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Welcome from our Centre Manager
Suchita Shinde
Ko Suchita tōku ingoa. As the Centre Manager of Busy Bees Ōtāhuhu, I am committed to creating a warm, inclusive, and supportive environment where children, whānau, and teachers feel valued and respected. I strongly believe that children learn best through play, meaningful relationships, and opportunities to explore their interests in their own unique ways.
I especially value the diverse community within our early education centre, where different cultures, languages, and perspectives are welcomed and celebrated. This diversity creates rich learning opportunities and helps children develop respect, empathy, and understanding of the world around them.
Building strong partnerships with children, whānau, and our teaching team is at the heart of my leadership journey. I believe in creating meaningful relationships where children feel supported and confident, whānau feel welcomed and connected, and teachers feel encouraged to grow and collaborate.
Originally from India, I immigrated to New Zealand 9 years ago and feel privileged to call this beautiful country my home. I am married with two wonderful children.
Early Learning in an Uplifting, Stimulating Environment
Our licensed early childhood education centre has three areas for each age and stage of learning and development: a nursery, toddler room, and preschool.
The nursery has its own separate outdoor space, whilst the toddlers and preschoolers have a shared outdoor area providing endless opportunities to explore and connect. We promote the development of active and confident learners who think, question, seek information and apply knowledge to the best of their ability. Children are celebrated for their individual milestones.
Our team of kaiko lead with kindness and passion for making tamariki feel encouraged in their learning journey, and strongly value relationships with childcare centre whānau and the wider community.
Childcare Classrooms at Our Ōtāhuhu Centre
Each of our three age-tailored rooms provides a strong sense of community and belonging, supporting the entire learning journey from infancy to the transition into primary school.
Nursery (up to 2 years)
At the heart of our nursery is the loving, trusting bond between infants and teachers, who shape each day around each child's individual needs. Teachers partner closely with families to read infant cues and build routines that honour children's natural rhythms. Our infant spaces are grounded in the concept of ako, acknowledging that learning flows between children, kaiako, and the environment around them. Through free play, observation, imitation, gesture, and social connection, our youngest learners build the communication, social, and emotional foundations they need, within a warm and responsive setting.
Toddler (2-3.5 years)
Our toddler centre is designed to help tamariki navigate the pull between wanting independence and still needing plenty of guidance. At this age, children are eager to discover their own sense of self, while still relying on more hands-on support than older children, so this space is shaped around growing social skills and budding independence. The toddler environment is set up to spark curiosity and exploration, where testing limits, trying new things, and taking on challenges are all encouraged.
Preschool (3.5-6 years)
Our preschool room provides children the chance to shape their own learning at their own pace, helping decide what gets set up and sharing their ideas along the way. Teachers work alongside children to create an environment that sparks curiosity, invites active exploration, and offers just the right amount of challenge. Self-help skills take on real importance at this stage, so children are encouraged to use the toilet independently, wash their own hands, dress themselves, and serve their own morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea.
Food & Nutrition
With the inviting smell of home-cooked meals and baking, you won’t have to search very far to find our passionate childcare centre cook who freshly prepares all meals in the heart of our childcare centre in Ōtāhuhu! Your child will be provided with morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea to set them up for a day of learning.
Healthy Centre-Cooked Meals
Our Nourish menu is designed by dietitians, providing foods that are minimally processed, avoiding recipes high in added sugar and instead using fresh, real and wholesome ingredients. Children are provided with well-balanced meals from the four main food groups (breads and cereals, milk and milk products, fruit and vegetables, lean meat and meat alternatives).
Heart Foundation Awarded
We are extremely proud to have received a Rito Tohu Manawa Ora | Healthy Heart Award from the Heart Foundation for the amazing work we do here to promote healthy food and physical activity. You can feel reassured that your child is fuelled with the right nutrients.
Centre Transport
At Busy Bees Ōtāhuhu, we’re proud to offer a free van service to help support our centre whānau with safe and reliable transport to and from the centre. Our Busy Bees van helps make daily routines easier for families while ensuring tamariki arrive ready for a day of learning, connection and fun.
Exciting Excursions
Beyond transport, our van also allows us to extend learning through regular excursions within our local community. Connecting our tamariki to the natural environment around them, these outings create meaningful experiences that encourage curiosity, confidence, and a sense of belonging.
Our Curriculum
Through outdoor exploration and shared play experiences, tamariki are encouraged to build confidence, strengthen social connections and develop a love of learning in a fun, age-appropriate, and supportive environment. Whether climbing, discovering, or engaging with one another, children are given the freedom to explore at their own pace while learning alongside their peers.
Community Adventures
We believe excursions and visits support tamariki to understand what is going on around them and outside the centre setting. Tamariki learn to ask questions and explore new environments; we plan regular visits to the local library and participate in various cultural events and activities. Visits to parks and gardens offer tamariki the opportunity to take their learning outside the centre and at the same time connect and learn to respect nature-papatuanuku.
Embracing Different Cultures
At Busy Bees Ōtāhuhu, we offer several opportunities for tamariki and whānau to celebrate cultural diversity. Sharing cultural knowledge and experiences supports our tamariki to develop respect and Aroha for one another. Embracing diverse cultures creates an equitable learning environment for all tamariki, as we celebrate and affirm who they are and, in return, create a positive awareness and understanding of their own and other cultures.
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.
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.
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!
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