Educare Okara

Educare Okara Educare Okara offer a unique open plan design where the tamariki and whānau can learn, laugh and play

💙 Celebrating Father’s Day 💙A little treat is waiting for you in Reception! Grab one when you are in the centre today or...
04/09/2026

💙 Celebrating Father’s Day 💙

A little treat is waiting for you in Reception! Grab one when you are in the centre today or Monday. Whether you’re celebrating a Dad, Stepdad, Grandad, father figure, or someone special in your life, we hope you enjoy your day on Sunday.

Ngā mihi
The Okara team

📚 Literacy month 📚This month we have been celebrating literacy by exploring a different book each week in each room.📖 Te...
31/08/2026

📚 Literacy month 📚

This month we have been celebrating literacy by exploring a different book each week in each room.

📖 Teina favourites: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Row Kiwi Row Your Boat, Stinkosaurus and Maranga Mai.

📖 Tuakana favourites: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Nee Naw, Pete the Cat and The Three Little Pigs.

We have taken literacy beyond simply reading stories, extending each book through meaningful provocations where tamariki could explore characters, recreate storylines, engage in imaginative play, express their ideas through art, and connect stories to their own experiences.

We also enjoyed a book character dress up day, and a special trip to our local library. Literacy is woven into our everyday curriculum through our daily mat-time rituals, where we come together for stories, waiata, puppets, conversations and karakia before kai. These experiences support tamariki to develop their language, communication, listening and social skills, while building strong foundations for their future learning and transition to school.

✨ MEET THE KAIAKO MONDAY ✨
31/08/2026

✨ MEET THE KAIAKO MONDAY ✨

A trip to our local library 📚 Today we took a small group of 4 year olds to the library. This trip was an awesome way fo...
28/08/2026

A trip to our local library 📚

Today we took a small group of 4 year olds to the library. This trip was an awesome way for us to wrap up literacy month and have the chance to go pick out some new books to take back to the centre.
A highlight of the trip for the tamariki was going to the cafe and enjoying a yummy fluffy before heading back to the centre ✨

📚✨ Book Character Dress-Up Day! ✨📚What a magical way to celebrate our love of books and literacy at Okara! We had SO man...
21/08/2026

📚✨ Book Character Dress-Up Day! ✨📚

What a magical way to celebrate our love of books and literacy at Okara! We had SO many awesome costumes today, with some of our tamariki and whānau going the extra mile to hand-make some amazing costumes! We loved seeing all the creativity and favourite book characters come to life.

Throughout August, we’ve been celebrating literacy across our rooms, focusing on a favourite book each week and bringing stories to life through reading, waiata, puppets, art experiences, provocations and lots of opportunities to extend and explore the learning within each story.

And we’re not quite finished yet! Next week, we’ll be wrapping up our literacy focus with an exciting trip to our local library!

Hikoi to our local Pataka Kai 🍊This morning a group of 8 Tuakana tamariki went on a hikoi to our local community Pataka ...
18/08/2026

Hikoi to our local Pataka Kai 🍊

This morning a group of 8 Tuakana tamariki went on a hikoi to our local community Pataka Kai to drop off some fruit. We also visited the little library nearby, and chose some books to bring back and enjoy together at the centre. On our way back we had a play on the Morningside playground, collected some leaves for our loose parts play, and even spotted a swan plant! We were lucky enough to see a chrysalis, caterpillar and a butterfly! What an exciting discovery. A lovely morning of connecting with our community, exploring our local environment and learning together 📚☀️

A spontaneous hikoi to morningside sports park 🛝Today we only had a few friends in Teina so we thought we would take the...
13/08/2026

A spontaneous hikoi to morningside sports park 🛝

Today we only had a few friends in Teina so we thought we would take them along for a little hikoi to our local sports park. The tamariki loved having the opportunity to get out of the centre, explore the playground, go down the slides, explore the tunnels, go on the swings and splash in the puddles of water 😊

A trip to Woolworths to recycle our soft plastics ♻️This month we have encouraged Plastic Free July, our centre collecte...
31/07/2026

A trip to Woolworths to recycle our soft plastics ♻️

This month we have encouraged Plastic Free July, our centre collected and recycled all of the soft plastics from tamariki lunchboxes. Today four of our Tuakana tamariki joined us on a trip to Woolworths to place the bags into the dedicated soft plastics recycling bins.

This was a wonderful opportunity for the tamariki to take part in a meaningful sustainability initiative and learn about the importance of being Kaitiaki. We look forward to continuing to collect soft plastics at our centre and making recycling an ongoing part of our commitment to caring for our environment.

🚑 Ambulance Visit 🚑Today we were excited to welcome Hayleigh from St John in Schools back to our centre to present our t...
29/07/2026

🚑 Ambulance Visit 🚑

Today we were excited to welcome Hayleigh from St John in Schools back to our centre to present our tamariki with the Courage in Action Award, recognising their bravery and calmness during a recent event. Our tamariki had the opportunity to try on the St John vests, explore the ambulance, and learn more about the important role our emergency services play in the community. To top it off, each child received a special pack to take home. A huge thank you to Hayleigh and the St John team for taking the time to visit us and celebrate our amazing tamariki.

A hikoi to Hummingbird Retirement Village ✨Today we took a small group of Teina and Tuakana tamariki up to our local ret...
24/07/2026

A hikoi to Hummingbird Retirement Village ✨

Today we took a small group of Teina and Tuakana tamariki up to our local retirement village. While we were there we performed the songs we had practiced for our Matariki whānau night and read some of our favourite pukapuka too. This was a good opportunity to strengthen our community relationships and for our tamariki to visit our elder e hoa for a change, as they often come to visit us at the centre! Hummingbird House - Memory Care Facility

Address

17 Jellicoe Street, Morningside
Whangarei
0110

Opening Hours

Monday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Friday 7:30am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+64279748811

Website

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