Philosophy

VisionWest Christian Kindergarten offers each child and whanau/family an opportunity to participate in a play based nurturing education environment that is founded on Christian principles.

We believe that strong teamwork between management, educators and parents is imperative to the development of a positive, nurturing, safe and fun curriculum and environment for our children.

Our centre is welcoming of all cultures and strives to ensure that our programme is equitable and valuing to all.

We respect the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and work towards extending and developing children’s understanding of Tikanga Maori and Te Reo.

The teaching team at VisionWest Christian Kindergarten extend and develop children’s thinking and learning through offering:

  • Responsive/ reciprocal learning opportunities
  • A play based programme that is developed through educators noticing, recognising and responding to individual children’s interests and needs
  • A variety of learning experiences both inside and outside the centre
  • A mixture of child initiated and adult initiated play experiences
  • A mixture of individual, small group and large group experiences
  • A programme that is based on the New Zealand Early Childhood curriculum “Te Whaariki”
  • A climate of reflection that encourages continued forward thinking and improvement
  • Opportunities for developing knowledge in literacy, numeracy and technology within an informal setting

Educators support children’s learning by role modeling an atmosphere of support and respect. Positive guidance strategies are used to encourage child behaviours and children are encouraged to discuss, reflect and problem solve wherever possible.

We are a mixed age group, family centre and we strive to encourage acceptance and positive role modeling across the differing ages. Our educators have a firm commitment and desire to nurture the processes of learning, encouraging children to develop and grow at their own pace and in their own way, to develop into individuals with an ongoing curiosity and desire for lifelong learning.