Childcare options in Wellsford

Kia ora and welcome to Wellsford Kindergarten.

Wellsford Kindergarten is located within a large park-like outdoor environment.  This is shaded in summer with our lush green trees.

The learning experiences that we offer here at Wellsford Kindergarten reflect and build upon our unique rural environment and community.

Here at Wellsford Kindergarten, we cater for a diverse age range of children.  This allows siblings to attend together.

Come and visit us!

At Wellsford Kindergarten we have four qualified early childhood teachers. We also have one teaching assistant, a teacher aide and an administrator. We are all passionate about providing high-quality education for young children in a creative, fun and nurturing environment.

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.

Welcome to Natural Wonders Early Learning Centre.

We are a private owner-operated preschool situated in the up and coming Wellsford community.  We are a small Centre, licensed for 30 children, aged from 3 months to 5 years and are open Monday to Friday, 7:30 am to 5 pm.

At Natural Wonders we provide an environment that is a home away from home.  Children experience educational opportunities and thought-provoking activities in an atmosphere of nurturing and understanding. The tuakana-teina concept, where children learn from one another, is strongly reflected within our Centre.  To encompass this we promote a mixed learning environment where all children develop alongside each other.

Our teaching team is made up of Qualified and Registered teachers, all of whom have been working in the Early Childhood sector for over 10 years.

We understand that choosing the right preschool for your child is an important process and a big decision. We encourage you to visit our Centre and ask questions so that you’ll feel comfortable leaving your little ones with us.