Childcare options in Christchurch Central

There is growing evidence about the importance of being active and the development of fundamental movement skills in young children. Learning about healthy and active lifestyles and the significance of physical, emotional, social and spiritual well-being is integral to developing children’s self-confidence, and therefore an essential part of Our Approach at Grow active. 

At Grow Active we believe our children will have a strong sense of identity; be connected with and contribute to their world; have a strong sense of well-being; be confident and involved learners and effective communicators through active early learning.  

Our Approach starts by creating secure, healthy and welcoming environments, building a sense of belonging for children and their families. We inspire curiosity, foster creativity and support discovery with a variety of sensory rich experience spaces. Children have lots of space to move and explore with extended outdoor play spaces and natural environments to accommodate growing and inquisitive bodies.  

Grow Active is custom designed to support your child’s individual emotional, physical and cognitive needs throughout their journey with us. The resources and materials at Grow are natural and open ended. Our teachers are passionate and committed to providing a nurturing and active early learning environment for each child and their families.

Our centre has beautiful natural outdoor spaces; a magical garden where imagination, wonder and awe can flourish. We understand the importance of tamariki being immersed in the outdoors and our doors are always open. We believe that ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing’. 

With sustainability at the forefront of everything we do, most of our resources are from nature and we are committed to using recyclable and upcycled items that spark imagination and creativity.

It all begins at our Pre-School, where we balance play with stimulating young minds, all the while fostering values and instilling good habits.

At our Pre-School we balance play with stimulating young minds, all the while ensuring our environment allows children to see themselves as capable, competent and confident learners. Through play the children are supported to engage in literacy, numeracy, science, technology, music, art and physical education. Specialist teachers lead weekly art and physical education lessons in The Cathedral Grammar School which nurtures, exposes and extends children's natural curiosity and early talents. 

Children are supported to develop strong social connections with teachers, peers, families and the wider community. Children are encouraged to build on skills in listening, self-help, risk taking, social interactions, concentration and preparing the Pre-School children for a successful start to their schooling education.

All the facilities of The Cathedral Grammar School are available to our Pre-Schoolers, and there are strong links to the Junior School to make your child’s transition as straightforward and smooth as possible.

Our Pre-School students also enjoy regular playground fun and story time with the ‘big kids’, students from the Girls’ and Boys’ Prep Schools.

Weekly specialist classes

The Pre-School children enjoy the following weekly specialist classes:

• specialist art 
• yoga
• physical education
• library 
• dance
• language 
• gymnastics
• numeracy and literacy (Pathways to School programme)