Top Questions to Ask During Your Childcare Tour: What to Expect?

A centre’s daily logistics and physical environment impact your child’s comfort and your routine. Use these questions to assess their day-to-day operations:

• Operating Hours & Logistics: What are the official drop-off and pick-up windows? What is the visitor policy, and can parents drop by outside regular hours?
• Daily Timetable & Outdoor Time: How is the daily schedule structured? How much dedicated outdoor play or outdoor learning time is built into the timetable to support physical motor skills?
• The Physical Environment: Is the centre clean, well-ventilated, and spacious? Are the facilities equipped with child-safe, ergonomic furniture with rounded edges to prevent accidents? How often are classrooms and toys sanitised?
• The Settling-In Phase: What is the centre’s protocol for settling into preschool? Do they offer a staggered transition schedule or allow parents to accompany infants and toddlers during their first few days to ease separation anxiety?

Nutrition and hygiene are foundational to a child’s development. Don’t hesitate to ask detailed questions about meal prep and safety:

• Menu & Nutrition Standards: Does the preschool serve balanced, nutritious meals? Look for centres recognised by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) Healthy Meals in Preschools Programme (HMPP) awards, which ensure optimal dietary tracking for growing children.
• Dietary Restrictions & Allergies: How does the kitchen manage severe food allergies or specific religious dietary restrictions? What measures prevent cross-contamination?
• Naptime Hygiene: Are blankets and napping essentials provided by the school or parents? If provided by the centre, how frequently are they laundered?

A preschool’s educational framework determines how your child develops early literacy, numeracy, and cognitive skills.

• Educational Frameworks: Does the curriculum align with the Ministry of Education’s Nurturing Early Learners (NEL) Framework for holistic development? For younger age groups, does it integrate the Early Years Development Framework (EYDF)?
• Daily Mother Tongue Language Immersion: Rather than a fully immersive bilingual environment that can sometimes overwhelm early learners, our centres utilise a robust, dedicated daily Chinese Curriculum block. This ensures children receive focused, high-quality exposure to the language every single day through storytelling, interactive play and cultural activities.
• Active Learning Strategies: At Star Learners, we utilise our proprietary, award-winning literature-based learning approach. By tapping into a child’s natural love for stories, our educators use an extensive library of over 13,000 picturebooks to teach complex concepts through hands-on, active learning strategies. Explore how our literature-based curriculum works here.

Trustworthy third-party validations prove that a centre maintains rigorous educational and care standards.

• SPARK Certification: Is the centre SPARK-certified? SPARK (Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework) is a quality assurance scale administered by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) that evaluates a centre’s leadership, curriculum, pedagogy, and health and safety policies.
• Industry Awards: Has the centre won national accolades? For example, Star Learners has been recognised with industry honours such as the Best in Literature-Based Curriculum Award and voted Preschool of the Year, highlighting proven teaching excellence.

The quality of care your child receives depends entirely on the educators guiding them. Ensure the centre adheres closely to, or exceeds, the standard minimum requirements set out by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA).

• Staff Qualifications & Turnover: What training and early childhood certifications do the teachers hold? What is the centre’s staff turnover rate? Ensuring stability in teaching staff is vital for a child’s emotional security.
• Safety Certifications: Are the educators CPR- and first-aid-certified? Teachers should be fully equipped to manage emergency procedures immediately.

While a core preschool curriculum covers your child’s primary developmental milestones, additional enrichment can further nurture specific interests.

• Complementary Programmes: What types of optional enrichment programmes are available at the centre (e.g. speech and drama, coding, robotics, sports, or creative arts)?
• Scheduling & Logistics: Are these programmes conducted during regular childcare hours? A seamless integration of enrichment activities within the daily schedule allows children to participate without requiring parents to transport them to external centres on weekends.
• Fees & Participation: Are these programmes optional or compulsory, and how are the fees structured?

Strong parent-preschool partnerships ensure that a child’s learning continues seamlessly between the classroom and home.

• Daily Communication & Portfolios: How do teachers share updates on a child’s progress, mood, and milestones? Look for centres that use a dedicated Parent App to share real-time insights, photos, and portfolio updates securely.
• Emergency Protocols & Alerts: What is the centre’s emergency protocol for parent communication? If a child falls ill or an incident occurs, how quickly are parents notified, and through what channels?
• Parental Involvement: Are there opportunities for parents to participate in centre activities, celebrations, or field trips?

A great childcare centre will always welcome your questions. If an enrolment team or principal handles your queries with transparency and warmth during a tour, even over a digital screen, it is a strong indicator of how they will care for your child.

With 43 centres island-wide under the ECDA Partner Operator (POP) scheme, Star Learners makes premium childcare accessible. Connect with an Enrolment Advisor today to schedule your personalised tour, or browse our quick FAQ below for immediate answers.