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Welcome from our Coopers Beach Centre Manager
Karyn Connelly
Karyn Connelly
I was born in Southland and made Northland my home 40 years ago, where I have built both my life and career. For the past 28 years, I have worked in early childhood education, including roles as a Centre Manager, Regional Manager and with the Ministry of Education.
"I am passionate about creating a centre grounded in whanaungatanga, where strong relationships are nurtured, and manakitanga, where everyone feels welcomed, respected, and cared for."
Working alongside kaiako, I strive to create an environment where tamariki feel safe, valued, and inspired to learn. By partnering closely with whānau, we can achieve positive outcomes that support every child to thrive and reach their full potential.
A Trusting, Whānau-Centred Learning Experience
The outdoor areas at our childcare centre in Coopers Beach are ruma and are tailored to each age and stage of learning and development. They offer a range of equipment and resources that promote active exploration, thinking, and reasoning, along with turn-taking, experimentation, challenges, and fun as they learn what their bodies are capable of.
Our indoor environment offers areas to enjoy music and movement, paint like van Gogh, create, imagine, and discover with collage and loose parts, construct towers, bake with friends, role-play in the family corner, do a puzzle, or read a book in our quiet nook. It’s a place for fun, laughter, questions, curiosity, imagination, challenge, involvement, companionship, and love.
Our Coopers Beach childcare centre has vegetable gardens and fruit trees. These gardens help tamariki learn through hands-on activities, encourage them to work together to plant and harvest, and teach them where food comes from. They also help children develop a love for nature and care for the environment.
Childcare Classrooms at Our Coopers Beach Centre
Our early childhood centre at Coopers Beach offers 2 age-tailored spaces to support children at their individual learning stage.
Te Ruma Pipi / The Pipi Room (0–2 years)
A small shell settling into its new environment and beginning to learn and grow.
Te Ruma Paua / The Paua Room (2–5 years)
When it comes time for our Pipi tamariki to flourish and grow into a bigger "shell," they will then become a Paua and join Te Ruma Paua.
Food & Nutrition
We are a lunchbox centre, and this brings many learning opportunities, as it promotes independence and encourages self-help skills in preparation for school. We encourage families to make healthy food choices and ensure their child’s pouaka kai (lunch box) meets centre guidelines as well as Ministry of Health criteria for Early Learning Services.
Healthy Heart Award
We are extremely proud to hold the Whānau Tohu Manawa Ora | Healthy Heart Award from the Healthy Heart Foundation. Our early childhood centre at Coopers Beach achieved this for the amazing things we do to promote healthy food and physical activity. We are helping our tamariki to have healthy habits and healthy hearts for life.
Our Curriculum
We are committed to following the aspirations of the New Zealand National ECE Curriculum, Te Whāriki. Te Whāriki envisages kaiako in early learning settings working in partnership with parents, whānau and community to realise this vision. The expectation is that, in their early years, children will experience a curriculum that empowers them as lifelong learners.
Our Programmes
Bee Curious, our Busy Bees Curriculum Framework, has been created to guide and inspire kaiako in supporting tamariki through rich, interconnected learning experiences. Built on the strong foundation of Te Whāriki, it reflects the principles of Aotearoa New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum and the aspirations we hold for our children as they grow.
Our MOVE programme deliberately sets out physical activities that give children the opportunity to learn, practice and master physical skills whilst developing their resilience, perseverance, patience, co-ordination, gross-motor skills, teamwork and much more, all while having loads of fun!
The Busy Bees Way is our commitment to families and guides everything we do across our centres. From nurturing your child’s wellbeing and supporting their individual learning journey, to building genuine partnerships with whānau and respecting every child’s unique identity, culture and strengths, we’re committed to providing an exceptional early learning experience where children can thrive.
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