Childcare centres ready to open
Things have taken a turn for the better for young families in Stoke, with two new early learning centres due to open in the community.
Eight months ago, the childcare centre Little Red Fox in the Nelson suburb shut after going into liquidation, leaving parents scrambling for care as they tried to juggle work and children.
Busy Bees Aotearoa was now due to open a centre at the site at 441 Nayland Rd, which the company described as “a beautiful centre just ready to go”.
Julie Pyers, who ran the Busy Bees centre in Richmond, was appointed manager of the new Stoke centre late last week.
She said she was excited Busy Bees had taken over the site with centres currently oversubscribed, and the company being able to take its vision of keeping children at its heart to the Stoke community.
Pyers would now help recruit teachers at the centre “to build up a really strong group of kaiako that we know share the same vision and the same core values, so that we can ... create that permanent and consistent centre there for Stoke”.
The centre was due to be licensed for 60 children aged 3 months to 6 years.
Busy Bees Aotearoa already owned centres in Richmond, Māpua and Motueka, and Hardykids ELC in Nelson.
Busy Bees had let families know about the development who were on the waitlist at its other local centres, and said a few families had registered their interest, ahead of plans to run tours this week.
Chief executive Leanne Mortlock was confident the centre would be able to attract the staff needed to run the centre, despite a reported teacher shortage.
“We have an excellent reputation for taking really good care of our people.”
Having three centres really close by meant there was a pool of resources and experience in the community, she said.
The centre aimed to open between late February and end of March.
Several of the provider’s team lived in Stoke, so it was “excited to be able to support the wider families and communities in the area”, she said.
Another early learning centre, Tōtara Kids, was also due to open in Stoke in March. Centre owner Elise Walton said she was taking enrolments at the centre on Titoki St for up to 29 children, which had eight teachers ready to start.