We anticipate receiving the keys in October, with tours beginning in November, and the centre opening in December 2025 or January 2026. Enrolments are now open, and you’re welcome to schedule a 1:1 tour to explore the finished centre and allow us the opportunity to get to know your little ones!

Our fees are 100% all inclusive for example all incursions and special events, food, nappies, wipes and sunscreen are included in the daily fee. The only exception is baby formula which we don’t provide.

In the past 6 years, we have built a great reputation of genuine care for children and going above and beyond for our families and team. We have such extensive waitlists at the other services, that we would love to support more families in our local community to access our high quality care. This includes being able to care for babies, which we don’t have the facilities for in our smaller services and often have to refer younger siblings to other centres in the area.

From the start, we have been extremely passionate about children’s nutrition and wellbeing. We have no budget for food and ensure our menu aligns to the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating so that children have all the nutrients they need to grow happy and healthy bodies.

During Andrew’s time in the kitchen at Macquarie Fields (3.5 years), with a lot of trial and error, he has created a menu that is nutritious, Munch and Move approved and best of all actually tasty. Andrew will be heavily involved in the creation of the menu and training/support of the Chef and Chef’s assistant.

Andrew’s background also includes shopfitting and refrigeration, so he understands the importance of good quality kitchen equipment to delivery nutritious meals in a clean work space - hence why our Minto kitchen is fitted exclusively with commercial appliances. We look forward to showing you the kitchen during our 1:1 tours!

We are in the process of working through our team structure and will start advertising for key roles soon.

We take our time with the hiring process as we are very particular about who joins our team because building and maintaining relationships with families, children, us and fellow team members is one of our top priorities and it is something that can’t be easily taught.

So aside from the obvious need for the right qualifications and background checks, it is also essential we have team members that have a genuine nature, are empathetic, respectful, honest and actually care. These are the building blocks of earning trust.

It’s important the team member is knowledgeable, passionate, driven, eager to learn and....they need to know how to have fun!

We aren’t concerned about finding the right people because we have had years of experience and we genuinely care for our team members. We constantly check in on an individual basis, reinvest in our team and provide them the work/life balance that is so rare in our industry (none of our team members work from home).

The majority of our team have been with us for multiple years and although we haven’t started placing job advertisements out, we have had many educators reaching out to join our team - we take it as a huge compliment that educators are seeing the difference in the work culture we provide.

At Big Bear Academy, creating a safe and nurturing environment is our highest, non-negotiable priority. Safety and compliance are at the heart of everything we do, and we are proud to go above and beyond to protect every child in our care.

Here are just some of the measures we’ve put in place at our new Minto centre:

• CCTV and Security: We have engaged a security specialist to review our CCTV design and will be tripling the coverage included in the Minto build to ensure there are no blind spots.

• Emergency Preparedness: An emergency evacuation specialist has designed our evacuation plans so we are fully prepared for every scenario.

• Experienced Educators: Three of our trusted educators, each with over four years at Big Bear Academy, will be joining Minto to uphold our culture and values around child safety and child protection.

• Robust Recruitment: Our hiring and induction process includes multiple interviews, background checks, and trial days. We have zero tolerance for unprofessional behaviour and employ more educators than required, giving us flexibility to act swiftly if a team member does not meet our standards.

• Strong Leadership: We have already appointed our Assistant Director and Educational Leader and are finalising our Director appointment. Each will commence well before opening to ensure they are across all policies, procedures, risk management, and safety frameworks.

• Dedicated Compliance Officer: We are investing in a Compliance Officer whose sole focus is to oversee consistency and excellence in compliance and safety practices across all centres.

• Technology Use: Only centre devices are used for documentation, communication, and photographs. All personal devices are stored in lockers.

• Active Supervision: Clear and structured supervision plans are in place to guarantee active, vigilant supervision at all times.

• Strict Social Media Policy: We do not share identifiable images of children on social media. We believe strongly in protecting children’s privacy and have done so since day one.

• Team Culture: We prioritise staff wellbeing while also fostering accountability through a “see it, say it” culture that promotes transparency and open communication.

• Ongoing Training: All team members regularly attend professional development sessions, including training on supervision, child safety, behaviour management, and annual refreshers on child protection.

These examples are only a glimpse of the extensive systems and practices we have in place. On your individual tour, we’ll be happy to share more details about how we create a genuinely child-safe environment for your little one.

We know that choosing a childcare centre requires the highest level of trust. We are not a large corporate; we are a family-run service that believes trust begins with openness and honesty. You can always reach us directly - the owners - by phone, email, or in person during our regular centre visits.

Rest assured, your child’s safety is our greatest responsibility, and we will always treat it that way.