134 Wales Street, Halswell, Christchurch 8025
You’ll find our kindergarten nestled in the heart of the Halswell community, for children from the age of two years and their families. Kidsfirst Kindergartens Wales St is a meeting place for our community, and we often have many generations of local Halswell families bringing their children in to experience kindergarten at its best!
This is an environment supportive of the mana, wairua and mauri our tamariki bring when they come to us. Tamariki are encouraged to be mindful and in awe of the world around them, and respectful of the environment they play and learn in.
Our beautiful, big backyard has lots of room for children to explore and to develop their physical skills, with a variety of moveable equipment that allows children to set their own challenges, grass and trees, barked areas, gardens, and equipment specially designed to support children’s physical growth and development. Our big trees provide shelter outside in all weather, and we have peaceful, quiet areas for calm and reflection.
We deliver the New Zealand early childhood curriculum “Te Whāriki”, which strengthens early learning and lays a strong foundation for later success. Our teachers plan programs and focus areas around the children, and their whānau’s aspirations for them, and tamariki are encouraged to contribute to the planning process, giving them a sense of ownership and a voice.
Our experienced teachers will support your child to build relationships with other children and adults, practice sharing and co-operation with others, problem-solve, persist and not give up. Your child will become independent (but not afraid to ask for help), will develop language, literacy and numeracy skills, learn about promoting sustainability, and become culturally aware and confident. And at Wales St we have a strong emphasis on visual arts and physically active play.
You're always welcome here! We support and encourage whānau involvement as much as each individual family is able to give, understanding that today there are often other demands on time. We are here to help each family to find the right balance for them and their child. We love it when visitors come to the kindergarten to extend the children’s interests and learning.
You’ll see us out and about on our regular excursions into our community, exploring our neighbourhood and helping the children to make sense of their place in it. We have strong relationships with the local schools, helping to make your child’s transition to school a smooth one.
We would recommend that you enrol initially for at least two full days – building up to five days at your child's pace. This gives our teachers time to get to know your child and gives some consistency around supporting their learning.
Nau mai, tauti mai - come in any time – we’ll show you around and make you welcome!
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