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Welcome from our Ngongotahā Centre Manager
Rochelle Munro
My name is Rochelle, I have been the Manager at Busy Bees Ngongotahā since 2015. I have a Bachelor of Teaching as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Leadership. In addition to this, I have certificates in First Aid, Food Handling and Child Protection. I have worked in ECE for at least 30 years, 20 of those for this organisation.
I love seeing children learn, seeing them grasp a concept or a new skill. I love the heart in my centre, the homely feel, the welcome people feel upon entering and the community we have built. One of my favourite moments as a leader is seeing a student teacher progress and develop into a competent teacher, to a Team Leader to a Manager.
I love my role as Centre Manager and what gets me up in the morning is connecting with our tamariki and their whānau. I love what I do, every day making a difference in our community, like the much loved starfish story “Why are you throwing those starfish back in the sea, There are so many, it won’t make any difference? It will make a difference, for this one and this one!” What makes a difference for the tamariki is consistency, having fun and a sense of belonging.
As an early learning centre, we believe we play an important role in our community and have a very special opportunity to positively impact young children’s lives in the early stages of their development. We offer nutritious, home-cooked meals, as well as a huge backyard play area for our tamariki. We have separate, stimulating environments across two buildings, catering for children aged 0–2 years and 2–6 years.
We love building reciprocal relationships with whānau, tamariki, and the wider community to provide a safe and welcoming environment where everyone feels a sense of belonging. We aim to be a home away from home for our children and families.
We welcome you to come and explore our centre with us.
At Busy Bees Ngongotahā, we are passionate about teaching sustainable habits and practices to our children. By encouraging reduce, reuse, and recycle, we instil a love for the environment in young minds. This includes learning about and caring for our centre worm farm. We also have a range of fruit trees.
These gardens help tamariki learn through hands-on activities, encouraging them to work together to plant, harvest, and taste. This supports children to develop a love for nature and to care for our environment.
Fruit Trees and Vegetable Gardens
Our 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.
Worm Farm
We love our centre worm farm as it provides a hands-on educational tool for children, teaching them about composting, recycling, and the environment. This interactive activity fosters curiosity and responsibility as kids learn how organic waste can be transformed into nutrient-rich soil.
Dietitian Designed Early Childhood Menus
We are extremely proud that we have received a Rito Tohu Manawa Ora | Healthy Heart Award from the Heart Foundation for the amazing things we do here at Busy Bees Ngongotahā promote healthy food and physical activity. We are helping our tamariki to have healthy habits and healthy hearts for life.
We prioritise the health and wellbeing of your little ones by offering nutritious meals crafted with care. Our menus are designed by an experienced dietitian, ensuring they meet the specific nutritional needs of growing children whilst also bursting with flavour. Our centre cook takes pride in preparing all meals onsite, adhering to the Ministry of Health Healthy Eating for Babies, Toddlers and Children to guarantee optimal safety and quality. From wholesome ingredients to balanced portions, every meal is thoughtfully crafted to support healthy development and foster good eating habits from an early age. With us, you can trust that your child is receiving the nourishment they need to thrive each day.
Our centre proudly supports the KidsCan Foundation. KidsCan provides centres with fresh, healthy ingredients each week, allowing staff to prepare easy, child-friendly meals. Menus are designed with the Heart Foundation, follow Ministry of Health guidelines for 5-year-olds, and include a balanced mix of protein, carbs, and vegetables, plus fruit and yoghurt. To find out more, please visit KidsCan ECE Food for Kids Programme.
Children often get involved in baking, which helps them to understand where food comes from, develop healthy eating habits with our garden to table projects, and well as learning scientific and mathematical concepts as they bake delicious afternoon teas!
We're committed to Te Whāriki, the NZ National ECE Curriculum. It envisions collaboration between educators, families, and the community to empower children as lifelong learners. Te Whāriki provides a framework of principles and strands, guiding curriculum decisions and supporting children's development. Each setting weaves a curriculum whāriki based on these principles and strands in partnership with families.
The implementation of the centre curriculum contributes to an environment where children are happy, trusting, confident and engaged in meaningful play and learning.
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!
Nutritious food is the foundation for healthy growth and development in our children. Our Nourish menus fuel our children and support full, healthy tummies enabling clear minds to focus on the learning and set children up to thrive at our centre.
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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