Te Whare Aroha O Nga Mokopuna Early Childhood Centre

08/09/2026

Our tamariki have been fascinated by the tiny creatures that share our environment (especially the worms!) and have been busy creating special spaces to encourage even more bugs and insects to visit.

They have been designing and building bug hotels, carefully thinking about what their little visitors might like, as well as creating playdough gardens for bugs to explore.

There has been plenty of excitement, curiosity and conversations as we wonder together… Who might move into our bug hotels and what we may discover in our playground next? 🐜🕷️🐝🌿

02/09/2026

Mahuru Māori is almost here whānau......

01/09/2026

Last Friday, was make your own sandwich day. Our tamariki did an amazing job and needed very little support from Kaiako. Such capable and confident tamariki who took their job seriously, and were so proud of themselves and their efforts - and rightly so too! Ka pai tamariki mā!

22/08/2026

To wrap up both Tongan Language Week and NZ Book Week, why not incorporate both by sharing this wonderful book by Sosaia Fifita!

"Memories of Growing Up in Tonga" 📚🇹🇴

Our commitment to preserving our Pacific cultures and langauges, ex...

22/08/2026

One of the Tongan waiata we learnt this week :) How about learning it as a whānau in celebration of Tongan Language Week!!

Tongan Welcome SongWritten and composed by Siu Williams-LemiVocal...

22/08/2026

This week in Ngā Kākano, we Celebrated Uike Kātoanga’i ’o e Lea Faka-Tonga -Tongan Language Week. It was an awesome cultural experience for our tamariki and kaiako!

This year’s theme was "Ko 'etau hiva, ko e fe'unu mahu'inga ia ki he mo'ui 'a e Tonga" meaning our music is a vital strand of our Tongan culture. This year's theme, plus the tongan flag guided our learning for the week. We used warm Tongan greetings, recited Tongan lotu for our kai, had Tongan music on all day to dance and groove along to, we used red paint, had red sand with niu and tu'auli. We literally painted the world RED!!

Here are a few simple words and phrases we shared this week. Give them a try at home.

Mālō e lelei! (Hello!)

Fēfē Koe? (How are You)

Sai pē (I'm fine)

Kai (Food/Eat)

Inu (Drink)

Mohe (Sleep)

Mālō 'aupito to the Ofa whānau for supporting our journey through music and language this week!

21/08/2026

Today, we wrapped up NZ Children's Book Week with a book character dress up day. Some of our tamariki also bought along their favourite books from home to share at mat time. Was such a fun day!

10/08/2026

Last week we celebrated 'Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki 'Airani' - Cook Islands Māori Language Week.

Thank you to our Cook Islands kōpū tangata who shared their tamariki, 'Akapapa'anga'. We enjoyed finding their villages and Islands on our map and seeing who else was from the same places and near by. So many connections made.

We enjoyed yummy kai - tropical fruit smoothies and Chop Suey, shared books (traditional legends) and sung our favorite songs - tamariki loved singing Lua Lima and learning the actions. We also created amazing Tivaevae inspired art work and made our very own volcanic island.

We finished off our week with our Te Whare Aroha Cook Islands concert which we spent all week practicing for. Willow lead the concert and had all our tamariki up and dancing. Our boys did a great job on the drums too.

Pākau!

05/08/2026

Notice for Whānau: Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease

Kia ora e te whānau,

We are writing to inform you that we have had a few cases of Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease reported within our centre.

Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease is a common, highly contagious viral illness that mostly affects young tamariki. To help keep all our tamariki, kaiako, and whaanau healthy, please take a moment to review the exclusion guidelines below.

Exclusion Period:
Tamariki must stay home until all blisters have fully dried out/crusted over and they are feeling well enough to comfortably participate in daily centre activities.

(Note: If blisters are on areas that can be fully covered and your child is otherwise bright and well, exclusion may not be strictly necessary, but keeping them home until blisters dry is the safest approach for stopping transmission).

Nga mihi nui,
Te Whare Aroha Kaiako and Tamariki

Send a message to learn more

09/07/2026

💫Manawatia a Matariki 🥰💫

What a tu meke couple of weeks we have had. Tamariki have been learning all about Matariki through arts and crafts, waiata, and purakau.

We have enjoyed preparing and sharing Kai together, decorating our space and making it feel extra special and celebrating this special time of year with friends and whānau.

Enjoy your day today whānau.