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Welcome from our Centre Manager
Cerie Jordaan
My name is Cerie. I am a passionate and experienced early childhood educator with over 25 years in the sector, dedicated to creating nurturing and supportive environment where both children and kaiako can thrive.
I grew up in Kroonstad, South Africa, and completed my studies in Potchefstroom. In 2008, my husband and I immigrated to New Zealand, where I have continued my journey in early childhood education. I am also a proud mum to my teenage daughter. I am deeply committed to building strong, trusting relationships with children, whānau and kaiako, as I believe these connections are the foundation for meaningful learning and development. I strive to ensure that the utmost care needs are met for both children and kaiako.
What brings me to work each day is the opportunity to make a difference in children’s lives, especially those who may be struggling or need extra support. I am passionate about advocating for every child and ensuring they feel seen, valued and supported. I also really enjoy mentoring students and fellow kaiako, supporting others to grow in confidence and capability within their roles.
Our focus is on empowering tamariki to direct their own learning while ensuring they feel supported and safe. Our diverse range of resources and age-appropriate materials are always utilised to encourage teachable moments and happy, learning-focused experiences.
We strive to create an environment where children experience a strong sense of belonging and feel safe, secure and valued. We embrace freedom of movement, allowing children to explore and develop at their own pace. Our environment fosters meaningful relationships with people, places and taonga while supporting each child's wellbeing, learning and development.
Our outdoor areas are tailored to each age and stage of learning and development, they offer a range of equipment and resources which promote active exploration, thinking and reasoning along with turn-taking, experimentation, challenges and fun as they learn what their bodies are capable of.
At Busy Bees Whau Valley we maintain strong relationships with our local Kura/Primary School, utilising our close proximity and reciprocal relationship with the school to maintain weekly school visits for our tamariki who are nearing primary school. This relationship provides a valuable opportunity for our tamariki to experience the school environment alongside their kaiako and ehoa/friends as they learn skills necessary to best support them to thrive in the school environment.
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 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.
Van & Excursions
We also proudly operate our own Busy Bees centre van, allowing us to help support our centre whānau who require assistance with transport to and from the centre. We also utilise this awesome resource for excursions out and about in our local community, which are always fantastic learning opportunities!
Kowhai (up to 2 years) - Our Infant and Toddler environment is based on building loving and trusting relationships between infants and Kaiako/teachers, who structure the day according to individual needs. Kaiako work closely with whānau to understand infant cues and develop a routine that supports the natural rhythm of tamariki. Play is open-ended and full of fun as we embrace how tamariki explore and experiment with their ideas and theories of how the world around them works.
Kauri (2-6 years) - Our preschool room offers opportunities throughout the day for tamariki to be involved in contributing to the curriculum by helping to make decisions about what provocations to explore, and sharing their ideas. Kaiako work alongside the tamariki to set up an environment which is challenging, and provides curiosity and active exploration. Tamariki self-help skills are very important at this stage and they are supported to go to the toilet on their own, wash hands, dress themselves, serve up their own morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. The preschool tamariki have regular mat times throughout the day where they learn songs, stories and are encouraged to share and communicate with the other children. Some of our group learning times arise from the participation of tamariki in the program, their areas of interest and emerging group interest. Busy Bees Whau Valley values that each tamaiti learns at their own pace and when they are ready, and that play underpins learning for our tamariki.
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!
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.
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