Our Rooms
Active Explorers Melville has four separate rooms to cater for children at each age and stage. Keen advocates of the tuakana/teina buddy concept, children also have the opportunity to develop relationships with children of other ages, through mixed age play in our awesome outdoor areas.
Tui Room
This cosy, nurturing space is home to our youngest Active Explorers, aged from birth to around 18 months. In the Tui room we focus on and cater for each tamaiti (child’s) holistic needs. Once their hearts are settled, their minds are ready to learn.
We follow tamariki interests and provide them with the time and space to progress at their own pace. Play based activities and resources all contribute to their social and emotional development as well as literacy and numeracy development. We also focus on developing good learning dispositions such as curiosity, determination and problem solving. Having these dispositions from a young age will form a firm foundation that leads to positive attitudes and lifelong learning.
The Tui Room daily routine is solely dependent on each individual tamaiti. During the transition visits, whaanau will be asked to fill out routine forms so we know what your tamaiti does at home, and we will do our absolute best to do the same here so there is continuity and familiarity.
In the Tui room we stress the importance of working in partnership with whaanau (families). As kaiako (teacher’s) we may be the expert in resources, but we know that whaanau are the experts of their tamaiti, so together we can provide the best care and education for your baby. We love whaanau involvement in all aspects, ranging from whaanau feedback to centre events, and everything in between!
Pukeko Room
The Pukeko Room is home to our tamariki (children) aged from 18 months to 3 years. Here the kaiako support tamariki through provocations, these come in many different forms but are intended to provoke thoughts, idea’s and actions based on the interest’s of the tamariki. Kaiako provide the space and resources for play, based on tamariki individual interests and needs. Tamariki take lead of the provocations and form their own play and learning, and kaiako respond and extend this based on observations and cues. This supports tamariki to have the time to develop their own play, make their own choices and follow their own interests. As tamariki become aware of their own capabilities, strengths and weaknesses, they begin to test their own limits through physical, social and emotional experiences.
We have set meal times where tamariki fostered to take part in this routine as they wash their own hands, sit at the kai (food) table, communicate when they are finished or want more kai and to clean up after themselves, all skills for life. We also support tamariki individual routines through rolling sleep, this means that our sleep room is available for tamariki at all times of the day based on their needs and whaanau wishes.
Within the Pukeko Room we focus on tamariki dispositional and social and emotional learning. Learning dispositions are characteristics or attitudes to learning that are life skills. These are used to understand tamariki ability to be self-motivated and be lifelong learners in a changing world. We strive to develop the confidence and independence of each of our tamariki to be competent and responsible for themselves and their belongings. This occurs through tamaiti led learning where kaiako are noticing, recognising and responding to the tamariki individual interests and needs, creating a learning journey that is documented and supported on a daily basis.
Each tamaiti has a profile book where all their learning notes, plans and stories are kept. These are also uploaded onto StoryPark for quick access.
We believe in learning through play, allowing tamariki the time and space to develop theories and understanding of the many aspects of their wider world through imagination, creativity and active exploration.
Whaanau voice and aspirations play a large role in our tamariki learning journey. We look forward to working in partnership with whaanau of the tamariki in our care, to have conversations and share experiences to understand each tamaiti holistically.
Kea Room and Kakapo Room
Our Kea and Kakapo rooms cater for our older and energetic 3 to 5 years old tamariki (children), as they gently move towards their next step, into primary school education.
Our philosophy is to build on our tamariki individuality, through carful communication via their whaanau (family) so that aspirations for their tamariki can be used to create an individual plan that will support both learning and their social and emotional development. Through building upon each tamaiti (child’s) individuality, each kaiako (teacher) will then monitor and maintain support systems in order boost not only their confidence, but to also create lifelong learners, with the skills they will need, for their next steps in life (i.e., centre, home, school, home, relationship, sports, friendships and so on). To celebrate these milestones, our commitment to building good and solid relationships with whaanau and our community, are of high importance, and are encouraged centre wide from the day you start, until the day you leave. Through our curriculum, we enjoy not only observing, but also witnessing change, and the development that our tamariki bring to the centre via their own individual, and group learning interactions daily.
We are honoured daily to witness your tamaiti growth, develop and for their social and emotional welfare to be nurtured by their peers, as well as their kaiako.
However, the above can only be achieved with both our parent, and whaanau support, for their tamaiti best outcome in life.
“Together we raise a child, together we walk hand in hand, and together, we become one”
