Despite having only opened at the start of the year, Upper Clutha's newest early childhood education centres already need new staff, as rolls have grown rapidly.
Oanaka Educare centre director Sandie Dodds said there had been a huge response from families since opening last month and she had recently placed advertisements seeking a qualified teacher and a person willing to be trained.
Mrs Dodds said although she had anticipated growth, she had not expected it to be ‘‘quite so fast''.
She had always planned to employ more staff down the track but had anticipated it to be within a six to 12-month timeframe.
‘‘I didn't realise it would be three weeks after we opened.''
At present, the centre has 40 children at any one time, but the facility is licensed for 65, so the additional staff members would enable the centre to operate at full capacity.
Six trained teachers and two trainee teachers work full-time at the centre, as well as Mrs Dodds who works as a relief teacher.
Hawea Early Learning Centre head teacher Keryn Barlow said hiring new staff was likely soon.
‘‘We're pretty much full in the mornings,'' Miss Barlow said. ‘‘We've really only got space in the afternoons.
‘‘We're at the point where we're sort of deciding whether we need another one [teacher].''
The centre at Hawea at present employs six full-time staff.
‘‘We were originally going to have seven but ended up employing only six purely because we didn't think the demand would be there straight away.
‘‘We're bulking up with relievers at the moment and potentially looking at getting another staff member or leaving numbers as they are.
‘‘Obviously, we want to be as full as we can be but we need to have a back-up plan in case we don't get someone straight away.''
