Childcare options in Blockhouse Bay

Established in 1988, Lynfield College Community Childcare Centre has been operating for more than 25 years.  Licensed for just 30 children – with only six spaces for under-twos – our goal of providing a warm, family-oriented centre where children feel at home is realised.  Excellent staff ratios mean each child receives the attention they deserve to play and learn.  Governed by a Constitution and not for profit, all money goes directly back into the running of our Centre.

At our Centre, we believe in an early childhood education philosophy where children learn through “doing”.  A safe, supportive and challenging environment is provided, where children are encouraged to learn at their own level of development.  We have spacious indoor and outdoor environments that enable the children to explore at their leisure.  Our large outdoor area provides the children with a variety of surfaces – including a grassy hill, safe fall, concrete, sandpit, bark, and a “nature area”.

Through our affiliation with Lynfield College, we also have easy access to the Lynfield College school fields, Library and Marae.  Our relationship with Lynfield College includes us supporting their students who are studying childcare, being welcomed onto their Marae, and being recipients of their “Caring in the Community” initiative.

Our childcare centre in Blockhouse Bay offers competitive preschool fees.  For all inquiries please contact Lynfield College Community Childcare Centre today   

Kia ora and welcome to Blockhouse Bay Kindergarten

Blockhouse Bay Kindergarten provides inviting outdoor areas for children to discover, be imaginative, and play.

The indoor area at Blockhouse Bay Kindergarten encourages children to explore – with specifically designed spaces for children to learn and lay the foundations for the essential skills of life.

Blockhouse Bay’s teaching team are committed to celebrating cultural diversity within our kindergarten.

We invite you to come and see our kindergarten in action!

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.

Our first centre – Li’l Champs Blockhouse Bay opened in 2012. Our quality care and learning services, loving atmosphere and community outreach programmes helped us to become quickly established in this multicultural suburb. This cultural diversity is reflected in our centre ensuring rich and diverse experiences for your child.

Li’l Champs Blockhouse Bay is located on Terry Street – a popular and well connected commuter route, providing easy drop off and pick up. Situated adjacent to a reserve and playground, we make full use of these facilities.

Light and spacious, the centre is well resourced and in maintains our organisation’s belief in low numbers to promote meaningful relationships.

The Village Early Learning Centre is located in beautiful Bockhouse Bay.

With over 15 years’ experience behind us, we created The Village with a passion not only for early learning, but for reflecting the sense of belonging and family values instilled in us during our own childhood in New Zealand. As a result, every decision we make comes from the heart.

We provide early learning & care for;

BABIES 0-2 YEARS

We are committed to the wellbeing of your baby and foster a sense of home right at our centre. Communicating with you every step of the way, we take special care to ensure your baby has a safe, secure and encouraging environment for their growth and development.

TODDLERS 2-3 YEARS

We know big changes happen during this time like increased independence and more curious questions. Our educators welcome each toddler with open arms and patience. With your input, we give toddlers an environment to explore and learn at their own pace.

PRESCHOOL 3-6 YEARS

The pre-school and kindergarten years are critical in preparing your child for school and life. We expose children to abundant learning opportunities involving nature, literacy, numeracy, emotional development, confidence building, social engagement and more.

Blockhouse Bay Christian Kindergarten was opened in 1996 as a community service of Blockhouse Bay Community Church.

Since then our centre has become an integral part of our local community, offering quality early childhood education within a Christian ethos.

We are a multicultural centre, and welcome the diversity of faiths, ethnicities and cultures that are reflected in the families we care for. We develop close and respectful relationships with families through communication about their child, and by welcoming them to participate in various aspects of the centres program.

We offer sessions and a full day service continuously throughout the year Monday to Friday but are closed over the Christmas school holidays.

We are a community-based, sessional and all day Early Childhood Kindergarten for children aged 2½ - 5 and their families. Our kindergarten is well resourced and offers small group sizes and excellent teacher-child ratios. We provide a friendly, dynamic and safe learning environment founded on Christian values and beliefs.

We take pride in our latest ERO review, which found us Very well placed to promote positive learning outcomes for children.

Our Philosophy

“Mā te ahurei o te tamaiti e ārahi i ā tātou mahi.”

“Let the uniqueness of the child guide our work.”

Kia ora. Welcome to Blockhouse Bay Baptist Church Kindergarten. Our friendly team enjoy providing a dynamic, safe and inclusive learning environment for our tamariki. Christian values of love, hope, creativity and respect form the foundation for all that we do. We encourage each child to joyfully explore and discover their world as we guide their learning through fun and memorable experiences. Working in partnership with families and whanau allows us to support each child to reach their unique potential.

Values

We believe in fun, creative learning. Children are capable, competent learners who learn best through play. Our 100% qualified teachers/kaiako make the most of teachable moments by fostering curiosity, wonder and persistence. Children are encouraged to be active participants in their learning and to work things out for themselves.

We value the vital role and contribution played by parents, whanau, iwi and the wider community. Open communication within reciprocal and responsive relationships allows us to create ways for them to be fully involved in the life of the Kindergarten. Together we will work to realise their hopes for their children.

We recognize the heritage that we have through Te Tiriti o Waitangi and respect the values and intentions of it. Making te reo Māori and ngā tikanga Māori visible in our daily practice will affirm their value for children from all cultural backgrounds.

We love providing a warm, accepting environment based on manaakitanga where children can be proud of their own identity. We appreciate the richness that our different cultures and languages contribute to our environment.

Respect, aroha, compassion and kindness are integral to our teaching practice. We encourage our children to be explorers of new knowledge, to grow in mana and have a strong sense of who they are.

God made me wonderfully and he loves me. Psalm 139

Your children deserve the very best in early childhood education and Step Ahead is where they will find it!

At Step Ahead we believe all children to be capable and competent.  We provide a beautiful, safe, challenging and inviting environment. One that is ‘home away from home’. Where children are nurtured, respected, encouraged and challenged.  We encourage children to respect themselves, each other and the environment.

Our teachers advocate the right and need for children to play, which fosters the love of learning. At Step Ahead we believe that our environment is the third teacher, inviting active investigation, exploration, creativity, independence, leadership and helping to develop a sense of social awareness and interaction with others.

Step Ahead specialise in the education and care of 3-5 year olds.

We are a non-profit community organisation, run by a group of voluntary committee members. Our Centre is located in the grounds of Glenavon School and offers 20 hours free education and care. We not only offer our services to families from Blockhouse Bay but to surrounding areas that include Avondale, New Windsor, New Lynn and Mt. Roskill.

Our Philosophy

At Glenavon Early Childhood Centre-

We believe children learn best in a safe, healthy and respectful environment.

We believe that play provides children opportunities to learn through experiences and interactions with people, places and things. We believe that curriculum and learning emerges from children’s play, interest, strengths, and prior knowledge.

We value the life-long process of learning. We recognize place of whanau as first teachers, and the importance of building learning partnerships.

We value our bicultural heritage and our diverse community of learners. We therefore, recognize that it is important for all learners to feel comfortable in who they are and with Te Ao Maori.

We encourage and support children to develop:

• positive self-esteem and mana
• into independent competent learners who see learning as engaging and fun
• positive self-identity, and the confidence to share their culture
• understanding and respect for other cultures, languages and beliefs
• familiarity with tikanga Maori and Te reo
• respect for self, others and the environment
• compassion, sensitivity and care for others around them
• exploration skills and ability to question their environment
• creative, deeper thinking and problem solving skills by providing meaningful, purposeful and relevant learning opportunities
• ability to communicate and contribute to group situations
• attitudes, knowledge, and skills for lifelong learning; and key competencies for smooth transition to school. 

Our license is for 36 children, so being a small centre we have the advantage of a family-like environment, where the staff are able to get to know your child really well and work in conjunction with family and whanau to enable children to achieve their full potential. We genuinely believe that ""small"" is best for infants, toddlers and young children during these very important formative years in their life.

Being located in a quiet street less than 5 minutes drive from the New Lynn, Blockhouse Bay and Avondale shops, we are so lucky to be away from traffic, road pollution and noise. The staff are an extremely professional and motivated team and we have created a comprehensive early childhood curriculum which is brimming with variety, is highly interactive and full of fun for all age groups. The curriculum includes a transition to school programme.

We are very proud of our ERO report, and we encourage you to read it so that you can feel confident in letting us be part of your family in the development of your child.

Our best kept secret is the large natural grass playground hidden behind the bungalow. The children just love the space to run around and they never get bored as there is plenty of equipment for them to enjoy.

The centre has been strongly influenced by the Reggio Emilia Philosophy; hence its beauty and natural feel!

Our innovative environments have been carefully designed and abundantly resourced with the warmth of natural resources to encourage children's creativity and social interactions.

There is a love for natural materials throughout the inside and outdoor spaces, which invites and offers children the opportunity to explore the wonderful sensory experiences nature has to offer.

Children learn through investigations based on their interest. And as teachers we thrive to provide this through our child-centered philosophy which is inspired by Reggio Emilia Approach and is based on principles and goals of Te Whariki, our national curriculum.