Wadestown Kindergarten

31/08/2026

26/08/2026

‘I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream’! It’s delicious heaven at Wadestown Kindergarten this week. Look at us making our own fresh ice cream with yummy ingredients, intentionally providing hands-on learning opportunities following tamariki’s interests in imaginative ice cream shop play.

A great way to encourage learning in all areas of the curriculum is to get your tamaiti in the kitchen, helping with food preparation, cooking and baking etc. Food preparation offers a meaningful and natural context for tamariki’s learning, and it is something that you can do everyday!

19/08/2026

Greetings from your future galaxy Kaiako of Wadestown Kindergarten! Please take a moment to read and make positive impact on our precious little ones’ future.

The proposed changes to funding within Early Childhood Education (ECE) will have a wide-reaching effect on everyone who accesses ECE or works as a qualified registered teacher, especially those working in not-for-profit centers (such as kindergartens) or those who actively and intentional hire 100% qualified teachers.

What is clear is that education is not valued in the right way by the current government, with special focus on changing the ECE landscape despite research that supports just how vital education in the early years is!

The impact of these proposed changes will have a significant effect on the fully qualified, fully registered teachers, some of us may lose our jobs - especially if they remove the funding provided for 100% qualified teachers, others could be paid minimum wage with the removal of ALL pay parity (so not just pay parity between private and public ECE, but the pay parity that Kindergarten has with primary).

We have a world leading ECE Curriculum Te Whāriki, yet it feels that we’re not worthy of being called teachers, our bachelor's degrees are not held in high regard, and we can simply be replaced by the untrained, unqualified and inexperienced person.

This government believes that your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren and your mokopuna are not worthy of qualified teachers, or of sufficient funding to do our jobs. This government and the funding review are not even looking at the mass amounts of profit that are being made by large private ECE companies in this country.

We love our jobs! We love TEACHING your tamariki, supporting & helping them grow into strong capable learners but if this government is elected again, it is highly possible that all of this will change, and quickly too.

You and your tamariki matter to us, and because of this we strongly encourage you to enrol to vote (and please vote), ask questions and talk to people about the impact this could have on your whānau and the people that matter to you.

14/08/2026

🚸🔅📣Spaces Available at Wadestown Kindergarten! With 20 hours free for all tamariki- including under 3's.

If you’re looking for a safe and nurturing early learning environment, we’d love to welcome you and your child 🌿

What makes our kindergarten special:
✅ 20 Hours FREE ECE for ALL children - including 2-year-olds.
✅ 100% qualified teachers
✅ Learning through Te Whāriki - Aotearoa's world-leading early childhood curriculum.

🏠 Visit us at 45 Oban Street, Wadestown

📞 Call 04 4722227 to register your interest today!

10/08/2026

Koa moments in the sensory experience! Sensory activities stimulate tamariki's senses through touch, smell, sight, sound, and movement. This type of play builds nerve connections in the brain, supports language development, strengthens motor skills, and helps children calm down and manage big emotions💓

05/08/2026

Cook Islands Māori Language Week ('Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki 'Āirani) is celebrated at our kindergarten. The official theme for 2026 is “Me kite koe i te tuatua i to'ou reo tupuna, e turanga rangatira tena nō'ou no te uki amuri atu” — With our language as our foundation, we will embrace the future.

Aotearoa is home to a large Cook Islands community, making annual events, school programs, and cultural displays widespread across the country. Purpose of this event is to promote, celebrate, and preserve te reo Māori Kūki 'Āirani and encourage younger generations to connect with their linguistic roots.

31/07/2026

This week at kindergarten we explored multiple ways to recreate our favourite story The Tiger Who Came to Tea as well as We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. Tamariki enjoyed using props to act out the story lines and adding their personal touches. What a great demonstration of our kindergarten philosophy Ako (reciprocal learning and teaching) and Koa (having fun)!

Recreating a child's favorite story helps boost language skills, deepens emotional understanding, and builds strong memory. Recreating favorite stories offers powerful developmental benefits for young children, as this supports language and literacy growth, cognitive development, social and emotional skills, physical and creative expression.

27/07/2026

HAVE YOU ENROLLED TO VOTE IN THIS YEARS ELECTION?

🟠We have enrolment forms available at kindergarten.
🟠You can update your details by clicking the QR code at kindergarten.
🟠You can also enrol online by clicking the same QR code.
🟠Everyone must be enrolled by October 25th if you want to vote.

Enrol early so you’re ready to vote!

24/07/2026

What a beautiful shared Koa moment of creative constructions! Amazing achievement and collaboration with some valuable trial and error together:)

Building blocks in early years provide vital developmental benefits, specifically enhancing fine motor skills, cognitive problem-solving, and social cooperation.

16/07/2026

As we work on supporting our hauora / health we have been considering ways to slow down and be aware of our bodies and our taha hinengaro/emotions. This has lead us to develop a space for us to calm and quiet ourselves. As we discussed this space with our tamariki we talked about wanting to come up with a name for it. The kaiako had been brainstorming and researching options in te reo Māori so one of our tamariki suggested Kaiwharawhara. This showed an amazing link between our tangata whenuatanga/localised curriculum through our pepeha along with our knowledge about regulating ourselves through nature. The name we have selected links to this. This name is wāhi marino which has a literal translation of “calm location or tranquil area (often used for peaceful, still waters or undisturbed weather)”. Our hope that this space will be like being by our awa, helping us calm and centre ourselves.