Childcare options in Karori

Our Childspace Karori centre provides high-quality care and education for infants and toddlers in a nurturing, respectful environment.  

We are located at 81 Old Karori Road and cater for both part- and full-time spaces. 

The centre is licensed for 22 infants and toddlers per day, and has a team of 7 teachers. 

We also have a centre kai creator (cook) who spends her days preparing nutritious and tasty meals for all of the children. 

The teachers at Childspace Karori have been inspired by the work of Emmi Pikler and Magda Gerber. They strongly believe in providing a peaceful child-centred approach, cherishing and respecting children’s individual interests and routine. Complimenting this, each child has a key teacher.

The key teaching system provides children with the comfort of knowing a familiar adult is close by and fully present, sensitively observing their cues and gestures for both care and play needs. 

Our different spaces are designed to empower infants and toddlers through free movement and floor time for infants and to meet the specific developmental needs of toddlers. 

Our outdoor area provides a safe but challenging environment for infants and toddlers to explore. 

We offer an innovative programme which celebrates individual children’s interests and strengths in their journey of learning and development. Each child has a ‘discovery book’ with stories about their interests and development. 

We also use an online system, Educa, which is a great way to share stories and photos between teachers and whanau.

Our families are guaranteed a place at Childspace Wilton around their second birthday. The Wilton centre is a very short drive from Karori. 

The key teachers at Karori and Wilton ensure there is a smooth, thoughtful, and gradual process in place for the children and their families when they transition. 

Our centre has ‘parent conversations’ twice each year. 

These are special times when parents are invited to come and meet with their child’s key teacher for an uninterrupted chat. 

They share stories about their child and the teachers respond with a written summary of each child’s individual learning and development in the centre over the previous six months.

Campbell Kindergarten is in the heart of Karori, in a converted house, which provides a homely feeling with a sunny natural outdoor environment.    

Our kindergarten is rich in challenges and opportunities, where enthusiasm and joy of learning is shared. We strongly value our relationships with whanau.   

We foster positive learning attitudes to create self-motivated, lifelong learners. We encourage children to be curious, embrace challenge, and lead their own learning as they explore their passions, ideas, and interests, while respecting others and our environment.    

Our curriculum is enriched through valuing identity and culture. We celebrate our bi-cultural heritage and cultural diversity, honouring the mana (power/authority) of each child.   

We have a strong community spirit, and work in partnership with whanau. We value shared decision-making and open communication, working together in the best interests of each child.  

Our vision is to support and guide children in developing a sense of belonging, curiosity, and resilience, alongside a sense of responsibility for our environment and the people in it.   

We are a team of qualified registered teachers who share a wealth of knowledge and experience and provide quality early childhood education. Through collaboration, shared goals, and continual reflection we work together to support children to be confident competent learners.   

We have various regular events in addition to the programme, as well as events relating to our current programme focus.   

We hope to meet you and your whanau soon!

Pepeha

Ngā tangata o ngā hau e whā tātou.

Ko te wharangi a Karori te puke.

Ko Waipahihi te awa

Ko ngā whānau a Sunshine te hapori

We are the people of the four winds.  The Whararangi is our hill top.   Waipahihi is our river.  Families of Sunshine Kindergarten are part of our community.

Sunshine Kindergarten (kei roto i te riu o nga manu/in the valley of the birds), was established in 1969.

We acknowledge the importance of strong relationships between ourselves and whānau, hapu and our local iwi.

Le Va/Teu le va – We value our Pasifika families and are committed to nurturing and strengthening our relationships with their communities, aligning ourselves towards best practices for supporting our Pasifika children.

We are a diverse kindergarten, and children from many cultures make up our community. Sunshine Kindergarten is also well known for its inclusive practices and for fostering acceptance of our differences and empathy within our learning community.

We are ideally placed to use the nearby bush as part of our Ngahere ako (forest learning) programme.

We value the natural environment and encourage tamariki/children to see themselves as kaitiaki/ guardians of nature.

We have a productive vegetable garden which the children actively participate in the planting, harvesting and care of. Our grounds have been intentionally designed to create an environment that fosters strong links to the natural world and to other living things. The outdoor environment is also carefully planned to encourage safe risk taking activities through a play-based philosophy.

At Sunshine Kindergarten we acknowledge children’s inherent mana and work to support and enhance it.

We respect children’s rights as young citizens of our community, and when possible, we involve them in decisions that affect them.

We tap into children’s individual and group interests and experiences to offer a wide range of stimulating and challenging activities/provocations.

We encourage and support independent and cooperative exploration, investigation and problem-solving.   In this way children develop a sense of themselves as capable and confident, life-long learners.

We work to develop partnership with parents and whánau and encourage them to become actively involved in their child’s learning.

Karori Kindergarten is located at the foot of Wrights Hill, near the end of Campbell St. We are a smaller kindergarten with four fully qualified teachers and up to 30 children in each session.   

The Kaiako (teachers) work together with whanau to explore, understand, and develop the children’s interests and ideas. We have a collaborative approach in all that we do, which creates a rich curriculum.   

We have a spacious and natural outdoor environment which includes a worm farm, a weta hotel and a much-loved Flemish giant rabbit called Killabunga.  

Sustainability is an integral part of our curriculum. We recycle as much as possible and nurture the disposition of being responsible for the world we live in.L

Karori Playcentre is the first Playcentre in New Zealand. Although we have changed premises our core values have remained the same. We believe parents are the best teachers to our children, we let our children learn through play to and guide them to their full potential.   

We run during term time Monday – Friday 9am – 11.30am. Our Monday – Thursday sessions are birth to school age, and we run our “Tamariki Nui” session on a Friday for our older children to get out and explore and interact with the community.   

We offer 3 FREE visits so you can come and have a look around and see if its right for you.   

To be a part of Playcentre not only helps in our children’s learning but also is a great network for parents/grandparents/caregivers in the community. Karori Playcentre is a great opportunity to spend time with your and other children, to form friendships, and to be a part of our community.   

We are 100% parent-run, so, we have a say in how the centre provides for our children, and that can only lead to great things. Playcentre has become a nationwide Federation, we are a qualified Early Childhood Education provider, so we like many adhere to the Ministry of Educations’ standards including health & safety and ERO visits. We offer free adult education to all members; this allows us to receive the necessary funding to keep our centre running and provide all we need for our tamariki and their learning.   

Karori Playcentre’s ratio is at least 5 to 1 but is often much higher than that. Given our high ratios we are really able to build on the interests of the tamariki on each session – each day at Playcentre is different. Playcentre is also a great place to let your child explore messy play without you messing up your home!  

Philosophy

We believe in providing a caring, loving, and supportive learning environment for tamariki, whanau and kaiako where their well-being is nurtured and promoted. 

We provide a stimulating and inclusive learning environment that supports our diverse community and encourages tamariki to explore, be inquisitive and confident in their own abilities, allowing them to develop their own individual interests and talents at their own pace. 

As part of our holistic approach to early childhood education, kaiako have meaningful interactions with tamariki that foster trust, confidence and build self-esteem.  

Kaiako work in partnership with tamariki and their whanau to support their learning journey during their time at the Pre-School, as well as individual transitions to school and the wider community.

We expect all tamariki, kaiako, and whanau will demonstrate respect towards each other and the environment. 

We will continue to implement the principles of Te Tiriti O Waitangi by practicing, promoting and celebrating Tikanga and Te Reo Maori within our centre. 

All cultures and beliefs are to be respected, celebrated, valued and woven into the whariki of Donald Street Pre-School. 

As life-long learners, our DSPS whanau will regularly revisit and reflect on our practice and curriculum to continually improve our learning environment

** Please note : This Centre is not currently taking enrolments **

Karori Childcare Centre (KCC) was set up in 1987 as a non-profit parent co-operative overseen by the Centre Management Committee.

We're licensed to cater for a maximum of 25 children, 8 of whom can be under twos.

What is a parent co-operative?

A parent co-operative is a non-profit Centre that relies on parent involvement for its success. This means that all parents get involved in the management of the Centre. This ensures we get high quality care and education for our children at a reasonable cost.

This participation can take many forms:

• joining the Management Committee
• participating in working bees
• mending books
• helping out on projects as they arise

Basically we're a small community who get involved with the staff in making the Centre the best it can be for our children.

It's not all about working bees and hard work, we also have fun together at parent and whanau evenings and other events. This is an important way to build up the community feeling. It's also a great way for the children to see their parents interacting with staff and other families.

Why choose us over other early childhood education and care providers?

• KCC has been running successfully for over twenty years
• We have a strong family atmosphere
• Children are treated as individuals and are constantly praised for their achievements
• Our teachers are highly qualified, professional and dedicated to our children
• We have a mixed age environment that allows siblings to be together

Karori Kids Inc. is a full-time Community Childcare Centre for 2 - 5 year old children in Karori, Wellington. We are a Registered Charity licensed for 24 children. We aim to spread our message of hope and compassion. We believe that a single action can make a difference in the community, and that collective action can greatly impact the world. Through advocacy and outreach activities, our team works tirelessly each day to contribute their part to the greater good.

Our philosphy encourages our tamariki to be inspired, courageous, free exploring and adventurous risk takers who feel a sense of stability in their surroundings and have the opportunity to take time to escape to a quiet, comfortable, safe area.  

Nutrition is an important part of the values of Karori Kids. We have a cook who provides nutritious meals on a monthly cycle.  

We focus on the 5 strands; Wellbeing, Belonging, Contribution, Communication and Exploration.   

We work closely with parents to understand the expectations and priorities, and this helps us to establish the identity of the centre.  

We weave this into how we teach Te Whaariki.   We encourage and expand on our children's interests.   

Our Centre's vision is to 'Provide quality education and care within a family environment in the heart of the Karori community'. This is underpinned by our mission 'To inspire courageous investigators within a secure, nurturing learning community'.  

We consult with parents to make sure we tailor the Te Whaariki early childhood curriculum to capture the identity and priorities of the centre.