Enrolment 

Centre Statements

Mission Statement

When teachers nurture children's interests we grow and learn together

Vision Statement

To create a place of whanaungatanga for our community

Kiwi Explorers Philosophy

We believe that when teachers nurture children's interests with warmth and caring, both adults and children grow and learn together. At Kiwi Explorers we provide a stimulating and safe environment that promotes challenges. We provide an environment which stimulates child initiated activities with uninterrupted periods of play alongside teachers acting as resources themselves, facilitating and scaffolding children's endeavours.

We incorporate our four guiding principles:

Empowerment
Our curriculum builds on developing the child by providing an environment where children have the opportunity to "create and act on their own ideas, develop knowledge and skills in areas that interest them and, increasingly, to make decisions and judgements on matters that relate to them.  (TeWhāriki, 2017. pg. 18).Our curriculum "recognises and enhances children's mana and supports them to enhance the mana of others. This means recognising children's rights to have their wellbeing promoted and be protected from harm and to experience equitable opportunities for participation and learning" (TeWhāriki, 2017, pg 18)... read more

Holistic development
"A holistic approach sees the child as a person who wants to learn and the task as a meaningful whole" (TeWhāriki, 2017, pg 18). We consider how the child's current learning focus "relates to and connects with other aspects of learning, how it builds on the strengths (Te Whāriki, 2017, pg. 19) and  take into consideration the role of family and whānau in their child's learning journey

Family and community
We foster children's well-being by supporting families, respecting their culture, knowledge and community and aiming to build strong connections and consistency among all aspects of the child's world.

Relationships
At Kiwi Explorers we work to establish high quality relationships. Teachers are open in communication, engaging active listening skills and building a shared understanding between children, whanau, colleagues and communities through positive, responsive, reciprocal and respectful interactions. We understand that modelling appropriate social behaviours gives children the chance to learn this too. "It is through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places and things that children have opportunities to try out their ideasand refine their working theories (TeWhāriki, 2017, pg 21). At Kiwi Explorers dispositions are important "learning outcomes". To encourage robust dispositions to reason, investigate and collaborate, children will be immersed in a community where people discuss rules, are fair, explore questions about how things work, and help each other. Our holistic approach to teaching benefits children in their social, emotional and physical development from infant's right up until they go to school.... read more