Westlake Forrest Hill Kindergarten

Kia ora and welcome to Westlake Forrest Hill Kindergarten

Westlake Forrest Hill Kindergarten has a large and open outdoor area. Perfect for children to explore, play, take calculated risks and make social connections, in an environment designed for learning.

We believe that each child brings a uniqueness and knowledge layered from their own wider family, culture and home life. We welcome parents and whānau as we recognise the importance of these connections to wellbeing and finding a sense of belonging.

A strong focus on child directed play, we work alongside children as co-constructers of knowledge, inquiry and skills. Building on individual strengths and interests. Our goal is to create an environment where children can grow, have fun, develop friendships and learn about the world through a sustainable lens. Te Whāriki the New Zealand Early learning curriculum underpins our quality and creative learning experiences.

Our extensive vegetable garden provides a place where we grow seasonal produce and learn about Papatūānuku, planting, tending to our seedlings, growing and harvesting our own seasonal produce, and connect to the adjacent community garden.

Come and meet our dedicated team of qualified teachers: Ulrike, Karen and Ann, our head teacher Sheena; our teacher aide, Carolyn and Administrator, Tania.

We look forward to meeting you and welcoming you into our Kindergarten and our community.

Our learning philosophy

For the past 110 years, the Auckland Kindergarten Association has been igniting young minds by encouraging them to explore their imaginations through play. For many of us, kindergarten was where we began our life of learning; it was where we started learning skills like sharing, tolerance, patience, respect and self-confidence.

We view children as capable, competent, life-long learners, and our philosophy encourages children to make their own learning choices, problem-solve and observe and explore at their own pace…with support from teachers, parents, wider whānau and their peers. We value the importance of child-initiated, play-based experiences. Our kindergarten teachers nurture your children’s interests and natural curiosity by working alongside them, expanding language and introducing mathematical and science concepts, as well as literacy, digital technology and sustainable practices.

Our centres have gardens and natural outdoor spaces where children can create, explore, be imaginative and expressive. There’s plenty of room to safely run about, being imaginative and physically active. In fact, the natural world is essential to free-range play. AKA encourages each kindergarten community to explore and enrich their diversity and uniqueness. Some have regular excursions into the local community; some are Enviroschool kindergartens that live and breathe sustainable practices; while others engage in long-term research on child interest-based programmes of learning.

As an organisation, we formally acknowledge the dual heritage of Aotearoa / New Zealand, and work to uphold the spirit and intent of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in each kindergarten. We are accessible, secular and welcoming to the wide diversity of tamariki and whānau who attend our centres, and value ongoing partnerships between teaching teams and leadership staff with families and whānau. We value ongoing learning for teachers, parents and whānau, and the sharing of knowledge, skills and attributes is fundamental to achieving the best learning outcomes for children. Teachers and staff can access collegial professional time to ensure that quality practice is enhanced so current theories of learning and development within New Zealand’s world-class Te Whāriki early childhood curriculum are shared and understood.

Children learn

Children in our kindergartens have the opportunity to:

• Feel confident, develop responsibility and a sense of independence
• Play meaningfully alongside other children and adults
• Develop effective communication skills
• Persevere, problem-solve and take risks
• Explore limits, boundaries, routines and conflict resolution strategies
• Practice fine motor skills such as threading, writing, cutting and grasping
• Develop gross motor play such as physical games like climbing, throwing, kicking, balancing and lifting
• Develop creative expressions through painting, music, collage, movement, dance, finger-painting, drawing, cutting, pasting and story sharing
• Develop early numeracy, literacy and science skills
• Learn techniques through trial and error
• Explore the world through experimenting, questioning and curiosity
• Develop confidence and celebrate both attempts and successes
• Develop a passion for learning and a love of life
• Have fun!

Older children will be supported in their transition to school to make this process as simple and seamless as possible. Book a visit here on Kindello today, we’d love to meet you.