Active Explorers Kaiwharawhara

Centrally located just outside of Wellington’s CBD, and boasting stunning harbour views, Active Explorers Kaiwharawhara provides an environment that’s safe and happy, nurturing, and inspiring. Our team of passionate, innovative educators strive to build children’s confidence and unique capabilities, each bringing different backgrounds and interests that enrich interactions and boost learning opportunities.

Relationships are at the heart of everything we do here at Active Explorers Kaiwharawhara. Our primary caregiving approach fosters strong bonds between teachers, children, and whanau, and we actively encourage family involvement. We know that children learn best through strong relationships with key adults. That’s why we appoint a primary and secondary carer to every child who joins us.

If you are looking for a centre where children are celebrated for their individuality, and encouraged to reach their full potential, you’ve found it here at Active Explorers Kaiwharawhara.

Why choose us?

There are a host of reasons why Wellington families choose Active Explorers Kaiwharawhara. Here are just a few of them:

• Three spacious rooms catering for each of the different age groups, each with their own outdoor play space for safety
• Each child is appointed a ‘special teacher’ or primary caregiver who is the main point of contact for both child and parents
• Excellent teacher to child ratios, well above Ministry of Education guidelines
• Real grass in our Infants sensory garden encourages natural world exploration and provides enjoyable textures for learning to move
• Exciting enrichment programme for our children aged 4.5 years and older
• Lots of fun activities like baking, bubble parties, balloons, shredded paper snow, dance parties and dress up days
• We celebrate birthdays, graduations and cultural events such as Diwali, Maori Language Week, All Hallows Eve, Christmas, Anzac Day, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day
• Onsite cook makes nutritious morning tea, afternoon tea and a hot lunch daily, and caters to children’s individual dietary needs
• Free nappy wipes and sunscreen
• Parental involvement is encouraged - your participation makes our learning environment rich for all children
• Thanks to our central location, transport is a major interest for our children as they watch the cruise ships, ferries, trucks and trains from our outdoor areas

Our Rooms

We have three rooms within our centre. We follow an enquiry-based, primary teaching approach, and respect the natural development of each individual child. We use play to teach the skills required for educational success. Each room has its own individual outdoor play space to ensure the safety of each child in our care. Children transition between rooms when they are displaying an interest and readiness for further developing their skills.

Infants Room

Infants are invited to participate in individual care moments with their primary and secondary teacher. Care moments, such as bottle feeding, nappy changing and sleep, are guided by your home routine. Your primary teacher gets to know your child and family extremely well, so that they can respond to your child’s needs, while building their trust, abilities and confidence. In our outdoor space, children experience real grass and assist the teachers in caring for the sensory garden. As well as outdoor play, children have the opportunity to explore the indoor environment at their own pace. Children are encouraged to develop their gross motor skills naturally, in line with our RIE/Pikler- inspired philosophy.  Excellent teacher to child ratio of 1:4.

Toddlers Room

Our Toddlers Room has an amazing view over Wellington Harbour, the motorway and train line. Transport is an ongoing interest and the passing freight trains are an especially exciting time within our day. Children are invited to explore sand, water, dough, books, art and messy play, and participate in music and movement sessions. These play experiences support children’s expression of emotions and communication of ideas, which are two big concepts that toddlers are exploring. We encourage toddlers to develop their independence through putting away their dishes after kai time, wiping their own face and hands, and helping themselves to drinking water as they require it. There are opportunities for children to help teachers care for the environment and choose their own learning experiences.  Excellent teacher to child ratio of 1:5.

Juniors Room

Children in the Juniors Room are advancing their skills in preparation for their future learning journey at school. Each day children are invited to work with others, prepare and serve their own kai, and participate in group time. Our ‘letter of the week’ programme supports children’s individual interest in the alphabet and numbers. We believe in guiding children’s learning at their own pace. Children have the opportunity to create their own artwork, build complex structures, tell stories, perform in front of their peers and role play scenarios from their wider world. We support early science learning by encouraging children to pose questions and explore the answers. Excellent teacher to child ratio of 1:10. We have an amazing enrichment programme that children begin when they are 4.5 years old. They have time with a teacher discussing school and are offered activities related to the letters in their name, beginning mathematical and science concepts that they will come across at school. Our children get so excited about this programme that they stay focused on their enrichment tasks over the entire morning, rather than just during the allocated session!