Lake Okareka Preschool

We are fortunate to work alongside our Rotorua East primary schools and early childhood centres to learn our local pūrakau, whakapapa and make connections to our whenua. As a collective we have already produced two wonderful books retelling the story of Ko Whakapoungākau te Pae Maunga and Īhenga – The Name Giver using art and illustrations from our tamariki.

Ra whānau ki a King Charles 🫅
Happy birthday King Charles 🎂
This year we celebrated King Charles' birthday by making feijoa muffins, royal crowns, the British flag and all topped off with a Royal high tea. Hip hip hooray 🥳

Our tamariki have been learning our new pūrakau: Uenukukōpako and his Kuri. Our tamariki do not just listen to the story but live it through art, multimedia, drama and much more bringing the story to life.

Happy Mother's Day for yesterday. We hope all our mums enjoyed learning about yourselves through the eyes of your own child. There were some lovely answers 🙂🙂

A BIG thank you to Birch Built and Hodgson Plumbing for our amazing new water tank for the sandpit. We can now collect rainwater teaching our tamariki about the water cycle, conservation and sustainability, fostering an early sense of environmental responsibility becoming kaitiaki, guardians of our Preschool. 😊

Celebrating Anzac Day tamariki have been learning about remembering our soldiers at war who served with courage, bravery and resilience to protect us. A special treat was to make and enjoy some yummy Anzac biscuits.
Did you know Anzac biscuits are oat-based treats famously linked to World War I, believed to have been sent by families and women’s groups to Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers due to their long shelf-life, as they contained no eggs.

Wishing everyone a very hoppy Easter. 🐰🐰🐰🐇🐇🐇

Last week we celebrated Eid al fitr with Kaia and her whānau. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the month-long, dawn-to-dusk fasting during Ramadan and is one of the most important Islamic celebrations. It begins with a communal prayer and is followed by visits to relatives, giving gifts, and sharing meals. Thank you Kaia and whānau for sharing your special celebration with us😊

Crankworx Ōkāreka style, a fun week of wheels

From our orchard to our table, fresh apple pies. Yum yum in our tum 🍎😃