Whitford Early Learning Centre

Welcome

Welcome to our centres, which were opened to meet the needs of the community by providing quality care in early childhood education. The centres have an excellent reputation and are fully licensed and chartered under the Ministry of Education.

The Charter is available at anytime for your perusal, on the centre's premises.

You are most welcome to visit the centres at any time, and feel free to ask the staff for assistance if required.

The centres run a daily programme, with a variety of educational activities and equipment to meet the needs of the children attending.

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Preschool

The Preschool is licensed for 20 children and is open from 7.30am - 5.30pm. Children are required to attend at least three sessions a week. Children are aged 2 - 3 ½ years, at which stage they move to our Kindergarten.

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Private Kindergarten

The Kindergarten is licensed for 45 children and is open from 9.00am - 3.00pm. Children are required to attend at least three full days a week. If you require your child to be in the centre outside these times, they will attend the Preschool for before and aftercare.

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Tui / Fantail Centre

This centre opened in August 2007 and is licensed for 42 children including up to 25 under 2 year olds and is open 7.30am to 5.30pm. The centre has two areas, the Tui room which caters for 2 – 5 year olds with a minimum attendance of 4 x 6 hr days and the Fantail room catering for 3 month to 2 year olds with a minimum attendance of 2 days.

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Private Kindergarten Only

NEWS We have a rotating roster of approx 1 turn every 4 to 6 weeks when a child brings 1 item of interest. Please try and help us keep to this so each child receives fair turn.

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Primary School Enrolments

It is the parents' responsibility to enrol your child at primary school.

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Staff

All staff have a recognised NZQA qualification or are training towards this. Staff have been selected for their personal qualities of sensitivity, warmth and the ability to relate positively to each child's specific needs. Staff are all encouraged and do take part in current and ongoing workshops, seminars and advanced training.

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In General

The Centres are set out to facilitate the learning process of every child who attends. We encourage all children to learn through experience, experimentation and participate and provide endless opportunities for problem solving and risk taking with our goal being well-rounded, confident children with high self-esteem and respect for others.

Behaviour and discipline is dealt with in a positive manner at all times.

To encourage children to be independent and able to look after themselves and increase their personal confidence and self-esteem we encourage you to:

• Dress your child in clothes they can manage themselves, limit buttons, laces, braces etc, unless your child can cope with these.
• Have bags, lunchboxes and bottles that they can open easily.
• Encourage them to return any toys or equipment that may find its way home from the centres.     

Please take an interest in your child's work and development. It is the process that is important, not always the result. There are many activities happening in the centre each day (the notice board shows our current topic). Your child may like to show you items that he/she has been involved in, or to introduce you to a new friend they have made. We ask that you do not judge your child's participation in our activities by the quantity of work brought home each day, and we discourage comparison between one child's developments and another's.

ENVELOPES  In the entrance of each centre every child has an individual envelope on the notice board for any receipts, accounts, newsletters etc. It is the parents' responsibility to clear these regularly.

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