Alpha Early Childhood Educational Centre

Alpha is a stand alone Early Childhood Educational Centre situated in Richmond, Christchurch which started back in 1997. Alpha is privately owned by a Family Trust and is not associated or affiliated to any multinational organisation or group. We are a small Centre who employs 4 fully trained and registered professional teachers and 2 teachers in training.

Unlike a lot of the bigger franchised Centres, we are a small, strongly family focused Centre licensed for only 35 children in an old character home. Even though we have had extensive renovations since the earthquakes it still retains its family home appearance. In 2014 we also carried out upgrades to our outside areas in both the nursery and preschool.

We have separate nursery and preschool rooms with a separate, dedicated sleep room.  

A natural, happy and homely Centre that is part of your community

Philosophy

Values: Aroha/ Whᾱnau/ Home

• At Alpha Early Childhood Educational Centre, we strive to work as part of a respectful triadic partnership in learning (children, parent, teacher)
• We are committed to our community and engage in open communication and warm interactions to nurture reciprocal relationships in a positive culture.
• We aim to provide quality care that meets the needs of each child.
• We provide inclusive, nurturing and caring teachers that are well resourced to support the learning in a safe, yet challenging indoor and outdoor environment.
• We know that children learn through involvement and engagement in meaningful play and at Alpha, the children come first. With this in mind, teachers respond to children’s interests and engage in projects as the foundation to a fun, holistic learning experience where children can explore, develop theories and practice skills.
• Adult supported free play is our approach and children work individually or in small groups to follow their passions and participate in everyday home, life experiences with a calm and settled environment.
• We value social confidence, independence and self-help skills and we make the most of spontaneous experiences as opportunities for learning.
• We believe children thrive when they have a positive sense of identity, culture and place in the world. This inspires us to acknowledge our bicultural foundations and work in equitable and socially just ways, valuing diversity, acknowledging and accepting difference and celebrating our histories, heritages and hopes.