Busy Bees
Whau Valley

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.  We value that each tamaiti learns at their own pace and when they are ready, and that play underpins learning for our tamariki.