About Us

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About Us

We are committed to supporting our community of children, families and teachers by providing a safe and caring learning environment. We seek to strengthen our sense of belonging within our Centre and wider community by basing our relationships on respect and the importance of working alongside our children, their parents, whanau, and caregivers. Our hope is that during their time at Pukeko ELC and beyond, children will deepen their love of learning, develop a thoughtful awareness of themselves, others, and their environment, and have the confidence to pursue their passions. 

We believe that children of all ages need to feel safe and that secure in where they belong in order to thrive in their learning.  Our teachers are friendly, passionate, caring, and experienced.    Each child’s ability, capability, and interests, alongside family aspirations are nurtured, as together, we identify learning goals.  

Children learn through their play.  As teachers, we respect individual interests, culture, prior knowledge, and skills and we create a holistic environment that offers all children opportunities to extend their learning.  Our natural environment is filled with loose parts to encourage imagination, exploration, and investigation within both the Centre and our local community. Planned and spontaneous activities and rituals ensure that children can anticipate their day, as well as have opportunities for new or extended learning.  Quiet and safe resting spaces allow children the opportunity to learn at their pace, fostering their holistic developmental needs. 

Learning alongside children, exploring and investigating our curiosities, and nurturing caring, quality relationships and communication is core to our philosophy. We have a high  teacher-to-child ratio which enables us to focus on our relationships with children and families. As children become more confident, we are able to extend our environment into the community, utilizing the beautiful parks, playgrounds, beaches, sports fields, and Leisure Centre activities that the Stanmore Bay location provides us with.  We encourage children to respect, look after, and support each other and our wider community. 

 

Creating fun learning environments lays a positive foundation for the best possible start to school life. Individual learning goals are identified for every child, and our environment is organised to provide opportunities for children to learn and practice their skills through positive play.