Leeton Kids Early Learning will be constructed and built on Cassia Road

Leeton Kids Early Learning will be constructed in Cassia Road in the near future and it is hoped the centre will be operational within the next 12 to 18 months.

Company director and chief executive officer Rhys Wise is excited about bringing the vital service to town having already done so in other places such as Junee and Albury.

"We've just built a brand new facility in Junee, that's basically the same building as what the Leeton one will be," Mr Wise said.

"We're in the process of building one in Corowa as well.

"At the moment we are finalising the plans for Leeton.

"A lot goes into it. We have the development application approved, so that box is ticked off."

The location on Cassia Road currently has an old residential building on the land, but this will be demolished to make way for the new facility.

The site itself is 3300sqm and there are big plans in the works for the area.

Leeton Kids will be an early learning centre and it will have an integrated preschool on site as well.

"The preschool will be for three and four year-olds," Mr Wise said.

"We have a new concept in Junee where we have a farm ... we will be doing something similar in Leeton.

"There will be a big veggie garden and little areas to grow seasonal crops as well.

"We might even get some chooks for Leeton. We're looking at that 'back to basics' approach to early learning."

There will be 102 places available at Leeton Kids once it does open.

However, parents can already register expressions of interest on the Leeton Kids website, which can be found at www.leetonkids.com.au.

While the news of the centre's construction and eventual opening in Leeton is positive for the town, Mr Wise said the challenge would be attracting staff to the roles at Leeton Kids.

Like most industries today, staffing challenges are significant in the childcare sector.

However, Mr Wise hopes to have this sorted sooner rather than later.

"We have the children to come, but it's staffing that will likely be an issue, but we're working on it," he said.

"It's definitely something for people to keep in mind if they do live in the area and are trained in childcare and early learning.

"The response has been really good to what we are doing."

In June, the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) released new survey data, revealing early learning (childcare) centres throughout Australia were struggling with such severe workforce shortages they have been left with no choice but to cap enrolments.

The ongoing staffing crisis across the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector has been reflected in recent operational data provided by ACA's members in a national survey.

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Conducted in two tranches, the survey showed the majority of ECEC services are being forced to cap enrolments as they simply don't have enough staff to meet the legal ratio requirements of educators to children.

Across a single week in February 2023, more than two thirds of the 627 centres surveyed confirmed enrolments that week had been capped, which equated to a total of 16,300 places cut off from Australian families.

A second survey of 442 centres across a one-week period in May 2023, revealed that - again - more than half had been forced to cap enrolments due to the ongoing workforce shortages.

Mr Wise remained positive the staffing challenge could be resolved and was looking forward to providing this valuable service to parents and carers in Leeton shire.

"Hopefully we are open in early 2025 all going well," he said. "It's exciting and we thank everyone for their support so far."

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