Somerville Kindergarten

At Somerville Kindergarten we are passionate about providing tamariki (children) with a bi-cultural curriculum that recognises and celebrates that each person is unique and comes to us with a kete of knowledge, culture and experience.

Tamariki and whānau (family) are at the heart of what we do and our whanaungatanga (relationships) anchors their sense of belonging. With a culture of manaakitanga (kindness) and aroha (love) we fill our tamariki emotional and social kete which fosters meaningful play and enriches authentic learning.

We provide a beautiful homely environment that is welcoming, safe, secure, and purposely prepared for tamariki to have a home away from home. We believe that the environment is the third teacher, and we are passionate about fostering a warm and inviting environment that facilitates authentic play.

Our play based kindergarten is underpinned by Te Whāriki (2017), an emergent curriculum with open ended resources that empowers tamariki and gives them the opportunity to immerse themselves in rich play experiences. When tamariki have autonomy over their play they become the creators and contributors of their own learning journeys.

We support tamariki to engage and become kaitiaki (leaders) of papatuānuku (earth) and develop sustainable practices. We strive to embed Tikanga values throughout the programme to uphold the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We work alongside tamariki to increase our proficiency in the use of te reo throughout the programme.

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.