344 Gardiners Road, Harewood, Christchurch 8051
Our lovely 1880's villa is located on Gardiners Road (close to the corner of Johns Road) in a large country garden with plenty of room for children to run and play.
The Preschool has three separate areas - a spacious nursery for under two year olds, a Preschool room for two to three and a half year olds and a Prepschool for the older children. All areas have access to covered verandahs and separate spacious playgrounds.
The Education Review Office (ERO) visited us in January 2020. They loved our "thoughtfully planned, easily accessible indoor and outdoor environments" that "invite children to explore nature, and imaginatively create and experience challenge". They said "teachers know each child well and respond thoughtfully and appropriately to their emerging preferences and interests"and "children are well supported and encouraged to make choices and decisions about their learning
Our infants and toddlers from birth to two years are offered a variety of experiences in our warm, nurturing and spacious environment. The outdoor area includes an undercover deck, perfect for getting outside on rainy days.
Our Nursery has a separate sleep room, a self contained kitchen and a spacious toileting and nappy changing area. Our sunny indoor environment provides infants and toddlers with opportunities to explore safe learning and development with the support and guidance of our experienced teachers.
The daily routine includes opportunities for art, baking, messy play, stories and music, exploring nature and natural play as well as mat times when we come together to sing songs and read stories.
Our teachers practice primary care giving in the nursery which puts an emphasis on building relationships and respecting each child's individual routine. All other teachers are familiar with each child's routines and can easily take over when the primary carer is away.
Our Preschool room offers seperate spaces inside and out for children from two to approximately three and a half years of age. It allows children a place to grow and learn during a time when they are changing and developing so much. Our ratios in the Preschool range between one teacher to four children to one teacher to seven children. This is much lower than legal required ratios of two staff to 20 children.
With these great ratios we can support the children to develop independence and build relationships.
Our Preschool outdoor environment is large offering access to a covered deck for rainy days, an oversize sandpit, bike track, a fort to climb and slide down as well as swings and spaces to explore. We set up equipment and resources to accommodate children's interests and stage of development.
Our inside space has easy access to the bathroom and provides children with a quiet, calm environment to sleep on stretcher beds after lunch if needed and a fireplace to keep us warm and cosy in winter.
Our daily routine includes group times with stories, music and movement. We carefully plan experiences in the indoor and outdoor environments that your child can enjoy during free play such as art, family corner play, construction, playdough, water and sand play etc.
Our programme caters for our older children, inspiring a love of learning, confidence and respect for each other, our resources and the environment. We teach children self help skills and independence and liase with local primary schools to ensure a smooth transition to school.
Our daily routine includes "Mini Groups" where the children are split into three different groups relating to their age and stage of development. This is an opportunity to share news and focus on activities such as maths and literacy skills, cutting and pencil control. Our older children focus on getting ready for school with independence and self help skills.
Our lunchtime group is a chance for all the children to come together and enjoy music and movement and stories etc. We also work on learning strategies for active exploration.
Afternoon group promotes physical activity including music and movement, drama and group games.
During our free play time children experience a variety of art activities and resources to support individual learning covering the 16 areas of play. Our teachers carefully plan the indoor and outdoor environments to ensure the children are extended.
Poppies Preschool Philosophy – Gardiners Road
Poppies Preschool is a welcoming and nurturing ‘home away from home.’Children, whānau, and kaiako experience a great sense of belonging. Whanaungatanga is highly valued, as we build strong relationships withwhānau, listening to their aspirations, seeking their wealth of skills and knowledge, and working together to maximise the success of our akonga. We embrace the Māori concept of kaitiakitanga, where we teach the tamarki tobe guardians of the land, respecting it and learning about sustainability. Weharness our spacious rural environment and natural resources and acknowledgethat the land provides many rich learning opportunities.We aim to provide mokopuna with a culturally responsive environment, upholding tikanga, drawing upon Māori values and concepts and celebrating ourdiverse and unique backgrounds and identities.
At the heart of our vision are the tamariki. They guide our programme throughtheir great sense of curiosity and wonder. Influenced by Te Whāriki, kaiakoextend children’s learning through a range of teaching strategies, supporting them to reach their immense potential and to share our love of learning.We believe in nurturing the children’s well-being, building on their emotional competence. We aspire for our akonga to value their identity and culture, displaying positive self-esteem and demonstrating self-respect.“Ko te ahurei o te tamaiti arahia o totou mahi” – ‘Let the uniqueness of the child guide our work.
Our Programme
Our programme is based on the curriculum for early childhood centres - Te Whaariki. We provide the children with opportunities to explore the 16 areas of play. We carefully plan our indoor and outdoor environments to meet the children's individual learning goals providing them with stimulating and fun activities. The Nursery, Preschool room and Preproom each have a monthly focus coming from the children's interests. Our focus of learning each month relates to the children's interests or happenings within our environment. Planned experiences include dress up days, excursions out into the community and carefully planned activities to extend children's learning.
Profile Books
Each child at Poppies has their own profile book which is a record of their learning journey. The profile books contain learning notes, photos, milestone achievements and learning goals for each child. Teachers then use teaching strategies to support children's learning and development to meet goals. Progress and outcomes are documented through learning stories.
Your child's learning is also recorded online through an app called Storypark. Through Storypark you can easily see what your child has been up too, you can contribute and share their learning with extended family members.
Transition to School Programme
At Poppies we work to ensure your child's transition to school is as smooth as possible by fostering independence, and encouraging children to take responsibility for themselves and their belongings.
In the mornings the older children take part in "getting ready for school mini group". This group time focuses on ensuring the children are ready for school. We work on the five key concepts of maths, literacy, self help skills, social skills and children's choice.
We have good relationships with local primary schools regularly visiting the main schools we feed into. We are also part of the local Community of Learning COL.
"Both my children have been at Poppies since it opened. During that time they have grown, learnt and had experiences that we are both grateful for. They have loved attending and the staff have always been fabulous accommodating to their needs...We cannot thank you all enough for what you have provided for our children."
"A huge thank you to each and every one of you for contributing to making Lucia's Preschool years as wonderful as they have been. We appreciate everything you have done for her-both big and small. We won't forget these really special years and the wonderful people we have met along the way."
