Little Zak's Academy at Nulkaba is still very much a construction site, but it hasn't stopped parents eager to jump the queue and register their children for enrolment.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Nulkaba early learning centre, aiming to open in July, has already had "more than 100" inquiries, according to CEO Richard Bell.
"We will be able to cater for 99 children at any one time," Mr Bell said.
"But some children come five days a week, others one day, so in broad terms it means we'll cater for somewhere between 150 to 300 families in the region."
The Nulkaba facility is part of a push into the rapidly growing Hunter region from Little Zak's, who have 16 centres in Sydney and the south coast, and are now expanding north, with Maitland and Singleton also on their radar.
"The Hunter region is growing, with a lot of people from Sydney moving up, and we wanted to be a part of that growth," Mr Bell said.
"We're excited because early childhood learning is a big part of any community."
Mr Bell said Little Zak's embrace extracurricular activities designed to help young children develop.
"We have a Zakaroos program for example, where children are taught soccer skills - it's fun bit at the same time it's all about improving those important neuromotor skills," he said.
"We have swimming lessons, taught by external instructors. We take a bus to the pool and the children have their lesson, which is designed to take some pressure off the parents.
"We have language lessons - French or Mandarin."
Mr Bell said the academy will be open from children from six months to six years and, with enrolments open already, urged parents to get in contact via the Little Zak's website.
A journo all my working life and never wanted to change, also a self confessed sports tragic.
A journo all my working life and never wanted to change, also a self confessed sports tragic.
