Childcare options in West End

Kia Ora. Welcome to Lots of Hugs, Ferguson Street

Lots of Hugs – Ferguson st is truly a home away from home. It’s the sort of space the educators themselves would be excited to put their child into. We believe a lot can be done to enrich a child’s every day and give them great memories and a strong foundation for life.  

From 7.30am to 5.30pm (Mon-Fri), we do just that – enrich little lives and make fantastic memories. Our well-resourced environment and passionate crew get your child not just school-ready, but life-ready. When they fly away from our nest, they’re fully equipped with creativity and social intelligence, ready to make their mark on the world.   

Why choose us? 

Plugged into the heart of our community, we work closely with families and whanau to bring out the best in each and every child. Our kids are adventurous, community-minded, respectful and resilient – and they’re equipped with all they need to forge a bright, successful and happy future.

Just a stone’s throw from beautiful parks and the local primary school, Little Wonders Timaru is a nurturing and inspiring early childhood centre for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers.

Purpose built, with four separate rooms catering for each age and stage, we are a place where children have fun, learn and grow. Kind and passionate teachers will bring out the best in your child, fuelling their imagination, encouraging their curiosity and supporting them to shine.

Set your child up with a lifelong love of learning. Start their journey here at Little Wonders Timaru.

Our philosophy

Centre Values:

Growth
Pride
Collaboration
Kindness
Play

Centre Vision:

Little Wonders will create a fun and inspiring learning environment for all akōnga where cultural diversity and inclusiveness contributes to a strong focus on community.

Our Philosophy

Our teachers take pride in providing the best early childhood education and care.
We do this by providing children with a programme that is embedded in the early childhood curriculum Te Whariki. Priorities for children’s learning have been identified and teachers work alongside all children to grow their identity as successful learners.

Positive trusting relationships are nurtured between teachers, children and their families. We strive to build collaborative partnerships between the centre and home to ensure parent aspirations for their children are valued. We do this by providing
a warm, welcoming and safe environment.

Play is an important aspect of how children learn and we endeavour to create learning environments that invite children to explore and become fully involved
in a wide variety of experiences.

Children are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and behaviour to promote independence and self help skills. In addition the development of social skills and working alongside their peers encourages working together in thoughtful and kind ways.

Respect for self, others and the environment is modelled at all times as we prepare children to take responsibility in a changing world.

We value inclusiveness, understanding and accepting of all differing cultures and beliefs in a variety of different aspects. We strive to show a commitment to the bicultural partnership inherent in Aotearoa New Zealand and make this evident
in our practice.

Rooms

Little Wonders Timaru has four separate rooms, enabling us to deliver safe, nurturing and age appropriate learning experiences for all our children. We also have a fantastic veranda that allows children access to the outdoors rain or shine!

*The ages outlined below are only approximate. Transitioning between classrooms is very flexible as we allow each child to develop at their own unique pace.

Matai Room

Safe and secure, our Matai Room caters for our youngest children, aged from 3 to 18 months. We only take a small number of children in this room in order to provide high quality interactions with a stable teaching team.

Tawa Room

Our engaging Tawa Room is home to our children aged from around 18 months to 2.5 years. We support the development of our 2 year olds by giving them the time to grow and be ready and willing to transition. Numbers are low and we have a fabulous outdoor environment shared between the Matai and Tawa Rooms.

Rimu Room

Vibrant and inspiring, our Rimu Room is ideally equipped for our 2.5 to 3.5 year olds. Many learning provocations are set up in this room, supporting the children’s inquisitiveness. The Rimu and Kauri Rooms work closely together and through doing this tuakana-teina and ako are evident.

Kauri Room

This is the biggest room and supports the learning and development of children aged between 3.5 and school age. There are challenges and a range of resources and experiences for the tamariki to engage in.

Why choose us?

There are a host of reasons why families choose Little Wonders Timaru. Here are just a few of them:

• Modern, purpose built centre
• Great location close to local parks and Bluestone School
• Extended hours great for busy working parents (7.30am to 6pm)
• Delicious nutritious meals provided by our onsite cook
• Staff who are truly passionate about high quality early childhood education
• Four separate rooms cater for each age and stage
• Regular excursions
• Great relationship with local primary school
• We participate in the ECE Leaders group and the Ka hui ako
• Anita Croft from Growing Kiwi Gardeners supports children's learning associated with our natural world every six weeks