St Lukes

Our aim is to work in partnership with parents and whanau to provide an extension of the home environment, to lay the foundations for lifelong learning for our tamariki by strengthening our whanaungatanga with our families and community by actively engaging in respectful working relationships. We aim to offer an environment that provides education and care encompassing a curriculum rich in relationships and social experiences.  Love, care, trust and respect and inclusiveness are the values that will underpin everything we do.

We acknowledge the Treaty of Waitangi as one of the guiding documents for education in Aotearoa, New Zealand, alongside Te Whariki, our National Early Childhood Curriculum.

At Bambinos we respect each child as an individual who is supported to achieve their full potential based on his/her strengths, interests and abilities. Our philosophy is based on the principles, strands and goals of Te Whariki.

Empowerment Whakamana – We will empower children to learn and grow by enhancing their mana – acknowledging that they are already capable and competent learners and by fostering and supporting respectful, reciprocal relationships with their Kaiako and peers and letting tamariki lead the curriculum.

Holistic Development Kotahitanga –    We acknowledge that children learn and grow holistically. We will support tamariki to realise their potential by supporting growth and development across all domains – physical, social, emotional, cognitive and spiritual.

Family and Community Whanaungatanga – We recognise parents and whanau as the child’s primary carers and first teachers. We will make the wider world of family and community an integral part of our centre by building relationships based on mutual respect, trust and understanding, underpinned by the shared aspiration to achieve optimal outcomes for each child.

Relationships Nga Hononga – Children learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places and things. We will support and foster these relationships by being good role models, and by providing a range of learning experiences and by being present and available to our tamariki at all times.

Well-being Mana Atua – We will provide a loving, caring and nurturing environment by fostering secure attachment relationships with kaiako, genuinely respecting and recognizing each child as a unique, capable and competent learner, full of potential.

Belonging Mana Whenua – We will strive to foster a sense of belonging for children and their families by acknowledging and respecting their culture,  and by working in genuine partnership.

Contribution Mana Tangata – We will provide opportunities for learning that are equitable, inclusive and that are based on the child’s interest and strengths.

Communicaton Mana Reo – We recognize that language is an integral and vital aspect of cultural identity. Along with incorporating te reo Maori in daily practice, we will support development of our tamariki’s cultural identities by acknowledging their first language and attempting to use at least a few works/phrases in communication with them. We will also respect non-verbal communication from our youngest tamariki by being sensitive to their cues/body language and responding appropriately.

Exploration Mana Aoturoa – We recognize that children are sensory learners and that they learn through active exploration of our environment. We will provide learning environments that are physically safe, emotionally nurturing and cognitively challenging, which will support children in making sense of their world.

We acknowledge the importance of gross and fine motor development in the early years and we will give tamariki plenty of time and space to move and explore and develop skills which will be foundational to all future learning and development. We value resilience as a desired attribute and we will foster this by supporting tamariki in risk recognition, evaluation and management within an environment that is safe yet provides a manageable degree of challenge.

We believe that children are active learners and therefore we provide them with a stimulating, encouraging, challenging and literacy rich environment.

We aim to provide an environment where our tamariki learn through establishing trusting and positive relationships with other children, family/whanau and the community.

We embrace a Whanaungatanga and acknowledge Manaakitanga to support children, teachers and all families to become aware of our culturally diverse community.

We believe in guiding and facilitating children’s learning in an inclusive environment.