Childcare options in Greenhithe

Welcome to Greenhithe Kindergarten!

We are a small community focused Kindergarten (with a maximum of 30 children per day) that provides a warm and welcoming place for our Tamariki (Children), Whānau (Family) and Community.

We are a small team of five: Jess – Head Teacher, Neena – Teacher, Savannah – Teacher, Karen – Administrator, and Sara – Teacher Assistant.

Our Kindergarten is based on learning through play. This means children are encouraged to participate in a wide range of learning activities, to extend and develop their skills and knowledge. Learning through play in the early years helps to lay the foundation for essential life skills.

The Teachers (Kaiako) work alongside the children to enhance teachable moments and encourage children’s emergent interests as the foundation for learning. As a team, we have a strong focus on fostering dispositional learning for our tamariki and how these impact on their development. We have been involved in a two year (2017-2019) Research Project focusing on Transition to School which we are very proud of. Greenhithe Kindergarten has been part of the Greenhithe Community since 1995.

We would love the opportunity to show you around and to answer any questions you may have.

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.

Located in the wide open space of Collins Park, Greenhithe Playcentre offers a unique and friendly learning environment for you and your children. It is an early childhood centre run by parents as volunteers. Greenhithe Playcentre is a special place where you can play, learn and have fun alongside your children in a safe and caring environment.

We have a wide variety of activities available to all children aged 0-6 years with 16 areas of play set up each day allowing children to discover and make their own choices about play and activities including sand, water, paint, clay, collage, cooking, blocks, music, books, face painting and many more in a safe and exciting environment.

We are committed to providing quality early childhood education for children under six with a focus on learning and development in a nurturing environment. There is an extensive range of educational resources to challenge, excite and extend your children.

Greenhithe has a community spirit which runs in the veins of our centre, it is a great place to develop friendships and support networks within the community. This ultimately makes Playcentre a great place for the whole family to enjoy.

We can’t wait to welcome our amazing Greenhithe community through our doors. Our centre is just across the road from the beautiful Greenhithe pony club and the breath-taking views of Wainoni park. Our Greenhithe centre is a unique architecturally designed space focused on the needs of children and their whanau.

Our centre approach brings together our philosophy and the aspirations of our community. This coupled with advanced technology within our environment creates an added advantage for growing young minds.

At Neemo Childcare – Greenhithe, laughter, joy, growth and learning go side-by-side.  We prepare nutritional meals for the children. Our passionate teachers are highly inspired by Reggio Emilia Approach. We also provide our amazing resources for children to think outside the box. Finally our well planned centre layout will surely engage and delight your children each day.

Our Greenhithe centre has two areas for under 2s and over 2s which comprises of 3 spacious rooms and an excellent outdoor environment where children will be offered endless opportunities to explore, learn and investigate.

This centre is a unique piece of architecture where you will see a combination of futuristic and natural aspects all woven together to make a distinct and unique space for the community of Greenhithe.