The programme at Morrinsville Kids is based on the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum, Te Whāriki. Te Whāriki encompasses experiences, activities, events, interactions, care and education, both planned and spontaneous within our learning environments. The teaching team at Morrinsville Kids places great emphasis on ensuring children are safe, nurtured, and have the opportunity to reach their full potential through the strong educationn and care that we will provide.
Unique in its bicultural framing, Te Whāriki expresses a vision that all children grow up in New Zealand as competent and confident learners, strong in their identity, language and culture. There are four principles within Te Whāriki, which are at the centre of the early childhood curriculum. Following these principles are five strands consisting of; Wellbeing, Belonging, Contribution, Communication and Exploration. Each of these strands has several goals and learning outcomes for individual children. Our individual planning for children is centred around these learning outcomes, ensuring each child is celebrated for their uniqueness, and they are supported to develop at a pace that is appropriate for them.
Empowerment/Whakamana
The early childhood curriculum empowers the child to learn and grow
Holistic Development/Kotahitanga
The early childhood curriculum reflects the holistic way children learn and grow
Family and Community/Whaanau Tangata
The wider world of family and community is an integral part of the early childhood curriculum
Relationships/Ngaa Hononga
Children learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places, and things.
Our vision is to provide a consistently high standard of care and education. We aspire to provide an equitable environment to support learners to have a strong sense of identity and see themselves as capable and competent. Akonga will demonstrate empathy, respect and resilience and have a lifelong passion for learning and exploration.
Foundation skills are all the skills that your child will need to be ready for formal learning at school – reading, writing and Maths. At Morrinsville Kids we have a separate 4 year old learning space which focusses on supporting children with a successful transition to school. This space is called the Tui Room. The Tui Room teachers have developed great relationships with our local schools and ensure that our children have the skills that they need for a successful transition from our centre to school. However, the focus on developing foundation skills starts from our infant room. Across the centre we support children to gain knowledge of the environment and the wider world, we support the acquisition of self-help skills, listening skills, curiosity and questioning skills. We provide lots of opportunities for children to develop fine motor and gross motor skills, and we encourage independence and responsibility. We use the interests and abilities of children to encourage the development of early numeracy, literacy and academic skills.