Busy Bees Whau Valley

At Busy Bees, we value every tamaiti and see them as unique and a special taonga. We understand that the education and care of your tamariki is a priority and that choosing the right centre can be a big decision. We would be delighted to share in the learning journey of your tamariki. You’re welcome to call or visit anytime.

We are open 7.30am - 5.30pm Monday to Friday.

Our Environment

Welcome to Busy Bees Whau Valley, where we take pride in providing a safe and empowering environment for tamariki to learn and grow. Our centre features two age-appropriate classrooms, each fostering Tuakana/teina relationships and engaged tamariki. 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.

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.

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[BM1] s.  We value that each tamaiti learns at their own pace and when they are ready, and that play underpins learning for our tamariki.

School readiness programme

At Busy Bees Whau Valley we maintain strong relationships with our local Kura/Primary School, we utilise our close proximity and reciprocal relationship with the school to maintain weekly school visits for our tamariki who are nearing ready for school. We value the opportunity this provides for 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.

Van & Excursions

We also proudly operate our own Busy Bees centre van, allowing us to help support our centre whānauwho 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!