Why our kindy?

Kevin Cronin and Jilleen Lockie – principal and assistant principal, Huapai district school

“Dear Gabriella and the team at Kumeu Village Kindy, I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you for the warm welcome and time you took once again to show us around your kindy and introduce us to the children who are going to be coming to our school. It is delightful to get to know these children in this way, and to see how enthused they are about their learning at your kindy. We have always found the children from the Kumeu village Kindy to be very caring towards their peers. We particularly notice how they are well used to taking turns and have the ability to share. The children are also able to listen well to others and talk through their problems. This attention to social skills has a big impact on helping them transition to school smoothly, and aligns with our school values. In addition to this, the children from your kindy come well grounded in the pre-requisites for literacy and numeracy learning. Congratulations on the great job you and your team are doing. We look forward to calling in again next term.”

Darlesha & Scott Wrigley

“Scott and I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you all for how you have welcomed not only Dylan but our whole family back into the Kumeu Kindy community. Yours is a kindy like no other we have experienced:

We always feel welcomed

We always feel looked after

We always feel supported

We always feel like you are looking out for the best in all you can do and it shows through in the behaviour and creativity of the children. Dylan has grown so much since starting here and it is wonderful knowing he is with people who treasure his quirks and sense of humour as much as we do. He is always happy to be going to kindy now.”

Mary-liz Broadley – Principal Lecturer, Open Polytechnic of New Zealand

Kia Ora. Te manu e kai ana te miro. Nona te ngahere. Te manu e kai ana l te matauranga. Nona tea o.

The bird that partakes of the miro. His is the forest. The bird that partakes of knowledge. His is the world.

I begin my acknowledgement of Kumeu Village Kindergarten with this whakatauki (Proverb) as it outlines the importance of knowledge. This importance of knowledge is emulated within Kumeu Village Kindergarten teaching programmes. This is demonstrated by the teaching team who strive to ” notice, recognise and respond” (Carr, 1996) to children’s individual and collective strengths. However, if children require extra support to master new skills, the teaching team work alongside the children and parents to facilitate this much needed learning.

Open Polytechnic requires excellent early childhood centres to provide an enriching practicum placement to support our student teachers to become confident and competent teachers. For the last eight years, I have witnessed the teaching team support our Open Polytechnic student teachers to develop “best practice, quality-driven practices”. These practices are demonstrated by:

a) the owners of the kindergarten employ confident and competent teachers, who have current knowledge ( theoretical knowledge and practice-based application) and a real respect and love for children and their families/whanau.

b) the teaching team partakes in regular professional development endeavours i.e. Assessment workshops and Early Childhood Education Associate Teacher symposia.

c) the teaching team is open to supporting our student teachers, the future teachers within New Zealand.

d) the head teacher of the Kumeu village Kindergarten has been acknowledged by the Ministry of Education 2010 award for her excellence in early childhood education teaching. The leadership role modelled by the head teacher has equipped many a teacher-in-training to fully understand what it means to really develop children to their best possible abilities.

To all the searching parents looking for a centre to leave their greatest ” taonga” (treasure), I can only say that Open Polytechnic have had the greatest pleasure in having our student teachers and lecturers treated like a ” taonga” during their practicum placements. Finally, on a personal level I would have no hesitation in placing my own child/ren within this Kindergarten.

The Currie Family

To the wonderful, caring and frankly fabulous team at Kumeu Kindy! Thank you! The impact you have had on Charli’s life is amazing. We have seen Charli develop and grow so much over the last two years and you are such a big part of that! Charli has loved her time at kindy! You have made each session so positive, special and full of rich experiences for her! Thank you all for being so wonderful!

Melissa, Gavin, Samara and Cooper

To all the wonderful teachers at Kumeu Kindy. Thank you for taking such good care of our little man. We have watched him grow from a quiet, shy boy into a confident little man who is more than ready to tackle school. We will miss you all but will keep in touch and visit.

Angela Neal

Audry entered kindy at the age of two and leaves with all the social and learning skills to begin her school life. The team have worked well together allowing the children and parents to feel welcome. Instilling traditions and values that we work on at home. We thank you for that. You make a difference to our children’s lives. Kumeu Kindy, you are all stars and we wish you well.

Kenton, Nicky, Eva, Izzy and Natalie Osmond

Natalie has been lucky enough to come to Kumeu Village Kindergarten for 3 years. During that time she has forged strong and special relationships with every single one of her wonderful teachers. There has not been one day when Natalie has not wanted to come to this very special place and she has enjoyed countless fun activities every day. We are very sad to be leaving this caring, fun, nurturing and exciting environment, but we do so knowing that Natalie has had the best possible start to her educational experience. Thank you Kumeu Village Kindergarten, you are AMAZING!

SARA, STUART, LOGAN AND IMOGEN

From the moment you all met Logan, we have so many reasons to Thank You.

Your Patience
Your Listening
Your Kindness
Your Flexibility
Your Love
Your Passion
Your Dedication
Your Teaching
Your Knowledge
Your Persistence
Your Calmness
Your Understanding
Your Time
Your Heart
Your Acceptance
Your Caring
Your Belief
Your Tact
Your Approach

And giving everything your all. Your time with Logan has been priceless to our family. So much Love!