Childcare options in Otahuhu

Welcome To Church Street Educare

A fun place where our children learn & grow ...

At Church Street Educare, children are central to everything we do. We pride ourselves in offering a warm, friendly, “home away from home” environment where children learn, communicate, play, and grow together. Our qualified and professional educators offer specialised care. We encourage and embrace individual personalities and strive for the holistic development of children.

Our philosophy is founded on our aspirations for children to ""grow as competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body, and spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society"". (Ministry of Education, 1996)

Our Programme incorporates the learning principles of the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum – Te Whāriki:

• Whakamana – Empowerment
• Kotahitanga – Holistic Development
• Whānau Tangata – Family and Community
• Ngā Hononga – Relationships

A visit would be worthwhile to witness our top quality education, care, and facilities...   

Environment

Our centre offers a safe, calm and loving place to be, where your children can grow and develop their early independence.

Our highly qualified and experienced teachers are the key to delivering a reciprocal and responsive, nurturing, meaningful and empowering learning environment which provides rich opportunities and challenges to extend Tamariki’s worldview through inquiry.

Learning

We believe with the support of our teachers, play is the most important mode of learning. Your Tamariki come with their own potential, gifts, and talents - unique in their own way.  We support and further strengthen their interests by recognising their abilities and trust that everyone is born to self-educate. Semi-structured activities and our play based curriculum instill an inquiry focused approach in your Tamariki which will help them to problem solve, share, make decisions and explore the world around them.  

Our mission is to promote the joy of independence while working in a family oriented environment which enhances tamariki's sense of trust.

We thrive to provide a caring, child friendly environment which empower children to become confident, competent learners and communicators.

Guided by the Principles of Te Whariki we aim to foster the social, cultural, spiritual, intellectual and physical development of tamariki by delivering a child centred, holistic curriculum. 

OUR GOALS

• To nurture happy, well-rounded children who develop the love of learning.
• To create an environment dedicated to building a community of caring individuals.
• To help children to acquire social skills that brings peace and harmony to self and others.
• To foster children’s wisdom through experiences and knowledge.

Kia ora and welcome to Otahuhu Kindergarten

Otahuhu Kindergarten’s environment is built on respectful, responsive and reciprocal relationships with tamariki, whānau, wider community and Papatuanuku.

Our outdoor area is spacious and green, with lots of shady trees.  Our indoor area has been newly renovated in 2013, it is welcoming and interesting to explore. We are an Enviroschools and endeavour to learn and teach sustainable practices with our Tamariki and our Whanau.

At Otahuhu Kindergarten we are inclusive and embrace cultural diversity in our community. Our tamariki and their whanau participate in and enjoy our kindergarten cultural events – this includes celebrations, shared lunches and excursions out into the local and wider community.

We recognise that each child is unique and encourage all children to be involved in a wide range of experiences that are challenging and fuels children’s curiosity.

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.

Information for Parents, Family/Whanau

The subsequent information will help you understand our methodology and what you can expect. You are free to discuss any queries you may have with any of our teachers or administrative staff. We encourage you to visit, explore, and ask questions regarding any aspect of our service you need clarity on. You can also arrange for an appointment with our manager, if needed, to discuss things over.

Be rest assured that your child’s development and well-being is our main priority. Find out further how you can get acquainted with the administrative process at Blossoms Educare.

Complete involvement of family

We believe in an open door policy and involve parents and family members in everything we do. Ensuring participation of parents makes the child feel comfortable and has a strong positive impact on the child. Keeping this in mind, we warmly welcome parents to the centre anytime.

The teachers and staff at Blossoms sincerely take care of the child’s happiness and comfort. We regard a three-way relationship between parents, caregivers and the child as an indispensable part of the child’s well-being.

Keeping track of everything

We make sure that parents are well-informed at each step of the way. They are provided with everything they need including newsletters, invoices, receipts and copies of learning stories.

Events and Outings

We believe that interaction and communication is vital. Keeping this in focus, we organize cultural events to help Blossom Educare members interact with other families and children and also with the teachers and staff. We are always on the lookout for such events and they form an integral part of our calendar.

Training for new teachers and volunteers

Volunteers and new teachers are thoroughly screened before getting onboard with us. They are required to meet our standards and adhere to our philosophy. Volunteers interact with the children and keep them engaged. Students of early childhood teacher training courses are properly supervised at the centre.

Facilities for availing subsidy

Our ‘Work and Income’ department operates a subsidy for parents. The subsidy is subject to an income qualification. Further information and forms shall be provided by ‘Work and Income’. Also, Blossoms provides 20 hours subsidy for all children above the age of 3. Please refer to our fees schedule for further information.

Educare Programme

‘Educare’ is a compound word meaning education and care. Our centres deliver educare programmes centered around the child. These programmes involve observing the children on a regular basis, evaluating their needs and concerns and planning activities around them. These programmes help the child develop in their own individual pace.

These programmes are founded on the guiding principles of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum policy of the Ministry of Education. We keep revising our developmental programmes to stay updated.

There are four broad principles at the centre of Te Whāriki – the early childhood curriculum.

• Empowerment - The early childhood curriculum empowers the child to learn and grow.
• Holistic Development - The early childhood curriculum reflects the holistic way children learn and grow.
• Family and Community - The wider world of family and community is an integral part of the early childhood curriculum.
• Relationships - Children learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places, and things.

Information for Parents, Family/Whanau

The subsequent information will help you understand our methodology and what you can expect. You are free to discuss any queries you may have with any of our teachers or administrative staff. We encourage you to visit, explore, and ask questions regarding any aspect of our service you need clarity on. You can also arrange for an appointment with our manager, if needed, to discuss things over.

Be rest assured that your child’s development and well-being is our main priority. Find out further how you can get acquainted with the administrative process at Blossoms Educare.

Complete involvement of family

We believe in an open door policy and involve parents and family members in everything we do. Ensuring participation of parents makes the child feel comfortable and has a strong positive impact on the child. Keeping this in mind, we warmly welcome parents to the centre anytime.

The teachers and staff at Blossoms sincerely take care of the child’s happiness and comfort. We regard a three-way relationship between parents, caregivers and the child as an indispensable part of the child’s well-being.

Keeping track of everything

We make sure that parents are well-informed at each step of the way. They are provided with everything they need including newsletters, invoices, receipts and copies of learning stories.

Events and Outings

We believe that interaction and communication is vital. Keeping this in focus, we organize cultural events to help Blossom Educare members interact with other families and children and also with the teachers and staff. We are always on the lookout for such events and they form an integral part of our calendar.

Training for new teachers and volunteers

Volunteers and new teachers are thoroughly screened before getting onboard with us. They are required to meet our standards and adhere to our philosophy. Volunteers interact with the children and keep them engaged. Students of early childhood teacher training courses are properly supervised at the centre.

Facilities for availing subsidy

Our ‘Work and Income’ department operates a subsidy for parents. The subsidy is subject to an income qualification. Further information and forms shall be provided by ‘Work and Income’. Also, Blossoms provides 20 hours subsidy for all children above the age of 3. Please refer to our fees schedule for further information.

Educare Programme

‘Educare’ is a compound word meaning education and care. Our centres deliver educare programmes centered around the child. These programmes involve observing the children on a regular basis, evaluating their needs and concerns and planning activities around them. These programmes help the child develop in their own individual pace.

These programmes are founded on the guiding principles of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum policy of the Ministry of Education. We keep revising our developmental programmes to stay updated.

There are four broad principles at the centre of Te Whāriki – the early childhood curriculum.

• Empowerment - The early childhood curriculum empowers the child to learn and grow.
• Holistic Development - The early childhood curriculum reflects the holistic way children learn and grow.
• Family and Community - The wider world of family and community is an integral part of the early childhood curriculum.
• Relationships - Children learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places, and things.

We are a small preschool that take up to 40 children aged from 2-5 from Monday to Friday 9am-3pm. Using a Christian based teaching curriculum we create a safe, loving and nurturing environment for children to grow and flourish. Our staff come from different backgrounds and cultures to provide quality care for each and every child.

We believe active play is a vial key in children’s learning. It provides hand on learning, self discovery and authentic relationships. It empowers tamariki (children) to be thorough thinkers and researchers. We value our connections with our local Otahuhu community. Having strong connections to our church, library, and local schools supports our tamariki in feeling a part of a strong and beautiful community.

The Preschool provides an affordable place where children can experience a warm, accepting and nurturing environment; so they can develop to the highest level of potential while feeling safe and secure. All staff recognise that parents / whanau are primary to a child’s wellbeing and work in partnership to achieve positive outcomes for children.

The teachers acknowledge the multicultural society that we all live in and provide a holistic way of learning that embraces this; along with the wider community.

As a team, we believe Early Childhood Education should be fun; it’s a time where lifelong attitudes and skills are taking shape.

Staff will work alongside children getting to know them, their personality and their temperament, while giving them the opportunities to make decisions and take responsibility for themselves, each other and their preschool.

We acknowledge that each child is unique with individual needs and abilities and recognise that there can be wide variation of development and readiness between children. We provide experiences that build on each child’s strengths and interests through opportunities to explore and experiment, in an environment where children are supported with their own learning at their own level.

Akoteu Kenani is one of seven full immersion Tongan services governed by the Va’a Fonua Methodist Church Early Childhood Group Trust. The acting centre manager oversees the operation and administration of the service. The church minister assists with administration.

Seugagogo Aoga Amata Preschool is licensed to provide full-day education and care for 60 children, including up to 18 infants and toddlers. The service's philosophy has a strong focus on promoting Samoan language, culture and identity, and Christian values. Most children are of Samoan heritage, and a small numbers are of other Pacific groups and NZ European/Pākehā.

A new building (Nikau) caters for children aged three to five years of age. The infants and toddlers remain in the neighbouring original building (Mason).