Childcare options in Cromwell

Cromwell Early Learning Centre is a safe, nurturing and welcoming environment with spacious areas to stimulate and develop your child’s natural curiosities.

• Your child will be inspired and stimulated by our rich array of play-based experiences in our indoor and outdoor spaces.
• Our tamariki love to look after our budgies and zebra finches in our aviary.  They also tend to our edible garden, play in the secret cave and explore our community.
• We are proud to hold a Healthy Heart award for our commitment to early learning, health and wellbeing.

Convenience

Our aim is to create the best conditions for your child's learning, wellbeing and care. We also know how important it is to give you the convenience you need and reassurance that your child is in safe hands. Our central location, loving team and tailored environment are all waiting to be discovered by your whānau.

Part and Full day options, and Storypark - our online parent communication tool, are just some of the ways we try to make things a little easier for parents. Local excursions, delicious meals and fun activities are just the beginning when it comes to being the best we can be for your child.

Engaging environment

Our happy and nurturing environment will inspire, stimulate and empower your child to learn in their own unique way. The outdoor spaces challenge and excite the imagination, while our spacious and light filled indoor areas offer room for reading, rest, and engaging indoor learning experiences. Our children love the sandpit, playing dressups, with puzzles, singing waiata and enjoying the many natural play areas they have to discover.

Staff who nurture and inspire

Our qualified and experienced teachers are committed to caring for and nurturing your child. They build a strong connection with each child throughout their early learning journey and go out of their way to ensure every child feels supported and their unique needs are met.

Our teachers create positive opportunities for your child to develop physically, mentally and emotionally. They help guide your child as they navigate new friendships, master new skills and build independence and resilience to get ready for school and lay the foundations for lifelong learning.

Connecting with the outdoors

We only know who we are, by knowing where we come from. That's why building a strong connection with nature and our local community is so important. We believe it helps your child develop a sense of belonging and identity and positively influences their learning experiences.

We're so lucky to have so many wonderful options on our doorstep here in Cromwell. We grow our own vegetable and herbs in our garden and have weekly local activities we enjoy.

Nutrition and wellbeing

We strive to provide nutritious and delicious meals and snacks to support physical and mental development. We encourage healthy eating habits and offer a balanced menu to keep your child well fueled throughout the day. The children also love being involved and we use the vegetables and herbs we grow, in our meals.

Your child will enjoy:

• Morning snack
• Lunch
• Afternoon snack

Our centre is nut free and we're happy to cater for any allergy or other dietary requirements as required.

Fees and subsidies

We want to make your child's early learning and care experience as affordable as possible. We are a not for profit organisation, so everything we do goes back into supporting your child, the centre and our community.

Our fees include:

• Quality education, care and activities provided by our team of teachers
• Healthy cooked lunch and snacks
• Local outings

Located a stone’s throw from Goldfields and Cromwell Primary Schools, Little Wonders Cromwell offers top quality care and education for local infants, toddlers and young children. Specially designed to inspire young minds, our well resourced, purpose built centre includes an outdoor area that’s second to none! Large learning environments allow children to actively explore within an inclusive setting that extends and enhances learning, while our dynamic curriculum builds lifelong skills through open ended play.

Your little one will flourish here, immersed in an environment that is supportive and nurturing, and guided by expert educators who genuinely love what they do.

Equip your child with the tools for success. Enrol now at Little Wonders Cromwell.

Our philosophy

Let them fly
Giving children the freedom to learn

At Little Wonders Cromwell, we believe that it is our role as teachers to provide nurturing and safe learning environments for all akōnga to thrive and actively engage in learning. Manaakitanga is valued through reciprocal relationships with the children and their whānau, which are built on a foundation of trust and respect. As teachers, it is important to empower children and enhance their mana to grow and develop into lifelong learners.  We strive to provide an inclusive learning environment that supports the diverse needs of our learners.

We view children as open-minded investigators, who are competent and capable of achieving self-directed goals through play. Our children are respected and valued for their contribution to our daily routines, rituals and to our community.

Children are encouraged to learn through engaging in potentiating environments which provoke wonder and discovery. We engage children’s creativity and imagination by offering open ended resources and learning experiences that spark curiosity. We aspire for children to be risk takers, who feel free to express their own ideas, values and beliefs; and to learn alongside their peers in an exciting, fun and collaborative environment.

Our commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi is acknowledged through respecting the cultural needs of our Māori learners and their whānau by integrating these into our teaching practices and learning environments.

Our Rooms

Little Wonders Cromwell has three separate rooms, enabling us to deliver safe, nurturing and age appropriate learning experiences for all our children.

Caterpillar Room

This warm and welcoming space caters for the youngest members of our family, aged from 3 to 20 months, and follows aspects of RIE and Pikler philosophies. The pace is unhurried and flexible, and teachers follow each individual child’s home routine.

Chrysalis Room

Specially designed for our children aged from 20 months to 2.5 years, and inspired by the Pikler and Reggio philosophies, the Chrysalis Room provides a homely, safe and calm environment where little ones thrive.

Butterfly Room

This dynamic and stimulating space is purposely designed for children aged from 2.5 to 6 years old, with plenty of spaces to explore and discover. Here, children drive their own learning, facilitated by our expert teaching team who use specific teaching practices and strategies to support and encourage positive learning opportunities for all children.

Once children turn 4, they join our Kārearea group where they embark on our specially designed transition to school programme. This includes regular school visits and our Perceptual Motor Programme (PMP) which strengthens the foundational skills needed for school. Meanwhile the remaining children in our Butterfly Room enjoy their own special Trail Blazers group where they have the chance to venture outside our centre on exciting excursions every third week.

Why choose us?

There are a host of reasons why families choose Little Wonders Cromwell. Here are just a few of them:

• Purpose built centre with large natural outdoor learning environments
• Professional, dedicated teachers
• Curriculum design incorporates all the principles and strands of New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki
• Onsite cook creates three healthy meals a day plus late snack for children after 4.30pm
• Rito Healthy Heart award
• Specially designed transition to school programme
• Weekly excursions to support children’s interests
• Weekly bike days
• Special birthday and graduation celebrations
• Three separate learning environments that cater for children’s different ages and stages
• Strong collaborative relationships with parents and whānau

Welcome to Molyneux Educare.

We are a community based, family focused preschool in Cromwell for children aged 0-6.

At Molyneux Educare, we believe all children can benefit from an early childhood education that is designed to meet their individual needs and to facilitate their personal development in all areas – physical, social, emotional, cognitive and intellectual.

At Molyneux Educare, we believe all children can benefit from an early childhood education that is designed to meet their individual needs and to facilitate their personal development in all areas – physical, social, emotional, cognitive and intellectual.

WE BELIEVE strongly in the benefits of a mixed aged setting where siblings can be together, older children can learn leadership, role-modeling and empathy and younger children can challenge themselves to new skills.  We ensure we make opportunities for these interactions to occur regularly throughout the programme.

WE BELIEVE that a child’s culture and family provide the foundation upon which the child’s social competence develops.  Parents and teachers work together in partnership to address the needs and holistic growth of each child.  An open-door policy is maintained and families are welcomed and embraced.

WE BELIEVE that play is the best tool for learning, sharing individual interests and making meaning of the world around us.  Through purposeful play we encourage the children to challenge themselves, their teachers and their peers.  We want the children to ask questions, be active learners and problem solvers.

WE BELIEVE strongly in our role to develop independence and confidence by promoting risk taking, persistence, and responsibility as we believe these are life-long skills that make life-long learners.

WE BELIEVE in our role as a community owned organisation.  We believe in remaining flexible to adapt to community needs and fiscally minded to ensure we are providing a quality centred programme within a not-for-profit model.

WE BELIEVE that the ideal environment for children is inclusive, safe, healthy, organised, predictable, well planned, and accessible to all children.  It offers a rich variety of materials, choices, opportunities to play and learn in various size groups, and is culturally relevant to the families we serve.  Our low adult-child ratios are valued to ensure that our environment is quiet and calm and enables quality interactions.

WE BELIEVE our preschool community is part of a wider community and our environment reflects our local environment.  We form close bonds with local schools and community groups to forge extended ‘family relationships.’  We encourage and welcome regular visitors to our environment.

WE BELIEVE in our responsibility to be good employers and providing an environment where team members are respected and valued and feel supported and encouraged.