home management (if choosing the Nanny/Family Share option) - N/A
Security and peace of mind - we thought we could trust her, however at the end the way she was behaving towards us, and the things she wrote in the journal, made be scared for my child's wellbeing.

I can only say that I trusted her with my boy, and we paid her for the services rendered - we paid her $30 per week more than what she asked. It was a very sad emotional experience for my family, as she hurt a defenseless little boy by her rude and insensitive comments.

The first weekend, after he left her care, he was very crying for attention non-stop, which also makes me think that she didn't give him any attention and ignored his crying. He is in daycare now, and he is such a happy little boy, he has developed so much over the last couple of months. I have not received any negative feedback from the teamleader/supervisor, and she discusses on a daily basis what he did today. We would never get any feedback from the PORSE educator, it was as if she couldn't get rid of us soon enough in the evenings.

It is a difficult choice to make to decide to go homebased daycare, or daycare. However do your homework, and make sure you go and observe her with your child, and go and visit any time during the day to see what she is doing. Things to ask are: Does anybody in your household smoke (when we started the process we specifically ask for a non-smoking environment, meaning that no-one in the household should smoke), would she be able to cope with active children. Always remember that in homebased daycare you are intruding into their lives and daily routine, therefore make sure that the educator will not make you feel that your child is a burden to her.

I will definitely not ever consider PORSE again. They failed to deliver on their promises. The administration is awfull, when I tried contacting the North Shore PORSE consultant organising the paperwork, I could never get hold of her, as well as left numerous messages. And when I did get hold of her, I was told to rather e-mail her, as she prefers that than being contacted on phone, as she doesn't always have time for queries.

Please let our experience with PORSE be a warning, and hopefully help parent in making the right decision for your baby.