Kool Beanz Academy set to open ‘boutique’ Suffolk Park, Byron Shire childcare centre
A much-needed new childcare centre featuring a Zen garden for weekly yoga, a bird aviary, full-time chef and Japanese lessons is due to open near Byron Bay. Find out more.
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A much-needed new childcare centre featuring a Zen garden for weekly yoga classes, a bird aviary, full-time chef and Japanese lessons is due to open near Byron Bay.
Kool Beanz Academy is expecting to begin looking after kids at its Suffolk Park centre on Clifford Street, about 5km from Byron, in late January next year.
Gold Coast-based chief executive officer Bruce Coulson told this publication the Suffolk Park premises will be the first “boutique” centre for Kool Beanz.
Kool Beanz Academy has four larger childcare centres in the Northern Rivers at Byron Bay, Ocean Shores, Mullumbimby and Casuarina.
The new centre will include a Zen garden, chef, Japanese lessons, a STEM room, library, Lego room – and a bearded dragon for the children to interact with. Operating hours will be 6.30am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday.
Mr Coulson said the childcare centre will have 42 spots available.
“The public doesn’t want a five-storey building with hundreds of students. They want something that will feel like a home. That’s what we’ve built,” he said.
“It is unique and has a beachy feel, there will be nothing like it.”
The centre features an aviary with an exposed roof so children can watch birds flying above and learn about nature, Mr Coulson said.
“If people want to have a real homely environment with a boutique operation that’s connected to nature and sustainability, then that’s the perfect centre to come and enrol,” he said.
Mr Coulson said the centre had already filled about 80 per cent of spots and he advised parents to get in quick. Local children will be prioritised for placements.
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