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Our Mission Statement

Our aim is to help children develop a love of learning in an environment where all children’s contributions are recognised and valued.  We work in partnership with parents and whanau to provide a secure and welcoming environment for our children.

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Our Philosophy

PHSCC is a loving, engaging and inspiring place of learning for our children, parents, whanau and teachers.

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We aspire to create a culture, and teaching and learning environment where:

  • Children flourish;

  • Investigation by children (and adults) is integral to our curriculum, and children and adults demonstrate a passion to explore and learn;

  • Rich, authentic child-led play, is at the heart of our progamme.  We believe that play is the vehicle through which children learn best.

  • Children and family members feel welcome and their culture respected; and

  • Close connections with the wider community are valued and utilised, to extend on children’s interests.

     

    Our number one objective is to provide high quality early childhood education and care. We aspire to live and work by the following values:

  • manaakitanga - be warm, welcoming, caring and hospitable

  • whanaungatanga - foster family relationships and engage whanau in all aspects of our programme

  • respect - for and by children, parents and whanau, teachers, management and community, and respect for our environment

  • engage in careful listening and responsive communication

  • intentional, holistic education

  • empowerment.

  • We acknowledge Te Whariki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum. It guides and inspires everything we do as teachers. Our pedagogy is inspired by Bronfenbrenner, Vygotsky, Pikler, Magda Gerber and Reggio Emilia.

  • We believe in children experiencing the bi-cultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand where Te reo and tikanga Maori are woven into our daily practice.

  • We support the cultural identity of all children, affirming and celebrating cultural differences where children develop a positive awareness of their own and other cultures. 

  • We provide peaceful and consistent ‘educare’ through key teacher relationships.

  • We believe each child has a valuable place within our centre.  We encourage the contributions that each child makes and acknowledge them as confident and competent learners.  Recognition of children’s learning dispositions help us to understand them better, and our hope is that our children develop the skills needed in a technological age, and a lifelong love of learning, as they explore and discover amongst our stimulating environment.

  • We value aesthetics and the natural environment. We aim to support a sustainable environment as an influence on learning.

  • We trust children, believing that all decisions regarding children should begin with consideration for their well-being, thinking and perspectives.

  • We believe learning, leadership and responsibility should be shared amongst everyone in the PHSCC community, including teachers, parents, whanau, children and others, and through this we support older children caring for our younger children.

Infant & Toddler Philosophy

Our children under the age of two are cared for by our primary caregivers who are inspired by Magda Gerber’s Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) philosophy of respectful, peaceful and responsive caregiving where children are free to learn and develop at their own uninterrupted, natural pace. The primary caregivers are supported by staff from the Tui group , whom work in the room regularly, developing secure and familiar relationships with this under twos.

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Respectful Caregiving as Curriculum is the base to our approach.  Because care moments such as dressing, bottle time, nappy changes and going to sleep can be the most important moments in an infant’s day, we place importance on the love and focused attention (TLC!) children receive during these moments.

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Daily routines are determined by both the child’s natural rhythm and their home routine and are flexible to the ever changing needs of the child.  As communication between home and the centre is paramount, individual daily diaries are kept to share this information as well as photographs of their day.

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Through our safe, purpose built environment and consistency of care, the infants and toddlers are secure and settled, giving them the confidence to explore, move and interact freely within their environment and with the people in it.

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As family/whanau involvement is encouraged, we offer opportunities for siblings to spend time together where possible throughout the day. Older siblings are welcomed into the under two's room at times when it is suitable for the under twos and this happens at the discretion of the under two's teachers to ensure as little interruption as possible during care moments for the under twos. Likewise, under twos may visit the older children at the discretion of all team members and where developmentally appropriate.

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Our primary caregivers and other supporting teachers sensitively observe and respond to individual children’s needs and interests, planning the environment and programme accordingly. We document each child's progress in both the treasured daily journal and individual learning portfolios.

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