The Beehive
The Beehive
Learning is Fun!
Our Early Childhood Centre endeavours to provide our children with a learning environment that is Christ centred and God honouring, showing the characteristics of God in our nurture and care for the child, planned activities, resources, stories, music and all aspects of curriculum content.
Through involvement at our Country Preschool we want to help children develop and grow as confident and competent lifelong learners. It is our desire that each child will find value & purpose because of their connection to Jesus and be equipped with tools for success in their relationships, family context and life experiences. One of our roles as educators is to empower children to make choices about their interests and to share experiences from home and the wider community that are important to them. Our curriculum emerges from our children’s interests and integrates both planned experiences or activities and interactions and experiences that arise spontaneously throughout the course of play. We look at the holistic development of the child and link our learning outcomes to an evidence-based child development model. Scaffolding critical thinking is used whereby experiences are provided to engage the children in meaningful play to meet the goals of Te Whāriki the NZ Early Childhood Curriculum. Through meaningful play children expand their theories of the world and their context, empowering them to learn through inquiry and discovery.
Children are a gift from the Lord, they are a reward from Him.
Psalm 127:3
our environment
At Country Footsteps Christian Preschool we pride ourselves on providing learners with varied opportunities so that they can reach their full potential. We believe that children are a gift from God (Psalm 127:3) and we know that whatever is taught to a child in the first few years of life will become the foundation on which they build the rest of their lives. Our vision is to provide opportunities for our learners to build firm foundations in all areas.
Our curriculum emerges from our children’s interests and integrates both planned experiences or activities, and interactions and experiences that arise spontaneously throughout their play. We look at the holistic development of the child and link our learning outcomes to an evidence-based child development model. Encouraging critical thinking is used whereby experiences are provided to engage the children in meaningful play to meet the goals of Te Whāriki, the NZ Early Childhood Curriculum. Through meaningful play, children expand their theories of the world and their context, empowering them to learn through inquiry and discovery.
At Country Footsteps Christian Preschool, we provide a daily programme that is centred on both indoor and outdoor play, learning through nature and play. We are situated in the ‘country side’, which has many benefits for various outdoor experiences. Our tamariki are often getting visits from the neighbouring cows, learning skills such as feeding and interacting with the animals. We have beautiful outdoor walks, always providing fun and interesting learning experiences as we meet new creatures on the way. Mount Taranaki can be seen from both the indoor and outdoor play areas, providing us with the most wonderful snow peak views. Our spectacular indoor area is equipped with many resources, encouraging different creative play opportunities, both group and individual play.
As a team, our aim is to help children develop and grow into confident and competent learners, celebrating their uniqueness. It is our desire that each child will find value and purpose because of their connection to Jesus and be equipped with tools for success in their relationships, family context and life experiences.
school readiness
A School Readiness programme is offered to children from 4½ years onwards. The planned learning experiences are aimed at extending the children’s understanding of early numeracy and literacy concepts as well as routines and behaviours that will be evident in the new entrant classroom. Children participate as a group (4-6 children) in morning sessions Monday – Thursday, led by our specialised School Readiness teacher. Through hands on fun and interactive group activities, the children gain confidence with phonics, letter formation and writing, numeracy, basic science skills and problem solving.
This is a reflective document closely linking the goals and learning outcomes for early childhood education which we integrate into the context of our Christian curriculum. Our Christian curriculum supports learners as they become flourishing Spirit-led children who have the following characteristics: Unconditional love, grace, hope, faith, other-centred and respect. These eternity-focused values and characteristics are highlighted, encouraged and practiced in the daily classroom programme through the use of dispositional-based coaching, provocations and interactions.
Included in each child’s portfolio will be a range of learning stories, samples and assessments covering all curriculum areas, Te Whāriki Strands, dispositional learning and the flourishing Spirit-led characteristics. Parents/whanau are invited to enjoy and reflect on their child’s learning by making positive comments of encouragement on the home connection pages provided or on specific learning stories as well as by utilising Educa - where the children's portfolios can be accessed on-line.
our children's learning
A learning portfolio of some of the child’s learning and exploration during their time at our Preschool is developed for each child. The unique "Footsteps" of each child on their journey through the early years are mapped out within its pages. The learning stories and observations are linked to Te Whāriki, the NZ Early Childhood Curriculum, and also reflect our mission statement and philosophy which is founded in the unconditional love of God and desire to share this with our children.