Nursery
 In our Nursery section we cater for babies from three months to two years. In the Pukeko Room, three month to twelve month old children have their own room near the kitchen with their two infant teachers. Around their first birthday the teachers start settling them at the far end of the nursery with the one to two year old children in the Tuatara Room. Please note that the age they move rooms depends very much on each child's stage of development.
We have a maximum number of twenty five children in the nursery (around eight babies under twelve months and sixteen children aged one to two years). Our staff/child ratio is one to four. We maintain this ratio at all times by having an extra staff member (called a floater) on board to cover staff break times.
Our Nursery children are involved in all kinds of activities and areas of play. Throughout each day the children have varied and creative play activities, which include amongst others, paint, play dough, collage, water, bubbles and music and movement. See each individual room for the daily programme Virtues particularly emphasised in Nursery are love, caring and gentleness.
In the Nursery (both Pukeko and Tuatara rooms) we encourage the use of Baby Sign Language. Baby sign language is a collection of simple, easy to remember gestures which hearing babies can use to communicate with you until they master the spoken language. For further information have a look at www.baby-talk.co.nz
The menu is provided for the children (including home cooked vegetables for the babies). Parents need to provide nappies, at least two changes of clothes and bottles. Please make sure every single item is named! Most important! Also, include appropriate clothing for the time of year (for example, warm hats, sweaters and long pants in winter and a sunhat in summer) Baskets are provided in the change room for all the children's belongings. Please check these at the beginning and end of the day and add or remove items of clothing as necessary. We endeavour to provide for your infant's individual needs so please communicate these daily to the staff. If you have any concerns speak to the Head Teacher.
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Toddlers Room
 When your child turns two the teachers will begin to settle him/her into the toddler room. The toddler room caters for children from two to three years. We have a staff / child ratio of one to six and a maximum roll of twenty five children.
Our toddler room is a busy, active place full of two year olds! They engage in a variety of activities with the teachers involving creative play, music and movement, arts and crafts, play dough, clay, water and bubbles, mat times, small group activities and two to three outside times during the day. See the room's individual programme for further details.
The menu is provided (as with the rest of the centre) and the Toddlers eat lunch at around eleven thirty, then go down for a sleep at around twelve o'clock. As you can imagine a great many of the two year olds are toilet training so our Toddler room is especially geared towards this aspect of their development.
As for the Nursery Centre, our Toddler parents need to provide nappies, any bottles needed and at least two changes of clothes. Remember also the weather appropriate clothing please. Winter hats and warm clothes for winter and summer hats and cooler clothes for the summer. Again, please name every item. Things get lost so easily otherwise! Baskets are provided in the change room for the children's nappies. Please ensure you check the contents daily and replace or add to them as necessary.
If you have any enquiries or concerns please communicate them to the Toddler Room Head Teacher.
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Pre-School
 At around three years of age your child will begin settling into our preschool. The preschool caters for children from three to five years. We have a child / staff ratio of one to eight and the maximum roll in the preschool is fifty children.
The preschool programme is displayed on the wall. As for the other centres, the Preschool children have a diverse programme that incorporates some child initiated play, some adult guided areas, mat times, outdoor play, music and movement, creative play, computer time and transition group, all of which incorporate a range of different activities.
The teachers plan a range of learning experiences that are generated from the interests of the children. We also engage in emergent planning, which involves picking up on topics that the children show interest in and extending these ideas. Each Preschooler has their own profile book which contains their learning stories, artwork and photos.
Our preschoolers enjoy a slightly more structured programme with higher expectations placed upon them. Our four and a half to five year olds are involved in a transition to school group which takes place after lunch. During this time, the children are focussing on more complex tasks to aid them in their preparation for Primary School. We encourage the development of concentration skills, problem solving and task completion. The children have the opportunity to develop their emergent literacy and numeracy skills during this time. A love of learning is fostered during these times as well as opportunity for the children to experience success.
Emergent literacy and numeracy skills are an integral part of the Preschool programme. The children have a sign in desk alongside where the parents sign in and they are encouraged to find and begin to attempt to write their own names. We provide many books, games and puzzles encouraging letter and number recognition as well as computer games to develop these skills. The children have name tags for their lockers, for their turn on the computer and also to use when practising writing their name on their artwork.
As with the other rooms the children are provided with a nutritious diet. They have morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and a late afternoon snack. Our meals have been devised by a registered dietician to cater to the nutritional requirements of young children. After lunch some of the children have a sleep and the rest of them have a quiet rest time called ‘dream time’, where they lie down on the mat and listen to some relaxing music. During the summer we often have water play outside, so a suitable change of clothing at all times needs to be available in your child’s bag. We also require that the children wear hats outside at all times, these are stored here in the centre in our hat box.
We provide three out of centre trips per year to experience places such as the zoo, Kelly Tarltons, The Museum, MOTAT and Butterfly Creek. Trips are always well supervised with a teacher / child ratio of one to four. In order to achieve this we require parent helpers, so any volunteers are always welcome.
Before your child leaves us for Primary School they will have received two formal assessments from Preschool, one on their fourth birthday and another on their fifth. It is recommended that their five year old assessment be passed on to their new entrant teacher. Their completed profile book also serves as a record of their learning and development.
In Preschool we encourage the development of independence and self-care and self-help skills. The children are given the opportunity to eat and dress independently and the chance to solve their own problems. One of the few stipulations we have is that children need to be toilet trained before they enter Preschool. Any questions or concerns please speak to the Preschool Head Teacher. pagetop
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