Te Whāriki Curriculum in Early Learning: What your child will learn at our Westgate and Huapai Daycare Centres

Making the decision about whether to send your child to daycare or not can be a really tough choice. Here in Aotearoa, we have a number of really compelling reasons why going to daycare should be a priority for your child’s development. 

When choosing how to educate your child, you want to make sure that your child is getting the absolute best care they can have, as well as ensuring their development will be supported throughout the day. 

Here at Kiddywinkles, the learning and development of children is supported by the national Te Whāriki curriculum. All children interact with play equipment and each other in order to begin to develop some of the life skills they will need further down the track. 

Choosing to go to a daycare can provide access to trained teachers who are experienced at using the Te Whāriki curriculum to help guide your child’s development. 

What is the Te Whāriki curriculum? 

The Te Whāriki curriculum is the national standard of early childhood education. It has been carefully crafted by some of the finest minds in Aotearoa, and has been designed as a framework in order to help guide children’s development. 

The whole curriculum is quite a long read, but in summary, it is a tool to help guide children in meeting their developmental milestones, while learning about and interacting with their Māori culture. All children will gain principles of empowerment, development, family and community, and relationships from the programme. 

The curriculum is organised into five strands, each focusing on a separate area of child development. Together, these five strands create a holistic view of development, and promote a well-rounded and well educated child. 

Wellbeing

The first strand is wellbeing, and this simply focuses on ensuring that the physical and mental health and wellbeing of our children are protected within their learning environments. Nurturing the health of children can look like providing nutritious meals for energy, and having First Aid trained teachers to help look after any injuries or illnesses. 

Belonging

Creating a sense of belonging is the second strand of Te Whāriki, and is especially important for developing confidence and respect for each other’s differences. This is particularly important with respect to cultural beliefs and practices, meaning that centres can focus on providing safe spaces and engaging in inclusive language and events. 

Contribution

The third strand of Te Whāriki is contribution, and this strand focuses on valuing the contribution that each child is able to make towards their own learning. Each child has the right to equal opportunities to make those contributions towards their own learning, so centres should focus on having enough staff and adequate support to provide these opportunities. 

Communication

This strand focuses on protecting and promoting the use of language and symbols of our own and other cultures. Te Reo Māori and other languages should be in prominent use throughout the centre, to help provide multicultural aspects to the child’s learning as well as providing opportunities for children to engage with their own cultures. 

Exploration

Much of the learning done by children at this young age is done through play, and through exploration of their environment. This strand focuses on providing a safe and fun environment to allow children to follow their natural instincts to engage with the natural world, and learn how they are able to create or interact with the objects around them. 

How does Kiddywinkles incorporate Te Whāriki?

Incorporating the principles of Te Whāriki ensures that a learning centre can be trusted to guide the development of your child in an appropriate way. Kiddywinkles employs qualified early childhood educators who are trained to use the guiding strands to Te Whāriki. 

Wellbeing

Kiddywinkles always ensures the wellbeing of each child within our centres, using nutritious meal plans to cater for any child who is there for over four hours each day. We also have strong health and safety plans to ensure a safe environment. 

Belonging

Fostering a sense of belonging is extremely important to us, and this is done through incorporating multicultural beliefs into our everyday lives at our centres. Te Reo Māori is a core part of our every day routine. See our testimonials for how parents have found a real sense of belonging within our communities.  

Contribution

Our Teacher to child ratio is much better than Ministry requirements which allows the children opportunities to engage with their own learning and contribute to the direction of their own education. 

Communication

Engaging with Te Reo Māori, and other languages for the cultures found within our centres is a key part of our learning system, as well as promoting the language and development of our children through play. 

Exploration

Each child is able to explore learning through books, storytelling, games, music, movement, creative or manipulative play, physical or constructive play and cognitive games. These games have been designed with education in mind and are carried out by our educators to enhance the development of young minds.