Welcome to Little Learners, Port Macquarie

At Little Learners, child safety isn’t a checklist or a policy tucked away in a binder - it is the absolute foundation of our family-run village. 

We believe that for children to explore and let their imaginations run wild, they must first feel completely safe and secure. Leaning into the latest NSW safety reforms with open arms, we protect your little one through a deeply embedded, everyday culture of care:

• The "Children First" Principle: Every single daily decision, from playground layouts to minor scratch care is guided by your child’s emotional and physical wellbeing.

• Meticulous, Heart-Led Hiring: Beyond advanced child-safe screening and detailed referee checks, we utilise continuous validation protocols for all background clearances. Every educator is qualified and chosen for both their elite skills and their nurturing hearts.

• Continuous Staff Training: Every team member undergoes mandatory child protection training. Our educators are fully fluent in safety laws and trained to spot and support the subtlest changes in a child’s wellbeing.

• Secure Technology Safeguards: While we love capturing daily magic on our OWNA app, we protect digital footprints fiercely. Personal devices are strictly limited, and only secure, service-issued technology is used.

• Dual-Signature Transparency: We meticulously log exactly which educators are in which rooms at every single minute. All incident, injury, or illness records require immediate, dual-signature verification to give you a crystal-clear, honest ecosystem

We are a family-owned Early Learning Academy that seamlessly blends a warm, community heart with world-class discovery opportunities. Trusted by families since 2021., our coastal sanctuary moves far beyond standard childcare spaces. Our holistic approach to learning takes place in state-of-the-art facilities featuring custom-built art, science and music studios packed with instruments

Our signature Garden to Plate program connects children to the earth through our oversized orchards, providing fresh ingredients for our on-site chef to craft 5 nutritious daily meals. From beach boardwalk excursions to rich incursions with our local Aboriginal community, we create an unhurried environment where children feel entirely safe, deeply valued, and inspired to flourish.

Absolutely! We believe that early learning is a beautiful partnership, and keeping you connected to your child's day gives you total peace of mind. We use the  OWNA digital app (accessible on mobile or desktop). 

With OWNA you’ll never miss a moment. It offers precise, live tracking of health metrics including what they have eaten, toilet moments, sleep time, photos of them throughout the day, updates from the educators, important centre updates and much more!

We’ve designed our nursery to be a gentle, home-like sanctuary where your littlest love can safely find their own rhythm. To give your family a calm, unhurried morning, our nursery care is 100% all-inclusive - we provide premium nappies, wipes, fresh linen, cows milk, and formula. We are also proudly a breastfeeding-supportive academy and will happily feed and safely store your supplied breast milk.

Because child safety and emotional wellbeing form our beautiful foundation, we strictly limit our nursery spaces to just 12 babies per room. Capping our rooms ensures lower educator-to-child ratios, giving our incredible staff the dedicated time to form deep, protective bonds of trust with your baby. From sensory play in our calm, natural-toned rooms to fresh, nutritionist-approved purées cooked daily by our on-site chef, your baby is tucked into total safety and love.

Positive mental health and a deep sense of belonging form the very heartbeat of our everyday life. We believe a happy child is one who feels secure, heard, and valued. To support this, we have built a unique internal ecosystem focused on emotional wellbeing for both our little learners and our valued educators. By keeping child-to-educator ratios low and creating small-numbered, home-like rooms for our under-threes, we provide a stable, emotionally supportive environment where children can confidently form lifelong friendships and regulate at their own natural pace.

They sure are, and we take food very seriously here! We provide 5 wholesome, nutritious meals every single day, and they are 100% all-inclusive. Our wonderful on-site cook prepares everything fresh daily, following seasonal menus carefully designed by a qualified nutritionist

What makes it truly special is our Garden to Plate philosophy - we use fresh ingredients harvested straight from our massive community veggie gardens and fruit orchards. It means your little one enjoys gourmet, earth-to-table nutrition, and you get your busy mornings back with zero lunchbox stress!

To provide reliable, elite support for our families, Little Learners Lake Cathie will be open Monday to Friday from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm. We operate 51 weeks of the year, closing public holidays. This consistent schedule ensures your child maintains their unhurried rhythm and connection with our community throughout the seasons.

We believe that preparing for the big adventure of school should be an unhurried journey full of heart. At Lake Cathie, our child-led model means our expert educators thoughtfully follow your child's natural curiosity, transforming their unique ideas into joyful milestones. For our older learners (ages 3 to 6), our spacious rooms and dedicated academy wings including an elite science room, creative art studio, library, and instrument-filled music room are custom-built to foster team collaboration, deep problem-solving, and critical thinking

Backed by government Start Strong funding, our fully accredited Preschool Program seamlessly embeds the fundamental cognitive, physical, and social-emotional milestones required for a confident transition. By connecting their learning to the real world through excursions along the local creek and beach boardwalk, we ensure your little one feels entirely capable, secure, and excited for their next big schooling chapter.

Yes, absolutely! Little Learners is a fully approved early childhood service, which means eligible families can claim the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) to significantly reduce your out-of-pocket costs. If you have a preschool-aged child or multiple little ones enrolled with us, you might also qualify for additional subsidy initiatives and our sibling discount structure. Navigating childcare rebates can feel a bit overwhelming, so please reach out - our lovely team is always here to chat through your options and help you figure out your family's rhythm.

Due to high interest in our Academy, we encourage families to "Book a Tour” via our online form or call us to arrange. If you are then keen to enrol your little one (and we have availability) we will take you through the enrolment process, step-by-step - view here.