Parent Information

Hours

The Centre is open from 7:00am to 5:30pm throughout the year and closes only at weekends and statutory holidays.

Children experience calm, unhurried learning environments where teachers know them well and respond thoughtfully to their needs. Transitions are well managed, children’s ideas are valued, independence is fostered and caring relationships are in place.

Teachers use a range of effective teaching strategies to promote children’s developing communication and social and emotional skills. Teachers’ responsive interactions support older children to develop early literacy and maths skills through the transition to school programme.

Te ao Māori is meaningfully integrated into the curriculum, with strong whānau and community partnerships. Te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are embedded in daily practices and children actively engage through waiata, karakia and leadership opportunities.

Assessment practices are purposeful, with teachers making learning visible, identifying children’s progress over time and strengthening partnerships with parents. Children’s strengths and interests are made clear.

You need to feel positive about the centre and our teachers before your child starts on their new adventure, so that you all can transition smoothly into the Pīwaka environment . 

We encourage you to spend time with your child at Pīwaka to become familiar with our routines and use this time to talk to us about the aspirations you have for your child.

This way, you can get to know our teachers and become familiar with the environment and routines that your child will become part of. 

It enables us to communicate with families, teachers and specialists to ensure children receive the best opportunities.

This is achieved through providing:

• Deeper insights into your child's unique interests, learning, needs and abilities

• Improves communication between teachers and families

• Enables teachers to spend their time with your child more effectively

• Helps your child's teachers define "whats next" in their learning.

• Share movement, song and creative expression through audio and video

• Actively involve grandparents, family and close friends thorough individual and community posts/photos on a secure online platform

We obtained Healthy Heart accreditation for Pā-Harakeke Gold Award status and have operated under those parameters for over 4 years. This enables us to focus on health and nutrition. We operate with two cooks who provide morning teas, lunch and afternoon teas

Any children with food allergies are catered for within the parameters of the Healthy Heart Guidelines

Pīwakawaka is one of Tāne, God of the forest and birds children, Pīwakawaka one of the smallest birds, yet full of energy, the sentinel, the challenger to anyone that enters the sacred forest of Tāne, challenging them all, to be respectful of the great Forests of Tāne and all within it. Pīwakawaka is nimble and sharp of mind, darting in front of the visitors as they enter the sanctuary of ngā manu rangatira. He hovers, then darts forward flicking his taiaha with strength and swiftness, Ti Ti Tei Tei Tū! “do you come in peace - or not”, he cries out, the little warrior reminding us to challenge ourselves to be the best that we can be, and if you challenge someone else be tika and pono (honest and true). The energetic nature of Pīwakawaka gives us motivation and strength to push the boundaries and achieve our ultimate dreams.