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Busy Bees Southbrook – What’s Important to Us!
Whanaunga | Relationships
Kotahitanga | Unity
Manaakitanga | Caring
Matauranga | Education
Tikanga | Respect & Culture
Kaitiakitanga | Guardianship of the Environment
Our large, natural and inviting centre features, here at Busy Bees Southbrook, offer a much-loved secret garden where tamariki grow fruit, herbs and vegetables — exploring through smell, touch, taste and discovery. Our spacious outdoor areas also nurture gross motor development and kaitiakitanga, as children learn to care for and connect with the natural world.
Exploring and strengthening connections with our local community is something our tamariki really enjoy. It provides so many learning opportunities as children practice following instructions, finding things to research, and exploring the world around them using their senses. Our regular and planned excursions also provide great learning about health and safety whilst out and about in the community, seeing new things and meeting new people and developing working theories about the world around us.
Cultivating whānau and cultural relationships
At Busy Bees Southbrook we love to invite parents and whānau to be a part of our programme in any way they feel most comfortable being involved. We hold lots of family events and parent evenings to provide opportunities to strengthen partnerships. We seek to understand, support and celebrate our families cultures and values, providing an inclusive environment where family aspirations can be realised. In a world where differences are everywhere, our Team values culture and uniqueness, celebrating each child’s background through our programme, planning, and events.
Community Involvement
At Southbrook we love being part of our local community—making scarecrows for the Food Garden, crafting daffodils for the Rest Home, joining the Woodend Spring Fair, creating stars for Matariki at the Library, holding our Anzac Service with wreaths at the Cenotaph, winning the Sustainable Eco Tree Award, and collecting resources for local charities
Kiwi Room (Babies & Infants under 2 years)
Our Nursery provides a calm, safe, engaging environment where infants can explore the world around them. Engaging in interactive music times, tactile sensual play, art, science, baking, outdoor play, climbing and balancing.
Kaiako follow parents’ routine for consistency and work together providing activities that foster a sense of belonging and confidence, supporting them to improve their balance, coordination, movement, language and gross and fine motor skills.
Kaiako give infants strategies to keep themselves safe and to learn to share and play cooperatively. Giving them the confidence to experiment and try new things. Our focus is on early literacy, communication, social competency and movement; encouraging our Tamariki to bee curious - explore and develop working theories, making new discoveries.
Tui Room (Toddler Room 2 - 3.5 years)
Our Tui Room focuses on giving Tamariki the confidence to participate independently and also in small and large group environments. Ensuring Tamariki establish a sense of belonging so that they are comfortable exploring and doing experiences and activities. Developing working theories, fine and gross motor skills, hand eye coordination, spatial awareness and the confidence to try new things.
We focus on increasing their independence. Helping them regulate their emotions and giving them strategies to play cooperatively. Focusing on children’s social and emotional needs and skills - giving them the knowledge, skills and attitudes to use in socially and culturally appropriate ways to form friendships, solve conflicts, express and regulate emotions, adapt in new situations and to overcome challenges.
We have interactive mat times which use a variety of learning styles in order for children to develop a secondary learning style, which will help them later with school. We give Tamariki knowledge, skills and understanding to communicate with others and to express themselves. Tui children learn, numbers, counting, the alphabet, and colours through a layered learning approach; developing working theories and strengthening their problem-solving skills.
Pukeko Room – Transition to School Room (3.5 – 5 years)
The Transition to School Room has a huge focus on teamwork, self-regulation and problem solving. Giving Tamariki strategies to deal with problems and the confidence to participate and play cooperatively, using a layered learning approach to building our children’s skills, developing working theories in maths, literacy, science, music etc.
Eco Educate | An environment teacher from Eco Educate comes in monthly to teach us about the environment, talking about rivers, our waterways, recycling, insects, worms and what should and should not go down the toilet.
Junior Explorers Group | Our Junior Explorers Group go off exploring in the local community. Taking magnifying glasses, binoculars, or sports gear using their curiosity to experiment, problem solve and explore.
Secret Garden | Our Secret Garden is where our Tamariki tend and grow fruit and vegetables like, apples, peaches, lemons, grapes, tomatoes and plums.
Bee Ball & MOVE Programme | Bee Ball and our MOVE programme is about embracing physical activity and promoting our health and well being whilst perfecting skills like eye tracking, hand eye coordination, focus, concentration, following instructions and teamwork.
Transition to School – What are we learning?
Problem solving | Independence | Confidence to Try New Things | Self-Reliance & Regulation | Developing Working Theories | Teamwork | Communication & Language | Negotiation | Goal Setting | Empathy | Creativity | Social Interaction | Following Rules & Instructions | Self-Expression | Perseverance | 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.
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.
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