Coastlands Preschool caters for children aged zero to five years old. We have three separate learning areas - one for infants and toddlers, and two for toddlers (over two years old) and young children. Each of these learning areas has two spacious inside areas and a large outdoor space.

We run transitioning programmes so children move easily to their next educational setting, whether that is going into the next room or entering school.

Values are embedded into the centre philosophy. These values help children develop respect, honesty, kindness and perseverance.

At Coastlands Preschool the ratio of children to staff is kept low and quality teaching is always in place. A low turnover of staff has ensured all of our children are familiar with their teachers. This has led to enriched relationships and a firm sense of belonging. Our Education Review supports this aspect of our centre.

We would love to see you, so come along for a visit, and see for yourself what a fantastic environment we have. We welcome you to visit any time, any day.

The Child

The child is at the centre of all that we do. Caring and nurturing relationships instil a sense of self worth and optimism within our tamariki. Our infants and young children are allowed to unfold naturally in an environment that encourages natural movement and growth, at their own pace. We recognise the urges that children have and provide opportunities for these to be carried out. 

The Environment

We view the the environment in which our children play and learn as the third teacher. By providing resources to promote creativity, experimentation and open ended play, our children are limited only by their imagination. We appreciate the beauty of the natural environment and recognise the importance of allowing children to spend time in this, both in and out of the centre.

Values

We believe having, and displaying, values is important to be a well rounded individual. Our values are modelled by our kaiako in all that they do. 

Respect - To treat yourself, others and the world around you with courtesy and care

Kindness and Compassion - To help and show concern and empathy for, and be friendly to, others. 

Honesty and truthfulness - To make the truth known

Responsibility - To know, and do, what is expected

Play

Children learn best through play. We give them unhurried, uninterrupted time to become engrossed in their own play. Through their play our tamariki gain confidence and develop the ability to assess, and take, risks. Our kaiako are observers, rather than participants, of our children’s play ensuring the play is truly child led.

Relationships

Strong, caring and respectful relationships ensure our tamariki, whanau and kaiako gain a sense of belonging at our centre. We acknowledge the importance of kanohi ki te kanohi; respectful face to face communication with children, whanau and teachers. Our key kaiako system, ensures children and whanau develop a deep connection and attachment, which is vital to feeling comfortable at our centre.

Curriculum 

We adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and acknowledge that Aotearoa has three languages; Te Reo Māori, English and New Zealand Sign Language. Te Whāriki is the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum and is the basis of all that we do. Teachers keep up to date with current trends and research in order to ensure we are providing the best education possible. By having no rosters we are able to ensure that teachers are child focused.

Top

We work for you and with you…

• We understand that children need time to settle in a new environment so we offer free short visits when transitioning into the centre

• We know that life happens and that, on occasion, you made need to change your child’s set hours or days. We try to be as flexible as possible with this and, in most cases, do not charge you for these changes

• We also know that on occasion you may be running late, or need to drop your child off early. If you check with us and we have the staff for this, we will not charge a late/early fee for this

• We know that children need a holiday too, so we offer two weeks holiday discount where we only charge you 50%

• We believe that family is important and that you want to spend as much time together as possible. So, when we close for two weeks over the Christmas holidays we do not charge you. Similarly, we do not charge you when we close on public holidays

• We know that no-one wants a big bill to pay so we invoice weekly to keep your costs smaller

Amazing Kaiako...

• On any given day, usually over 90% of our required staff are trained teachers - ensuring that your child is getting a quality education

• All our teachers (both trained and untrained) attend regular Professional Development to ensure we are up to date with best practice and are able to offer your child the best education possible

• Low staff turnover

• Teachers have fixed days and hours -  your child will bond with the same teachers who work with them each day

Programme...

• A focus on free play as we all know that tamariki learn best through play

• A wide range of activities to develop and extend your child

• An ever developing loose parts culture

• Meal time rituals

• Excellent transition programmes

Environment...

• Situated by the sea - your child will get lots of fresh air

• Large indoor and outdoor areas - almost twice what is required so your child has space to play and learn

• Flower and vegetable gardens - created with and for the children

• Fruit trees for

• Access to the adjacent school fields and playgrounds

• SPACE - Our large spaces mean we we are allowed to have nearly twice as many children attending than we actually do. This means more space for your child to play in

Opening Hours

Open from 7.30am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.

We are open all year round except for a two-week break over Christmas/New Year.

We are closed on public holidays and have one teacher only day a year for which we are closed.

Enrolment

Information packs can be picked up from the centre.

To put your child on our waitlist, click on the ‘Enrol’ link in the website menu and complete the online form. We will then be in touch.

There is a maximum number of children we enrol in each room. This is to ensure the children have a spacious environment to play and learn in. If there is not a place available for your child we can put them on our waiting list.  

Policies and Procedures

Coastlands Preschool has a Policies and Procedures manual which guides our practice. The manual can be found in the centre and is available to be downloaded here.

As part of our commitment to the Children’s Act 2014 we have a comprehensive Child Protection Policy. This can be found in the above manual or as a stand-alone document here.

Visiting

We run an open door policy - come along and see us any day, any time. No need to call up first.

Settling

We understand that it can be daunting for children (and their parents) when they begin in an unfamiliar environment. We work with you to ensure this transition is as smooth as possible. We require you to bring your child for settling visits before they begin. For our younger children we require that you do nine visits, for children in Rūma Kiwi and Pukeko we do six visits . Please read our settling policy (in your information pack) for more information about settling.

Meal Times

Each rūma has set times throughout the day where tamariki sit to eat their food. There is always at least one kaiako sitting with tamariki while they eat, and often more. We believe this encourages a healthy relationship with food and is a good time for our busy children to have some rest. Meal times are also when children participate in meal time rituals.

We encourage healthy eating at our centre and prefer you to send your child with plenty of suitable food such as sandwiches, fruit, vegetables and cheese and crackers. We are happy to heat up food in our microwave.

In order to reduce our ‘footprint’ on the Earth, we try to reduce our waste. As such, please limit packaging in your child’s lunchbox.

We encourage our children to drink water and we ask that a water bottle is brought to the centre each day. The water bottle can be refilled with the filtered, cooled water available at centre. Aside from bottles of milk, water is the only drink we allow in the centre.