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Busy Bees Southbrook
What Matters to us:
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Whanaungatanga | Relationships With you, your child, your whanau and our community |
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Kotahitanga | Unity Celebrating and embracing differences in culture, philosophies, and homes. Embracing our uniqueness and being truly inclusive |
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Manaakitanga | Care Walking into our space will feel welcoming, uplifting and respectful |
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Mātauranga | Learning Our Bee Curious curriculum nurtures children’s sense of discovery alongside early literacy, numeracy, science and emotional regulation. |
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Tikanga | Respect & Culture We deeply value and respect every child’s home culture and integrate this into our practices and celebrate cultural events as a community and within the centre |
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Kaitiakitanga | Environmental Stewardship Showing respect for the connection we have to our physical land (whenua), starting initiatives to protect the natural world as best we can |
Cultivating whānau and cultural connections
At Busy Bees Southbrook, we value strong partnerships with parents and whānau and encourage involvement in ways that suit each family. Through family events, celebrations and shared learning experiences, our team create opportunities to strengthen relationships and work together to support each child’s learning journey.
Unique cultures, values and aspirations of every family are celebrated, creating an inclusive environment where children develop a strong sense of identity and belonging. Diversity is embraced and reflected throughout our programme, planning and centre events.
Community Involvement
Being part of our local Rangiora community is at the heart of what we do. Our tamariki enjoy participating in a variety of community initiatives, including crafting for local rest homes, taking part in the Woodend Spring Fair, celebrating Matariki with the local library, holding our annual ANZAC service alongside the RSA, supporting local charities, and contributing to environmental sustainability projects. We also have established connections with some of our local schools.
Our Learning Environment
Kiwi Room (Under 2 Years)
Our Kiwi Room provides a calm, nurturing environment where babies and infants can safely explore, discover, and grow. Through music, sensory play, art, science, baking, outdoor experiences, and movement activities, children are encouraged to learn at their own pace.
Kaiako work closely with families to follow each child’s routines, creating consistency between home and centre. Through responsive care and meaningful interactions, infants develop confidence, communication skills, coordination, and both fine and gross motor abilities.
We support our youngest learners to build positive relationships, develop early social skills, and grow their natural curiosity as they explore and make sense of the world around them.
Tui Room (2 - 3.5 Years)
The Tui Room supports tamariki as they build independence, confidence, and a strong sense of belonging. Children are encouraged to participate in both individual and group experiences, developing the confidence to explore new ideas and challenges.
A strong focus is placed on social and emotional learning. Kaiako help children develop self-regulation, resilience, cooperation, and conflict-resolution skills, empowering them to build positive relationships and navigate new situations with confidence.
Interactive learning experiences support the development of language, communication, problem-solving, literacy, numeracy and creative thinking. Through play-based learning, tamariki strengthen their understanding of numbers, letters, colours, and the world around them.
Pūkeko Room (3.5 - 5 Years)
Our Pūkeko Room prepares children for a confident transition to school through a strong focus on independence, teamwork, self-regulation and problem-solving.
Using a layered learning approach, kaiako support tamariki to strengthen their skills across literacy, mathematics, science, music and creative learning while encouraging curiosity, critical thinking and the development of working theories.
Eco Educate
Each month, an Eco Educate specialist visits to inspire learning about sustainability, waterways, recycling, insects, worms and caring for our environment.
Junior Explorers Group
Children regularly venture into the local Rangiora community, using tools such as magnifying glasses and binoculars to investigate, discover and learn through real-world experiences.
MOVE Programme (Physical Acitivity)
Our MOVE Programme promotes active learning, wellbeing and physical development. Children build coordination, balance, teamwork, focus, and confidence through engaging movement-based experiences that introduce and challenge children’s use of their bodies.
Transition to School Group 4.5 years - Skills for Success
Our transition-to-school programme supports children to develop the skills and confidence they need for their next learning journey. This practice has been built by the team using knowledge from our local kura in Rangiora, to prepare children for the real environments they’re entering.
Problem Solving • Independence • Confidence • Self-Regulation • Teamwork • Communication • Oral Language Development • Negotiation • Early literacy and numeracy • Empathy • Creativity • Social Skills • Following complex Instructions • Self-Expression • Perseverance • Resilience • Social Confidence
We are proud to be a lunch box centre
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.
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 Southbrook to promote healthy food and physical activity. We are helping our tamariki to have healthy habits and healthy hearts for life.
Teachers do regular baking with the children, which provides opportunities for them 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.
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.
Exploring and strengthening connections with our local community is an important part of our curriculum. Through regular excursions and community experiences, tamariki develop curiosity, confidence and a deeper understanding of the world around them. These opportunities support learning in communication, research, problem-solving and health and safety, while encouraging children to explore with all their senses
Bee Curious - Our Busy Bees Curriculum Framework
Bee Curious is our unique curriculum framework, designed to nurture that curiosity and inspire meaningful learning every day.
Grounded in Te Whāriki, Aotearoa New Zealand's early childhood curriculum, Bee Curious supports our kaiako to create engaging experiences that help tamariki grow with confidence, creativity and a love of learning.
Our learning journey is brought to life through five exciting strands:
Bee Connected - Building relationships, belonging and confidence.
Bee Inspired - Encouraging curiosity, exploration and new discoveries.
Bee Expressive - Finding different ways to communicate ideas, feelings and stories.
Bee Active - Supporting healthy bodies, movement and wellbeing.
Bee Creative - Inspiring imagination, problem-solving and innovation.
These strands are thoughtfully woven through seven key areas of learning, including literacy, mathematics, communication, physical development, creative arts, personal and social development and understanding the world.
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!
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