Hit enter to search or ESC to close
Our teachers are passionate about making a positive difference in children’s lives. By sharing stories and laughter, listening to their interests, and learning with families we foster trust and connection with not only our centre whānau but with the wider community, including local schools.
Our spacious centre environment offers separate indoor and outdoor areas tailored to each age and stage of learning and development, with stimulating and aesthetically pleasing set ups, using natural resources to encourage curiosity and spark children’s imagination.
We also have shared spaces that tamariki can come together to share tuakana-teina (older-younger child) interactions, where wonderful teaching moments are shared.
Relationships - Just like the bridge connects one side of the river to the other, our learning community acts as a bridge, linking our centre and the wider community together. It’s a shared pathway where our tamariki, kaiako and whānau come together to support, learn and grow.
Community - The bridge represents the connections we build - between children, families and kaiako. It’s a testament to the strength of our community, each beam and pillar reflecting the contributions of individuals that comes together to create something substantial and meaningful.
Holistic Development - With a deep understanding of the local environment, our teaching community may incorporate elements of rural life and farming into the curriculum, offering children a holistic education.
Authentic Learning Journey - Just like the Mangatainoka River gracefully makes it’s way to the ocean, our precious tamariki embark on a journey of language, social-emotional development, and physical growth. Each of them is like a tributary, contributing to the overall flow of learning in our centre.
Our inhouse cook provides freshly made meals for children each day using our Nourish menus and recipes, based on the New Zealand Heart Foundation Tohu Manawa Ora | Healthy Heart Award for Early Learning Centres. We believe that through nourishing food, children are fueled to thrive physically and mentally, whilst enjoying the benefits of coming together and connecting as a group at mealtimes.
Teachers also do regular baking with the children, which provides them opportunities to engage and learn a range of food preparations skills and fine motor movements such as pouring, sifting, spooning. It is a great hands on sensory experience for children to develop independence through self-help skills, practice simple maths as they measure and count quantities.
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.
We are committed to follow the aspirations of the New Zealand National ECE Curiculum, 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, right from their early exploration of the world around them, through to preparation for school.
Language and Communication - Fostering tamariki communication and holistic creativity.
Social and Emotional Development - Nurturing social and emotional skills in our tamariki to set them
up for lifelong learning.
Physical Development - Fostering fine and gross motor skills through a range of learning opportunities.