Kauri Kids Papatoetoe

Our Beliefs About Learning and Development

The experiences tamariki have in their early years have a big influence on how their brain develops. The first 1000 days decide what kind of brain we are going to grow, and it is with this in mind that our beliefs about teaching and learning have been developed (our philosophy). Recent research into brain development acknowledges the importance of child-led, free play in developing competent and confident children, and so our curriculum is based on play. We provide an environment where children learn about themselves and the world around them through active exploration, discovery and interaction with people, places and things. The environment is set up with a range of open-ended materials/loose parts for children to be able to choose what interests them and be creative and expressive with materials and play out their urges.

Urges

Urges are repeated patterns of play. There are certain universal urges that can be witnessed in children’s play – things they just feel compelled to do and driven to repeat, in many ways and with many objects. They are innate and totally intrinsic to what children (and adults) do. As an adult, do you like to collect seashells, or have a certain way of stacking the dish washer, or hanging out your washing? Maybe, this is your urge!

Some urges you may see through your child’s play:

• Trajectory – throwing items and themselves off/over.
• Transporting – moving items from one place to another (in baskets/bags/trucks).
• Connecting – putting items end to end, joining up.
• Construction/deconstruction – building things and knocking things down.
• Positioning – patterns of positioning items in lines, rows or by size.
• Orientation – the urge to hang upside down, they get the view from under the table or on top of the dresser.
• Posting – putting things into/out of things.

Environment

As teachers (kaiako), it is our role to observe children’s play and provide an environment that supports each child’s interests, urges and dispositions. Therefore, when you walk into our spaces you won’t see many typical ‘toys’ or structured activities, as we provide open-ended and natural materials (Papatūānuku) because they can be moved around, tinkered with, designed, redesigned, lined up, taken apart and put together in multiple ways. This can create more opportunities for creative engagement than static materials, as they have more than one outcome. There is no set of specific directions for loose parts. We aim to create spaces that are warm and welcoming, feel homely and provide real, everyday household objects and furniture and natural play materials. Our environments are unhurried, teachers are attentive to children’s needs and routines/rituals of the day are consistent and predictable.

Relationships

We value care, respect and kindness as the foundation of all relationships. We aim to have this at the forefront of our interactions with each other, with whānau and most importantly, with our tamariki. The way we touch, speak and talk to children matters and impacts all aspects of their learning and development.

How we do this:

• Day-to-day communication: Communication is the key to a successful relationship. Please talk with your child’s key kaiako if you have any queries or concerns and if needed, we can make a time to talk to you further.
• Story Park: Story Park is a great tool for you to play an active part in your child’s learning and share information directly with kaiako. We encourage you to comment on your child’s learning stories, letting the kaiako know if you see this learning at home, or can add to the story in some way.
• Hopes and dreams: On enrolment, we will ask for you to share your hopes and dreams for your child’s future so we can support you with these aspirations.
• Panui: News/communications are available on Story Park and often other information is displayed on signs, whiteboards or blackboards. It is important that you read this information to keep up to date with what is happening for you and your child.
• Feedback: We will regularly ask for your feedback on our guiding document reviews and internal evaluation (change process), so please take this opportunity to have your say.
• Annual survey: Each year we aim to have a survey where you can provide valuable feedback about the centre. This will help inform our strategic planning over the next few years to keep our centres moving in a positive direction.

Under two years old

20 hours free early childhood educations is available for children aged under 2 years, additional hours will be charged at the hourly rate below.

• $5.60 per additional hour over 20 free ECE hours, or $6.10 per hour without 20 free ECE hours

Two to three years

• $5.85 per hour

Over three years

20 hours free early childhood education is also available for children aged over 3 years, with a minimum of 2 days per week.
We also offer 30 hours free early childhood education for children aged over 3 years, for 6 hours per day/5 days per week, additional hours are charged at the hourly rate below.

• $5.85 per hour for every additional hour over 20 hours and 30 hours free ECE