Apples Childcare & Learning Centre

Apples Childcare & Learning Centre has been in the early childhood education space for over a decade. We encourage the children to care for and develop a sense of love for nature and the world around us. We prefer the use of natural play materials and recycling to help promote a sustainable society. Tamaiki start learning from birth; they learn about sharing and turn taking, about the importance of communication and listening to others, all while gaining independence and caring for those around them. These are all skills and abilities that are important for later on in life. We don’t just support children to learn in the here and now, but also to gain skills and knowledge that will help them for the rest of their lives.

At apples, we encourage children to learn, grow and develop through a diverse nature education programme designed to uncover the potential within each child. We believe that children develop through their interactions with the adults in their lives, their peers and the environment in which they are involved with.

We are inspired by RIE, Pikler and Reggio approaches to early learning. These practises blend together nicely. They all follow the child’s lead in their learning, play and development and are very focused on respect for the child as well as the environment. We believe that all children accomplish milestones and learning in their own way.

We encourage children to approach new challenges with confidence and creativity. We love our Natural Environment and understand the responsibility and contribution that we all share by learning within it. Children are aware of routines and explore a variety of planned and spontaneous experiences. They are encouraged to take risks; to problem solve and enjoy uninterrupted play. We aim for the children to be happy and secure in the knowledge that they can make a mess, explore and generate ideas. We provide children with quiet spaces to allow them time to think about the learning that has been taking place within the centre and to explore their own ideas about this learning.

Apples Childcare and Learning Centre promotes Play Based Learning (PBL). A lot of schools are moving towards this style of learning in the younger years in recognition of the fact that children learn best through play.  School Readiness happens in a fun and an interactive way, we believe that by providing them with school readiness skills that we will lay a foundation for their future learning.

We help children become confident within their bodies, to be able to express themselves, their opinions and their ideas. We also encourage children with experiences which provide the opportunity to build an awareness of literacy, numeracy and self-help skills. We encourage our children to explore hands on, fuelling their curiosity, critical and creative thinking. We strive for children going to school to have an enthusiasm for learning, and for life!

Te Whāriki  is the Early Childhood curriculum in which underlies our practice and influences our teaching. This curriculum supports us in building a solid foundation for future learning at Primary School. This interlinks and extends into the New Zealand Curriculum.