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Welcome from our Te Rapa Centre Manager
Sunita Kumar
Ko Sunita tōku ingoa. Originally from Fiji, I bring over 14 years of primary teaching experience before moving to New Zealand in 2008. I hold a Bachelor of Primary Education and a Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education. Since joining the ECE sector in 2009, I have grown through leadership roles including Team Leader, Assistant Manager, and Centre Manager, a position I have held for the past 10 years.
I am passionate about creating meaningful, play-based learning experiences grounded in Te Whāriki, where strong relationships, cultural responsiveness, and a sense of belonging support each child’s development. As both a teacher and a leader, I enjoy working alongside tamariki as they learn and grow, while also mentoring kaiako to reflect, build confidence, and strengthen their practice.
I genuinely look forward to coming to work each day, embracing the opportunity to make a difference in tamariki lives and working alongside my team to create a positive, lasting impact on children’s learning and growth.
What I love most about my centre is the strong sense of whanaungatanga where relationships, respect, and belonging are at the heart of everything we do. My favourite moments are seeing tamariki deeply engaged in their learning and knowing I have helped extend their thinking in meaningful ways. As a leader, I also take great joy in seeing kaiako grow in confidence, develop reflective practices, and embrace problem-solving, and in turn, seeing the positive difference this makes for our children.
At Busy Bees Te Rapa, we value every child and see them as unique and a special taonga. Our Teachers are passionate about encouraging children's creativity, supporting their emerging social interactions, and celebrating their individual successes. Our centre caters for tamariki up to six and we are open from 7.30am-5.30pm, Monday to Friday. Conveniently located in the heart of Hamilton City, we're easy to find and within a short traveling distance to Te Rapa Racecourse. We're the natural choice for busy parents and local families in the community.
Our centre welcomes tamariki and their whānau, supporting children to develop into capable learners with a strong cultural identity. Qualified teachers bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, providing quality education in a stimulating environment. We welcome your child to our community and look forward to helping them start their education journey. We would love to see you.
Our Rooms
Kaakano: In Kaakano (Under 2’s), we take pride in our teaching practice influenced by the RIE Philosophy, where we genuinely respect and understand and encourage reciprocal relationships with our parents, whānau and community. This helps tamariki to develop and strengthen their trust in those around them and in the environment; to feel secured and gain a sense of belonging. We also aspire to provide our tamariki with consistent routines and uninterrupted play giving them the freedom to explore, learn and grow together with their peers and pepi.
Puawai: Our room supports tamariki between the ages 2 to 3.5 years. In Puawai Room we express love and affection to your little one while fostering close relationships with families via whanaugatanga and acknowledging cultural diversity through pedagogy that is attentive to cultural differences. To prepare the toddlers for preschool, we also strive to encourage independence and intentional teaching.
Kowhai: Ages 3.5 to 6 years, Our centre has a large outdoor space where children can create, explore, be imaginative and expressive. There’s plenty of room to safely run about, being imaginative and physically active. We support social and emotional skills by encouraging tamariki to learn independence through looking after their belongings, serving their own kai and helping to clean and care for resources. We support ongoing discussions throughout the day around being a kind friend to all and we support problem-solving in peer relationships through individual and group discussions at mat-times.
Dietitian Designed Menus
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 local curriculum incorporates learning dispositions, the principles and goals of our ECE curriculum Te Whāriki, and competencies derived from Tataiako. Our innovative learning environments are abundantly resourced with stimulating educational resources which complements the delivery of our local curriculum and educational programme. Our teachers are passionate about encouraging children's creativity, supporting their emerging social interactions, and celebrating their individual successes.
Our Philosophy
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Guided by Te Whāriki, our curriculum is holistic, child-centred, and culturally responsive.
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We believe children learn best through play, curiosity, and meaningful relationships.
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We honour Whanaungatanga by building strong connections between children, teachers, and whānau.
What Makes Us Different
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Individual learning journeys: Tailored programmes based on each child’s interests, strengths, and learning style.
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Professional, passionate teachers: Our team engages in ongoing professional learning to provide the best support for children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development.
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Cultural and community connections: We celebrate diversity and actively involve whānau in learning experiences.
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Innovative learning spaces: Purposefully designed indoor and outdoor environments that inspire curiosity, creativity, and exploration.
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Strong focus on wellbeing: Programmes that support children’s resilience, confidence, and social and emotional skills.
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Excursions and special events: Real-world learning opportunities that bring the curriculum to life.
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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